ESPN anchor/reporter Sage Steele had finished filming a segment on Friday from the PGA Championship when she decided to pop onto the course and catch the group that included Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler.
Unfortunately, Steele picked an inopportune place along the fairway and Rahm hooked a drive during the second round at Southern Hills Country Club. The Spaniard frantically waved to alert fans the ball was coming, but Steele wasn’t able to heed the warning in time and was struck between her nose and mouth.
Steele was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa after a gruesome scene in which she was seen with her face covered in blood. The anchor, who has been with ESPN since 2007, left the hospital and flew home to be with her family.
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She said via Twitter on Saturday that she’s hoping to recover quickly.
“I just want to thank everyone for your concern and prayers during the last couple of days,” Steele said. “I am so grateful. With the help of my team, I hope to recover quickly for my three kids, and get back to work.”
Statement of appreciation from ESPN's @sagesteele, who was struck by a golf ball Thursday at the PGA Championship pic.twitter.com/6HDlDz7QBC
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) May 21, 2022
Steele wasn’t the only high-profile person who was hit on Friday.
Aaron Wise was struck in the head on the seventh hole when Aussie Cameron Smith, playing the adjacent second hole, drilled him on the fly in the head with a tee shot that flew 316 yards into the wrong fairway.
“I was surprised my ball wasn’t in the fairway, and the next thing you know, there’s a little bit of ringing in my head and I was down on the fairway,” Wise told Golf Channel on his way to the parking lot.
