Kingsbarns, Scotland ….
Ryder Cup winning hero, Tyrrell Hatton was visibly shaken after he hit a woman with his tee shot on the opening day of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at the Kingsbarns Links course in Scotland.
A combination of a left-hand pin placement, a 30mph left-to-right cross wind and the need for players to start their tee shots left and in the direction of spectators saw the unnamed Edinburgh woman felled at the par-3 15th hole.
Back-to-back defending champion Hatton’s tee shot struck the woman in the middle of her forehead.
“If I am going to be hit by a golf ball, I don’t mind it being by the defending champion,” said the woman to long-time Tournament Director, Peter German.
The incident comes just six days after triple Major winning Brooks Koepka hit a woman in the right eye after his errant drive on day one of the Ryder Cup in Versailles.
The Edinburgh woman hit in the forehead was all smiles after the incident saying: “If I am going to be hit by a golf ball, I’m glad it was the defending champion”.
Ryder Cup winning hero, Tyrrell Hatton was visibly shaken after hitting a woman on the forehead with a tee shot on the opening day of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at the Kingsbarns Links course in Scotland.
Hatton’s tee shot at the par-3 15th hole, and in a 30-mph left-to-right cross wind, stuck the unnamed Edinburgh woman in the middle of her upper forehead.
Ambulance staff immediately rushed to the scene before the woman, and not before Hatton gave her a comforting hug, was conveyed to the nearby St. Andrews Hospital for further treatment.
The incident comes just six days after triple Major winning Brooks Koepka hit a woman in the right eye after his errant drive on day one of the Ryder Cup in Versailles.
Bizarrely, Luke Donald who was playing in the company of Hatton, hit a male spectator on the right ankle and also at Kingsbarns 15th hole.
The unnamed Edinburgh woman being helped into a buggy ahead of being taken to nearby St. Andrews Hospital
And in an unconfirmed third incident at Kingsbarns, it is understood the wife of Aussie golfer, Scott Hend was hit on the shoulder by a competitor’s ball.
Hatton, who shot a round of 70 as he seeks a third straight Dunhill trophy, ended the round just two shots off the lead when he spoke of the incident.
“It’s probably one of the worst feelings I’ve had on a golf course,” said Hatton.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever hit someone. So, I was pretty devastated, to be honest.
“I was getting updates when I was out on the golf course, because I wanted to know how she was doing and then when I finished my first nine holes, I got told she was okay and that there were no concerns.
“She was going to hospital just to have a couple of stitches but there were no concerns from a medical point of view which is good news but, at the same time, I’m just devastated that I’ve hit her.
“I was also thinking of what happened with Brooks (Koepka) last week at the Ryder Cup as it’s just unfortunate. It’s just that we’re going to hit some bad shots.
‘All we can do is shout ‘fore’, as players. We can’t do anything other than that”
Donald, and a Versailles vice-captain, hit a male spectator on the right ankle also at 15 and with officials later moving the spectator further back from the green.
“It was just unfortunate but he seemed okay and fortunately unlike the woman Tyrrell hit who needed to go to hospital, the chap seemed okay,” said Donald.
“Both incidents were just unfortunate and bizarre it should happen in the same group and one the same hole.
“You hit that shot off the 15th and you think, given the strength of the cross-winds, that the ball is going to feed back to the fairway but they didn’t.”
