The Wednesday Pro-Ams on the PGA Tour are less about grinding over shots and learning the course and more about having fun with your amateur partners. That fun ended yesterday on the first fairway for Valspar Championship defending champion Charl Schwartzel.
As Schwartzel described above, he was the unfortunate victim of an amateur regularity. Attempting to hit a punch shot, Schwartzel’s partner’s ball ricocheted off a tree and made a beeline for Schwartzel’s midsection.
Here’s the dispatch from Steve DiMeglio of USA Today.
“My whole hand went numb,” Schwartzel said. “I’ve played golf for 28 years now and I’ve never been hit by a golf ball, until this morning. Really bad luck.”
Schwartzel kept playing but was forced to stop after 10 holes. He said he couldn’t move his wrist properly, took pain killers and anti-inflammatories and would ice the wrist to combat the swelling.
“I never pulled out of a tournament with an injury after I’ve started. I’m planning on playing; whether I have to limp around or not, I’ll tee off,” said Schwartzel, who had a 7:56 a.m. ET tee time Thursday. “I just hope it’s not something serious because I feel like I’m playing really well and I want to play.
“I don’t want to now have to sit out because of this silly injury. But I think it will be fine. I’m going to ice it the whole afternoon. The guy said it’s swelling on the tendon, so it’s going to be fine.”
2016 @ValsparChamp, Charl Schwartzel, will be defending his title with a bruised wrist thx to an amateur golfer & a tree. Full story at 11pm pic.twitter.com/BE7Yoxa8oX
— John Sabol (@John_Sabol) March 9, 2017
— — —
Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest goings-on in the world of golf by following the SwingxSwing Clubhouse on social media. We share stories, stats and breaking news on Twitter, keep the fun going off the course on Instagram and share any and all golf-related topics on Facebook.
