Leading golf snapper Eoin Clarke was so careful in driving Tuesday from Philidelphia to Akron, Ohio and venue for this week’s WGC – Bridgestone Invitational and not wishing to be stopped for speeding.

We had negotiated some half-a-dozen radar traps on the Pennsylvania Turnpike when we drove past two police cars stopped just outside of Somerset and the town where United Airline Flight 93 crashed in the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001.

No sooner had we passed the two police cars and one of the cars was back on the road and looking for Eoin to pull over.

To cut a long story short Officer Fleck from the Pennsylvania State Police advised Eoin that it is law in the all of the US States except Hawaii in that you have to change lanes, when possible, in passing a police or any emergency vehicle parked on the side of the road or highway.

Officer Fleck was very polite in his manner and indicated immediately Eoin would be given a warning, and in fact a formal warning on paper.

Then in handing back his licence the officer asked Eoin if he was any relation to Irish golfer Darren Clarke and what followed for a few minutes was a conversation centered around the ancient game.

In fact, the officer revealed he had worked at the 2007 US Open at Oakmont in nearby Pittsburg where Argentina’s Angel Cabrera succeeded.

And given the officer was so into golf I handed him a sleeve of golf balls I had been carrying in my lap-top bag.

So Eoin drove away with an official Pennsylvania State Police warning for ‘incorrect movement’ and officer Fleck drove off with a sleeve of golf balls.

Eoin Clarke with his Police warning for ‘incorrect movement’.

Officer Fleck in his police car preparing the warning.