Ernie Els distraught after hitting spectator

Ernie Els has admitted he found it hard to re-focus after badly injuring a spectator with his first shot of this year’s Open Championship.

Els, a two-time winner of the Claret Jug, struck an elderly man directly in the face with his ball after pulling his opening shot into a group of spectators. He proceeded to triple-bogey the hole and took 42 shots to play the front nine in seven-over.

The 44-year-old South African managed to compose himself enough to play the back nine in level-par but admitted afterwards that he had been badly shaken by the experience on the first.

“I hit the guy right in the face and there was blood everywhere,” he said. “I felt pretty bad about it, hurting the guy the way I did. Hopefully, he’s better now but it wasn’t very nice.”

“It was like a bullet coming at him.” – Ernie Els

Asked if the incident had affected his game, Els said: “Yeah, I was thinking about him. There was blood all over and I was quite rattled. I was kind of finished and then I started missing short putts. It was a nightmare. I just hope the gentleman feels better because he looked really bad when I left him there.

“It was like a bullet coming at him, so he must have been in total shock. He didn’t look very good. I spoke to him and he wasn’t feeling too good getting hit.”

Els, who estimated the man was ‘probably in his 60s’ added: “I’ve hit spectators before but maybe in the leg or the back. I’ve never hit a guy right in the face. I remember my buddy Frank Nobilo getting hit in the head and it basically ended his golf career. I don’t know how many stitches he needed.”

The ‘Big Easy’ added that he thought the man may have required medical treatment. “I’m sure he had to, he was pretty badly injured,” he said.

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Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor