ESPN Anchor Sage Steele Recovering Following Golf Ball Hit

According to Yahoo Sports, ESPN anchor Sage Stelle is recovering at home after reportedly being hit in the face by a golf ball Thursday at the PGA Championship.

What’s Happening:

  • Steele, who was at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to help with the network’s coverage of the second major championship of the season, has since traveled home to Connecticut.
  • She won’t be part of any coverage through the rest of the tournament.
  • According to reporter Geoff Shackelford, Steele was “on the ground, holding her nose, mouth or chin area,” and her hands were “covered in blood.” Rahm had hooked his tee shot left into the trees, though eventually ended up in the middle of the fairway.
  • Rahm, per Shackelford, yelled out a warning and waved his arm left, as he knew the shot was going wide left of the fairway. It’s unclear if the ball hit anything else, or if it hit only Steele, but neither Rahm nor his caddie seemed to notice that she had been injured in the moment.
  • Steele was hospitalized Thursday, though she walked off the course herself. The extent of her injuries is unclear.
  • Steele, 49, has been with ESPN since 2007 and is a frequent SportsCenter host while providing coverage for numerous other events on the network, including The Masters.
  • She filed a lawsuit against ESPN earlier this year, claiming the network violated her free speech rights following her controversial comments about COVID-19 vaccine mandates.