A sportscaster is recovering after being hit in the face by a missed tee shot at the PGA Championship on Thursday.
ESPN host Sage Steele is recovering after being hit in the face by Jon Rahm’s missed tee shot on the third hole of the PGA Championship on Thursday.
Golf writer Geoff Shackelford described an eyewitness account who “saw her on the ground, touching her nose, mouth, or chin area,” her hands “covered in blood.”
A source told the New York Post she walked away under her own power.
Watch the 2022 PGA Championship with FOX SPORTS on Kayo. Every round live and on demand. May 20 – 23. New to Kayo? Try 14 days free now >
Shackelford saw Rahm’s shot, which traveled 256 meters at 291 km/h, according to the ESPN broadcast, go wrong.
“I was standing behind the tee when Rahm hit a hard hook into the trees to the left. He immediately yelled, ‘Go left!’ and he aggressively waved his arm pointing to the left,” he wrote. “The impact must have been brutal: Rahm’s tee shot ended up in the middle of the fairway.”
Steele was covering the major at the Southern Hills in Oklahoma for ESPN’s Sports Center. She had finished her work on the day’s program and was watching the tournament from the gallery of accredited media. She was hospitalized after being hit with the ball.
There was no indication that Rahm or his caddy were aware of what happened in real time. The shot was so far from the street that it was not caught on the television camera. The ESPN broadcast did not mention Rahm’s hit against Steele. At least one social media account indicated that it was mentioned in SiriusXM’s coverage of the tournament.
Sources told the New York Post that Steele traveled home to Connecticut and will not return to ESPN’s coverage of the tournament this weekend.
An ESPN spokesperson declined to comment for this story.
Steele, 49, has been with ESPN since 2007. She has hosted the Scripps National Spelling Bee, the NBA Finals and SportsCenter coverage from the sites of the Super Bowl, World Series, College Football National Championship and The Masters.
Last month, Steele sued ESPN, claiming he received retaliation for comments he made about the company’s vaccination mandate on Jay Cutler’s podcast last September, violating both his contract and his right to free speech.
ESPN disputed her distinction that she had been suspended for her comments and said she remained a valued on-air contributor to the network. The suit says the company used the words “sidelined” and “taking a break” to describe her absence from the air and refers to these words as “euphemisms” for a suspension.
This article originally appeared in the New York Post and is reproduced with permission.
Originally published as TV reporter Sage Steele ‘covered in blood’ after a missed tee shot at the PGA Championship