Rory McIlroy’s drive hit fractured the hand of a PGA Tour staffer at the British Open
One of the most well-known rules when watching a live golf event is to move away from the area when a golfer yells "Fore!" Quickly.
PGA Tour staffer Charlie Kane didn't follow that rule at the British Open.
Kane fractured his hand after he was was struck on one of his left knuckles from Rory McIlroy's drive on the fifth hole Thursday, which unsurprisingly left a huge bruise before his left middle finger swelled up.
Fractured hand after Rory McIlroy’s drive landed on my knuckle.
He shouted fore. I did not heed the warning. #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/91bOwuA4mY— Charlie Kane (@PGATOURKane) July 14, 2022
If you're curious how fast the ball likely hit Kane, McIlroy’s fastest ball speed this season is 190.59 mph. His average ball speed is 182.98, which is 10th in the PGA Tour.
For reference, the fastest pitch in MLB history is only 105.1 mph, and New York Yankees' outfielder Aaron Judge averages a 95.4 mph exit velocity this season and only hit a max speed of 118.4, per Baseball Savant. Novak Djokovic, the 2022 Wimbledon winner, serves at an average speed of 136 mph.
You don't see this every day ...@McIlroyRory's drive hits a stone marking the original boundary of the Old Course.pic.twitter.com/LQSZQ177Qk
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 14, 2022
Considering how well McIlroy is playing so far this tournament, it's safe to say the drive that hit Kane is likely on the faster side. McIlroy shot a 6-under 66 in the first round Thursday – only two strokes off the leader, Cameron Young.
"It's the fiddliest Open that I've played," McIlroy said after the round. "It's the only way I can really describe it. It's just really fiddly out there ... around the greens here and just all the slopes and undulations and everything," he said. "I think as the tournament progresses, you're going to get some funny bounces and it's going to test your patience at times. And fiddly hasn't really been my forte over the years, but I'm hopefully going to make it my forte this week."
No word on if he's reached out to Kane about his hand, though.
