Aaron Wise had a lucky escape after he was struck by a tee shot at the US PGA Championship
(Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images) © Getty Images
Golf star Aaron Wise is counting his lucky stars today after he avoided serious injury despite being struck on the head by a wayward drive during the second round of the the US PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Wise, 25, was inspecting his ball in the rough just outside the fairway of the seventh hole when Australian golfer Cameron Smith was taking his tee shot from the second hole, which is located beside the seventh, when Smith’s drive faded right and directly towards Wise and a host of spectators.
Smith frantically shouted ‘fore’ in a bid to warn the crowd of his wayward shot but high winds meant that the few – and certainly not Wise – were able to hear the warnings, with the ball striking Wise directly on the right side of his head.
OUCHHHH! Cameron Smith's stray tee shot at the second hole hit fellow player Aaron Wise on the opposite fairway 😳🤕 pic.twitter.com/VvNfoMfKpb
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) May 20, 2022
The collision left a mark on the hat that Wise was wearing and prompted him to first apply a cold water bottle to the injury, and later an icepack.
“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 The Golf Channel afterwards.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of adrenaline in the body after something like that happens. So it’s really just trying to calm myself down and get back to feeling somewhat normal for the last few holes.”
He also added that he felt “a little sore.”
Joel Dahmen, who was playing alongside Wise on the hole, said that the ball made a sickening noise when it hit Wise’s head, but said that the impact could well have been more serious if he was standing in a slightly different position, noting that it was a “glancing blow.”
“All the spectators heard it. It was loud. He was definitely shaken getting into that next shot, for sure,” Dahmen said.
Remarkably, this is the second time that a person has been hit will a ball during the event amid reports that a television reporter was struck in the face during the first round which left them requiring hospital attention.
Furthermore, golf icon Tiger Woods had a narrow escape when he was forced to dodge a ball headed his way earlier this week.
