Cam Smith accidentally hit fellow PGA Championship competitor Aaron Wise in the head with a wayward drive during the second round at Southern Hills Country Club in Oklahoma.
Smith was hitting his drive from the second hole when Wise was walking in the rough on the right-hand side of the seventh, his 16th hole of the day. World No.4 Smith appeared to aim down the right side of the fairway but flared his drive and dropped the club. Both Smith and his caddie, Sam Pinfold, yelled “fore!” but it was unheard.
The ball hit Wise’s head and hat at such an angle that it careened off from the rough area and onto the seventh fairway. Wise dropped down to one knee. One fan told New Zealand Golf Digest Wise was on one knee for “about 30 seconds” but appeared okay by the time he got to the green on the seventh,
Wise held an ice pack to his head while signing his scorecard after the round. He said he felt “fine” but received medical attention.
“You could hear it; all the spectators heard it,” Wise’s playing partner, Joel Dahmen, told GOLF.com after the round. “It was loud.”
Here’s the tee shot pic.twitter.com/b5fH8s9fVP
— The Fried Egg (@the_fried_egg) May 20, 2022
Smith was three-under-par, one under for his round, through 13 holes. He enjoyed a two-under front nine but made bogey at the 10th.
Smith is the top Australian on the leaderboard, while Lucas Herbert dropped down the leaderboard from two under to one over with a 73. Jason Day (72) and Marc Leishman (71) were two over. Min Woo Lee played (72) and Cam Davis (73) were five over, while Adam Scott (70) finished at seven over and is likely to miss the cut. Matt Jones was eight over during his round.