Wayward Brooks Koepka drive leaves spectator bloodied at Ryder Cup
By Keith Jackson at Le Golf National
Last Updated: 28/09/18 3:13pm
Brooks Koepka was full of remorse after a wayward tee shot struck a female spectator in the face during the opening fourballs at the Ryder Cup.
Koepka attempted to reach the par-four sixth hole with his drive, but he pulled it way left into the crowd and insisted that he and a number of players and caddies on the tee had shouted "fore" as a warning.
The unfortunate lady appeared to be bleeding heavily from a facial wound as a concerned Koepka arrived to check on her well-being, and she was soon taken away for medical treatment.
"It looked like it hurt, she was bleeding pretty good," said Koepka after he and Tony Finau had snatched a come-from-behind victory in the top match against Justin Rose and Jon Rahm.
"It looked like it hit her right in the eye, so hopefully there's no loss of vision or anything like that. It's not a fun feeling, and I probably do it way more than I should. It seems just about every week we're hitting somebody, and it's unfortunate but you're never trying to.
"It doesn't feel good, and you feel terrible for them. You know exactly how they are feeling, especially when you've got to go over there and apologise, because they are in pain, usually bleeding, and you don't want to hit anybody in the face, especially not a woman.
"It's hard to control a golf ball, a round ball, with a square face, and especially for 300 yards. And a lot of times, the fans are very close. I mean, you'd love to hit every fairway, but sometimes you spray it a little bit, and it does go there.
"You know, the problem is, you shout fore, but from 300 yards, how are you supposed to hear it? How are you supposed to know? If you're 150 yards, you're shouting fore, you can hear it. But from 300 yards, even if none of us shouted, she's going to get hit, and that's the unfortunate thing."
