Wayward golf shot at Ryder Cup left woman fan blinded
A SPECTATOR hit by a ball during Europe’s Ryder cup victory has been blinded, it emerged yesterday.
corine Remande, 49, was left writhing in agony on the side of a fairway when she was struck by a stray tee shot by US golfer Brooks Koepka that caused her right eyeball to ‘explode’.
Yesterday she blamed staff at Le Golf National course on the outskirts of paris for failing to issue a warning that the ball was hurtling towards her as she stood by the sixth hole on Friday. She plans to sue the tournament organisers.
Mrs Remande, who is French but lives in Egypt, had travelled to paris to watch Europe’s attempt to reclaim the trophy with her husband Raphael.
After Koepka, 28, hit his ‘bullet’ shot, she was seen sinking to the ground when the ball hurtled into a group of spectators. A shaken Koepka could be seen apologising while staff bandaged her head to stem bleeding. Mrs Remande said: ‘It happened so fast, I didn’t feel any pain when I was hit. Then I felt the blood start to pour.’
She said tests showed she had suffered a fractured right eye socket and ‘explosion of the eyeball’. Mrs Remande added: ‘Doctors told me I had lost the use of that eye.’
Surgeons managed to sew up the damaged eyeball, but her husband said: ‘In the best case they’ve told her that she might be able to make out vague shapes when the bruising of the eyeball has healed.’
Mrs Remande was yesterday recovering at her parents’ house in Lyon. She is considering suing PGA European Tour, which organises the Ryder cup, for damages.
‘Quite clearly, there is responsibility on the part of the organisers,’ she said. ‘officials did not shout any warning as the ball went into the crowd. I want them to take care of all the medical bills.’
A Ryder cup spokesman said: ‘We can confirm that “fore” was shouted several times but also appreciate how hard it can be to know when and where every ball is struck if you are in the crowd. We will continue to offer support [to Mrs Remande] for as long as necessary.’
Speaking after his shot hit Mrs Remande, Koepka acknowledged that his own shouts of ‘fore’ may not have been heard.
Europe scored 17.5 points to the US’s 10.5 points to clinch the Ryder cup on Sunday.