Fans were gathered around Kevin Stadler, Jonathan Hodge and Shaun Micheel this weekend to witness the latter holes of the second round of the WinCo Foods Portland Open, an Oregon-based Web.com Tour event. Looks like things went a little haywire.
Gossip surrounding the unfortunate accident surfaced Friday, and now, it appears that Stadler’s club was responsible for the damage. Stadler was on the 15th hole of the second round Friday night when he “slammed his club to the turf in anger and up against his foot.”
A fan was hit by a broken club and required stitches Friday at the https://t.co/TPY67ehbfM Portland Open.
Kevin Stadler slammed his club in frustration causing his club head to break and struck a fan in the head.
The fan required six stitches and was released from the hospital.— Ron Mintz (@MintzGolf) August 18, 2018
The club subsequently “broke somewhere near the bottom of the shaft,” its head came loose, and then the broken piece “flew into the gallery” where it struck the spectator.
Stadler, whose father, Craig, won the Masters in 1982, missed the cut in the last regular-season Web.com Tour event and was not made available for comment, Harig said.
Shaun Micheel posted about the incident but has since deleted it.
To recap Micheel’s story: A playing partner slammed his 7-iron against the ground after a poor tee shot, breaking the club near the bottom. That broken clubhead then, terrifyingly, rocketed into the crowd and hit a spectator in the head. It was all an incredibly unfortunate accident that had the player shaken. Golf can be deadly.
