Why did the man take part in a near 1M heroin deal? To help pay for his golf game

Now, there are a lot of guys who are addicted to golf, and we get it. And there are a lot of guys who are willing to do just about anything to get more time on the links (lie to the wife, skip work, etc).

We get that, too.

But one Irish golf fan may’ve taken his love for his game too far. According to the Irish Sun, Dublin golfer Michael Smallhorn received a five-year suspended term for his role in a nearly $1 million heroin deal.

No, we can’t make this stuff up.

Smallhorn, 57, told police that he got into the deal to pay golf fees.

Smallhorn, who has 12 convictions dating back to 1980 for minor offenses, was stopped in a car by police who found a small amount of heroin worth less than $500 in the vehicle. But in another nearby vehicle, there were 5.9 kilos of the drug.

After his arrest, Smallhorn said he was told to drive the other car to a spot, park it and leave the keys inside. Police arrested him using insider infomation. Smallhorn was to be paid about the equivalent of $260 for his role. He never got his money.

Detectives showed Smallhorn how much heroin was in the other car and Smallhorn said he wouldn’t have gone near it, if he had known.

He got a suspended sentence of five years from Judge Pauline Codd with the condition, the newspaper wrote, “that he keeps the peace and takes part in a victim awareness programme.”

This story was originally published June 5, 2017 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Why did the man take part in a near 1M heroin deal? To help pay for his golf game."