A painful truth
PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA | Golf is not an inherently dangerous sport, like ice hockey or American football or rugby, though it can be. We were reminded of this fact when Jon Rahm, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, was forced to withdraw from last week’s U.S. Open here because of a sore on his left little toe. Rahm posted a photo of his heavily bandaged injured digit on social media, and we weren’t surprised.
You wouldn’t believe how many golfers have injured themselves in bizarre incidents.
Akshay Bhatia dislocated his left shoulder while celebrating after holing a putt for a birdie on the 72nd green of the recent Valero Texas Open. He received treatment and then won the tournament on the first hole of the playoff.
At the 2007 Honda Classic, a female spectator jumped in front of John Daly to take his picture. In trying to stop his swing, Daly fractured two ribs and separated his right shoulder, negatively affecting his career.
After a 5-over-par 75 in the first round of the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, José María Olazábal punched a wall in his hotel room and broke a bone in his right hand. Result? He had to withdraw from the tournament.
Jordan Spieth jammed his left wrist into the face of a bunker at the recent RBC Heritage, causing his extensor carpi ulnaris muscle to pop out. “Then the tendon came back in and I was, like, I’m all right,” Spieth said.
Englishman Richard Boxall broke a leg while hitting a drive in the 1991 Open Championship.
“There was a noise like a sack of potatoes splitting,” Boxall said, “and I screamed and collapsed to the ground.”
Thomas Levet celebrated his victory in the 2011 French Open by jumping into a lake adjoining the 18th hole at Le Golf National – and promptly broke a shin.
David Feherty was once bitten by an adder while walking through the rough at Wentworth. Oliver Wilson fell and broke a wrist in trying to avoid a snowball thrown at him. Sam Torrance crashed into a large vase while sleepwalking and damaged his sternum and a toe. Colin Montgomerie tripped on a step as he made his way toward the breakfast buffet.
Are we sympathetic? Of course. And particularly to those for whom their injury was no fault of their own. But we did titter at some others, perhaps unfairly. As we said moments ago, golf is not inherently dangerous, but it can be.
John Hopkins
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