Viktor Hovland withdrew from the 2021 U.S. Open on Friday because he got sand stuck in his eye, and odd as it sounds, when I heard the news I shuddered.
Not to take too much of a tangent, but something similar happened to me once during a tournament. I was playing well, and on the 9th hole I hit a shot from the fairway and a bunch of sandy dirt came back into my face.
A piece of something got stuck in my eye. I couldn’t see well, I couldn’t blink without pain, and it was just generally awful. It wasn’t until I was able to get off the course and flush my eye with water that I was able to get some relief.
So here’s hoping Viktor gets well soon, and in the meantime, here are a few helpful tips from the Maynor & Mitchell Eye Center about what to do if something similar happens to you. There are five steps you should take:
- Don’t rub your eye
- Try blinking to activate tears
- Lift your upper eyelid
- Use eyewash or running tap water to flush it out.
- If all else fails, go the the emergency room.
