ESPN reporter Sage Steele was struck and injured by an errant Jon Rahm tee shot at Southern Hills on Thursday, according to a report from Geoff Shackelford.
Steele was struck in the face by the ball after Rahm hooked his tee shot left of the fairway at the par-4 3rd hole. An eyewitness told Shackelford they saw Steele “on the ground, holding her nose, mouth or chin area” and her hands [were] “covered in blood.”
‘He just got domed’: Pro takes drive to head at PGA Championship
Video on the PGA Championship’s website, which is broadcasting every shot hit during the tournament, shows Rahm yelling “fore left!” after striking the shot. However, the ball ended up bouncing out into the middle of the fairway, presumably after ricocheting off Steele.
The broadcast made no mention of the incident.
According to the New York Post, Steele was briefly hospitalized after the incident and now is recovering at home in Connecticut.
On Day 2 of the tournament, PGA Tour-winner Aaron Wise was also struck by a wayward tee shot at Southern Hills. Joel Dahmen, who played alongside Wise for the first 36 holes of the event, told GOLF.com’s Dylan Dethier that Wise took a shot to the head when looking down to identify his ball in the rough on No. 7.
“I think he bent down to look at my ball and then the ball hit him in the head,” Dahmen said. “You could hear it. All the spectators heard it. It was loud.”
Wise was visibly shaken after the incident, but opted to finish out the remainder of his second round. He fired a 72 on Friday and will move onto the weekend after posting one over through 36 holes.