Spectator struck by Brooks Koepka tee shot requires medical care

Brooks Koepka was left shaken when his tee shot at the short par-4 sixth hole at Le Golf National on Friday hit a female spectator in the face and led to her going to the hospital as a precaution.

After completing a victory in the morning four-balls at the Ryder Cup with partner Tony Finau, the 28-year-old Koepka said, "I felt terrible. I just wanted to get out of there, so I'm glad Tony was able to chip-in and leave.

"At first I didn't know, but someone shouted, 'You hit someone,' and I turned around and you're thinking, 'Oh, s---, I did it again.'"

Initially treated by the on-site medical team, the spectator was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure, but doctors have confirmed the injury is not serious.

"It doesn't feel good. It really doesn't," Koepka said. "You feel terrible for them. You know exactly how they are feeling, especially when you've got to go over there and apologize.

"You don't want to hit anybody in the face, especially not a woman, and it's not a good feeling. It looked like it hurt. 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."

Koepka said hitting fans is far from an uncommon occurrence in the sport.

"It's not a fun feeling, and I probably do it way more than I should," he said. "It seems just about every week we're hitting somebody, and you know, it's unfortunate because you're never trying to.

"It's hard to control a golf ball and especially for 300 yards. A lot of times, the fans are very close."

Koepka said he shouted a warning but wondered how much use it was.

"The problem is, you shout 'fore' but from 300 yards, how are you supposed to hear it? How are you supposed to know?" he said.

Spectators confirmed that they had been oblivious to the imminent threat.

Dutchman Pieter Van Der Zaag explained: "The ball just came out of nowhere. No one knew it was coming. We all ducked, but she got hit. She left with bandages on her face."

Fellow fan Steve Carter, from the U.K., added: "A few moments later, Dustin Johnson sprayed his shot into fans on the other side of the fairway and then Tiger Woods' tee shot also came this way. Again we heard nothing until those close to us started ducking and shouting warnings."