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PGA Championship Golfer Aaron Rai Came This Close to Drilling Spectator on Friday

Don’t let anyone tell you that golf isn’t a contact sport.

Tyler Lauletta

Aaron Rai hits an errant shot at the PGA Championship.
Aaron Rai hits an errant shot at the PGA Championship. / ESPN

The best players in the golf world have gathered at Quail Hollow this weekend to compete for the PGA Championship.

But more than any other sport, golf has the ability to humble even the greatest professionals, bringing them, however briefly, down to the level of us mere mortals that play the game as best we can.

Such was the case for Aaron Rai, who on Friday shanked a shot so bad it nearly hit a spectator in the gallery that had formed around his ball.

Two things here.

First, thank god not one got hit. Getting drilled by any golf ball is bound to hurt, but the ball speed of Tour pros has been going up and up and up and man, that really could have done some damage.

Second, it’s a little wild that any time a golfer finds the rough a crowd immediately files around them and crucially, in front of them for like 30 yards. Players at the PGA Championship are far less likely to shank than your average weekend duffer, but it still happens.

It’s particularly jarring that this ritual gathering of fans can only take place after a golfer has already dramatically missed their target. You cannot swarm a golfer who has found the middle of the fairway, but if they sent the ball miles left of where they wanted to, congratulations, here’s your front row seat. This even happens at Pro-Ams!

Anyways, again, glad everyone is okay, and as such, this could be a fun moment online rather than something much scarier. Golf fans always love seeing a pro hit a shot they also have in their arsenal.

Stay safe out there folks.

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Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.

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