The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20210321070044/https://people.com/sports/golf-fan-loses-eyesight-brooks-koepka/?xid=socialflow_facebook_peoplemag

American player Brooks Koepka reportedly apologized and gave her a signed glove

By Emily Zauzmer
October 02, 2018 02:00 PM
Advertisement
TOPSHOT-GOLF-FRA-RYDER-CUP-DAY ONE
Credit: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty

A golf fan’s life changed in an instant when she was struck in the face by a golf ball that Brooks Koepka hit at the Ryder Cup — and lost vision in her right eye.

Corine Remande, 49, and her husband jetted from Egypt to France to attend the golf tournament, AFP reported. But after Koepka’s shot came barreling toward her at the sixth hole on Friday, Remande suffered from a fractured eye socket and a damaged eyeball — or, what was described to the AFP as an “explosion of the eyeball.”

“Doctors told me I had lost the use of that eye,” Remande told AFP, according to CNN. “It happened so fast, I didn’t feel any pain when I was hit. I didn’t feel like the ball had struck my eye and then I felt the blood start to pour.”

GOLF-FRA-RYDER-CUP-DAY ONE
Brooks Koepka during the incident
| Credit: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty

“It is distressing to hear that someone might suffer long term consequences from a ball strike,” a Ryder Cup spokesperson told AFP. “We are hugely sympathetic and will do everything we can to support the spectator, insofar as that is possible under very difficult circumstances.”

Remande said she is considering legal action, according to the AFP. “Quite clearly, there is responsibility on the part of the organizers,” she told AFP. “Officials did not shout any warning as the player’s ball went into the crowd.”

RELATED VIDEO: Tiger Woods Wins Tour Championship, His First Tournament Win Since 2013

2018 Ryder Cup - Morning Fourball Matches
Brooks Koepka
| Credit: Christian Petersen/Getty
GOLF-FRA-RYDER-CUP-DAY ONE
Brooks Koepka during the incident
| Credit: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty

She reportedly continued, “More than anything I want them to take care of all the medical bills to make sure there is no risk of infection.”

Although Remande complained there had been no shout warning of the ball’s approach, the Ryder Cup spokesperson refuted her allegation to the AFP, saying, “We can confirm that ‘fore’ was shouted several times but also appreciate how hard it can be to know when and where every ball is struck if you are in the crowd.”

“She was bleeding pretty good,” Koepka, 28, said on Friday, according to Golf.com. “It looked like it hit her right in the eye, so hopefully there’s no, you know, loss of vision or anything like that.”

According to ESPN, Koepka, who reportedly apologized and gave her a signed glove, also said, “You don’t want to hit anybody in the face, especially not a woman, and it’s not a good feeling.”