Ally Bell
"red devil"
Membership Level: Full
Posts: 2541
Status: Offline | hope he recovers....
A 16-year-old boy was hit on the head by an errant drive from the world’s number two golfer, Rory McIlroy, at the Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes.
Jason Blue, from Bristol, was taken to a first aid point just behind the 15th fairway, where he was standing when he was hit - after the Northern Irish star had come over to apologise and given him an autographed glove.
He was then moved to the main medical HQ at the course where he was seen by a doctor.
Jason was allowed to leave and sent home in a courtesy car after about 45 minutes, having been given something to eat and drink. He had a bruise on his head but no stitches and left the course without a bandage or dressing.
The incident cost McIlroy a double bogey on the 15th after his drive struck Jason, went 20 yards right and finished out of bounds by a few inches.
Jason said: "I can remember something hit me in the head and I fell over. I thought what the hell was that? What’s hit me - it must be a golf ball. We couldn’t see the tee because everyone down the side had umbrellas up and so we had no idea it was coming towards us even though they’d put their hands out on the tee. I closed my eyes with the shock of it as I tried to work out what had happened but I wasn’t out cold and then there was people crowding around me.
"Rory came over and said ’Sorry, are you okay. I don’t think this will help much but here you are’ (giving him a signed glove). He was quite apologetic. I don’t imagine he will be too happy with the fact I knocked it out of bounds - I’ll apologise if I see him again. It’s the first time I’ve seen Rory live in a tournament. We’re camping at St Annes Cricket Club. I think we’ll stay on for the rest of the week.
"My parents saw it on the TV. It took me a while to call them and tell them I was okay. They have tickets for the weekend so they are coming up tomorrow. The doctor has told me to take it easy for the next few days so we’ll just go back and relax tonight. I still want Rory to do well and I’ll probably go out and watch him tomorrow."
Ross Furnival, 17, was standing next to his friend at the time and feared the worst. "There was blood coming out of his head. I thought he was dead," he said.
McIlroy said: "I hit it slightly right and got an unfortunate break. It went 20 yards right off his head. He could have headed it the other way! The most important thing was that he was okay."
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