Koepka shaken when errant shot hits fan
SAINT-QUENTINEN-YVELINES, France — Three-time major champion Brooks Koepka had a good day on the scorecard — he and Tony Finau defeated Justin Rose and Jon Rahm 1-up — but he was shaken when his wild tee shot on the par-4 sixth hole struck a woman in the gallery and bloodied her head.
The Telegraph of London reported that blood was gushing from the woman’s eye socket and she was taken to a hospital. Ryder Cup officials later said that doctors had told them the injury was not serious.
“It looked like it hurt,” said Koepka, who stopped play briefly to check on the stricken fan. He later handed her a signed glove as an apology. “She was bleeding pretty good. It looked like it hit her right in the eye, so hopefully there’s no, you know, loss of vision or anything like that . ... It’s not a fun feeling.”
Koepka said he checked on her condition after his round. He said he yelled “Fore!” and was not sure it would have mattered.
“The problem is, you shout, ‘Fore,’ but from 300 yards, how are you supposed to hear it? How are you supposed to know?” Koepka said. “From 300 yards, even if (all) of us said, ‘Fore,’ she’s going to get hit. And that’s the unfortunate thing.” Day 1 highlights: After falling behind to the United States on Friday morning, Europe swept all four afternoon matches for a 5-3 lead. It was the first time Europe swept a session since 1989, and the first time ever at the Ryder Cup in foursomes . ... Tiger Woods, playing in his first Ryder Cup since 2012, combined with Patrick Reed to lose 3 and 1 to Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood . ... Sergio Garcia tied Bernhard Langer’s record in the Ryder Cup by winning a foursomes match, giving him 11½ points . ... Phil Mickelson set the record by competing in his 12th straight Ryder Cup, and he tied Nick Faldo by playing in his 46th match. Mickelson also set the American record for most losses in the Ryder Cup with 21.