South African Charl Schwartzel’s defence of the Valspar Championship took at turn for the weird after he was hit on the wrist during the pro-am on Wednesday.
‘I’ve played golf for 28 years now and I’ve never been hit by a golf ball, until this morning,’ said Schwartzel describing the incident.
‘It was a bit of a fluke. Really bad luck.
‘We played with, my one amateur was on the left-hand side in the trees and my ball was also in the left, heart line of the trees, and he hit this one and it hit the tree and ricocheted right on to me and hit me on my wrist on the tendon here. My whole hand went numb.’
The injury forced the South African off the course but he is upbeat about teeing it up on Thursday.
‘I stopped after ten holes, tried to play but I couldn’t hold the club anymore. So I’ve iced it and taken painkillers and anti-inflammatories but we’ve tested it and at least the nerve is good. So it’s just muscle and swelling. So I can’t move the wrist properly.
‘So hopefully it’s good tomorrow morning. I’ll just keep icing it.’
‘I mean, 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. 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.’
The 2011 Masters champion took it in his stride especially considering it could’ve been a lot worse.
‘He feels very bad,’ Schwartzel said when asked how his amateur partner reacted.
‘But you know, it’s not his fault. He hit it forward, it hit the tree, and came bouncing back at some speed (laughter). I’m just happy, it was going for my private parts; hit a little stop. I think I’ve got better on my reflexes (laughter).’
WATCH: Schwartzel describes his freak accident
An errant shot in Wednesday’s pro-am struck Charl Schwartzel’s wrist. pic.twitter.com/tkw1SeQRVT
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 9, 2017
