Ryder Cup fan's horrific injury after wild tee shot

A Ryder Cup fan has been left bloodied and bruised after a wayward tee shot by American Brooks Koepka struck her in the face.

Koepka initially found no reason to be intimidated in front of the huge crowd in France, but the horrific incident shook him up.

The 28-year-old’s wild tee shot on the par-4 sixth hole struck a woman in the gallery in the eye, bloodying her head.

He said he checked on her condition after his round and had not heard any update from Ryder Cup officials.

“It’s not a fun feeling. I probably do it way more than I should,” he said.

“It looked like it hurt, she was bleeding pretty good.

“It looked like it hit her in the eye, so hopefully there’s no loss of vision or anything.

“You feel terrible for them. You know exactly how they are feeling, especially when you’ve got to go over there and apologise because they are in pain, usually bleeding.

“And then to hit her in the face is not…you don’t want to hit anybody in the face, especially not a woman, and it’s not a good feeling.

Koepka says he yelled, ‘Fore!’ but he wasn’t convinced it would have changed the outcome.

“The problem is, you shout, ‘Fore,’ but from 300 yards, how are you supposed to hear it? How are you supposed to know?” Koepka said.

The incident capped off what was an unsuccessful day for Team USA, after their positive start was whitewashed by Team Europe in the second session.

Koepka says he just wants to move on from the incident, and focus on the game – sending his well wishes to the fan.

“I just wanted to get out of there,” he said.

“We’ll get an update on her, but hopefully she’s doing good.”

Europe lead USA 5-3 after first day

Ryder Cup veterans Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter starred as Europe claimed a history-making foursomes whitewash in a stunning fightback to seize a 5-3 lead over the United States on Friday.

Trailing by two points after the opening-morning fourballs at Le Golf National, home captain Thomas Bjorn brought wildcard picks Poulter, Garcia and Henrik Stenson into the action and the decision paid off in style.

Europe roared back at the Americans to the delight of raucous crowds at the first Ryder Cup to be played in France.

US skipper Jim Furyk left out Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed after their defeat by Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood got Europe on the board, and his players totally lost the momentum they had built up earlier in the day.

It was the first foursomes clean sweep for the hosts in Ryder Cup history.

Stenson and Rose reprised their successful partnership of Ryder Cups gone by to see off Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson 3 and 2, while Garcia teamed up with Swedish rookie Alex Noren to crush Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau 5 and 4.

The experienced duo of Poulter and four-time major winner Rory McIlroy battled back from 2-down to beat Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson 4 and 2.

Molinari and Fleetwood grabbed their second win of the day with a 5 and 4 thumping of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, as all the American pairings finished their rounds over par.

with AFP/Associated Press.