Perhaps you’ve heard the rumor that Ernie Els and Steve Marino (a colorful member of the Tour in his own right) put back a few and let the fists fly in Els’ private jet a few years back.

The rumor was further substantiated earlier this month when a friend of a friend to Marino, retired hockey player Mike Commodore, appeared on Barstool Sports’ Spittin Chiclets podcast and said this.

“Marino is…sitting at a bar crushing some beers. Ernie Els walks in and sits down and they have a couple beers. Els is like, “What do you do for a living?” Els has no…clue who this guy is. Marino is like, “Actually, I’m so many spots ahead of you on the money list.” They both laugh. Ernie likes him.”

Els then asked Marino if he was playing a particular tournament in Japan. When Marino said he was, Els said he’d give him a ride back to Florida on his jet. Three months later, they both make the cut at the tournament in Japan, and they finish the tournament. Marino wasn’t sure if Els remembered he’d promised him a lift, but then Els says he invited him aboard his plane…Marino, for his part, is pumped, having never experienced the joys of private aviation before.

“They get on the plane. It’s just the two of them. They’re crushing beers. They take off. Have some food. This and that. They’re having a blast. Marino’s like, ‘This is the greatest time of my life! I’m flying private. I’m crushing beers!’

“They’re standing kind of in the aisle or whatever and Ernie Els comes up to him and says something like, ‘Are you having a good time?’…and Els is like, ‘Now we fight!’ and straight-up headbutts him..hard…Ernie starts throwing him around all over the place, and the co-pilot comes back screaming.”

At this point in the pod, one of the hosts cuts in and mentions that the pilot said something along the lines of, “Ernie not again!” indicating Els has a penchant for such behavior.

Marino apparently, “covered in blood,” decided to try to get some sleep. “At some point, he wakes up, and Ernie Els is towering over him and just strokes him.”

The co-pilot then intervened again, in full parental mode, threatening, apparently, to ground the plane. The two then went to their separate corners and didn’t speak for the rest of the flight.

When the plane landed and Marino went to get off, Commodore said, “Ernie’s there waiting at the bottom of the stairs…and Ernie’s like, ‘Great flight, Steve, we’ll see you around!’”

Commodore also added “it’s confirmed” Marino lost a tooth in the fight(s).

Insane, right? Els, a guest on this week’s No Laying Up podcast,, essentially confirmed this tale of mile-high brawling.

“It was just myself and Stevie coming from Japan to Palm Beach,” Els said. “We had a lot to drink. There was a lot to talk about, and we kind of hugged each other. It was a lovefest on the airplane. Nobody got seriously injured. It was all in good fun. It’s just what guys do and there’s a lot of testosterone running.”

Yes. When there’s a lot of testosterone running, a certain set might take to beat the hell out of each other in private jets. The rest of us will have to be content with shouting at the television and our barroom brawls.