Koepka ‘heartbroken’ over Ryder Cup spectator blinded in one eye

● USA player regrets incident at Le Golf National and denies claims of bust-up with team-mate Johnson

As press conferences go, it probably felt tougher for Brooks Koepka than winning three majors inside the last 18 months. Facing questions after he admitted he felt “heartbroken” for being responsible for a spectator at last week’s Ryder Cup fearing she had lost the sight in her right eye after being hit by a wayward shot from the American at Le Golf National was bad enough.

Once he had talked about that unfortunate incident – and he did so with the compassion you would expect in the circumstances – the attention turned to claims that he had been involved in two separate spats with team-mate Dustin Johnson, allegations he claimed were totally untrue and, according to him at least, laughable. “There was no fight, no argument,” he insisted before adding in a joking tone: “But I’m curious who would win in a fight. It would be interesting.”

In fairness, the American deserved credit for putting himself up for an interview at St Andrews, where he is competing in this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Not for necessarily having to answer those claims about clashing with Johnson – the first time allegedly on the plane over to Paris then when they paid a visit along with Patrick Reed to the European

0 Brooks Koepka, right, reacts next to injured spectator Corine Remande who was hit by his wayward tee shot at Le Golf National.

team party on Sunday night. No, given the state of his inner turmoil at the moment, it could not have been easy at all for the man who won both the US Open and US PGA Championship over the past few months to talk publicly about he feels after what happened to Corine Remande last Friday. The 49-year-old was hit by Koepka’s tee shot at the sixth hole in the opening session of the match and it has now emerged that she could have lost sight in her right eye.

“It’s sad and I am torn up about it. I’m heartbroken, I’m all messed up inside,” admitted Koepka, who used a victory in the SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge at Macdonald Spey Valley in Aviemore in 2013 as a springboard in becoming a multiple major winner and two-time Ryder Cup player

BROOKS KOEPKA after making a winning debut in the event at Hazeltine two years ago.

“In my career it will be the one shot I definitely regret even though everyone from the Ryder Cup and the PGA of America have assured me

she will get the care she needs. Yesterday was one of the worst days of my life. I haven’t had too many tragedies in my personal family where there has been a loss or any accident.

“I’ve been lucky in that sense and I wasn’t told until I got to the golf course. I’m not the biggest guy on social media so when I got here and saw 25 messages I was heartbroken. My stomach sank and yesterday was probably one of the hardest days of trying to focus on playing golf, knowing what is going to come.”

He added: “We reached out to Mrs Remande and her husband to see how things are going and we didn’t hear back last night. I’m looking forward to speaking to her today or in the next few days because there is nobody who feels worse about this than I do.”

Asked what his message to Mrs Remande would be, Koepka replied: “I’d like to keep that personal between me and her and I don’t see why it’s anyone else’s business. It’s sad she won’t see out of her eye ever again. It’s upsetting, it really is, I hit a golf ball and someone lost their sight in their eye.”

The incident has led to calls for spectator safety at golf events to be reviewed. “The European Tour and the PGA Tour do an unbelievable job on the set-up but, unfortunately, we can’t always hit the fairway every time,” continued Koepka. “That’s the worst part. Now I can see why we take it for granted every week how courses are set-up and why. The set-up on both tours is unbelievable but the sad part is it seems every week someone gets hit.”

“It’s sad and I am torn up about it. I’m heartbroken, I’m all messed up inside. In my career it will be the one shot I definitely regret”