Ryder Cup fan left blinded by Koepka shot speaks out about impact of injuries

The Ryder Cup fan who was left blinded by a wayward Brooks Koepka shot has hammered event organisers, claiming she could have been killed.

Corine Remande’s eye exploded after a tee shot flew into her right eye, leaving her with permanent damage which will change her life forever.

Mrs Remande, 49, had travelled from Egypt with her husband Raphael for the golfing spectacular.

But their dream trip turned to horror as they stood down the fairway of the sixth hole at Le Golf National club in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, just outside of Paris.

Mrs Remande is planning to take legal action against event organisers, who claim that adequate warnings were not given before the ball came flying in the direction of the fans.

"I hope that this terrible accident will improve safety for the public," she told BBC Sport.


"The doctor said immediately to my husband that it was a very big explosion in my eye and it was impossible for me now to see again with this eye.

"I don’t know how to live with only one eye. I like walking, sport, going to the gym and playing golf."

Mrs Remande added that she was set to consult lawyers in a bid to seek damages.

She said: "More than anything I want them to take care of all the medical bills to make sure there is no risk of infection."

Koepka immediately approached Mrs Remande after seeing the damage that his ball had caused.


She claims that she does not blame him for the accident and "appreciated the gesture" for him to come over immediately.

"I tried to stay positive with him so that he didn’t lose his concentration," she said.

"But once I was taken away, I didn’t hear anything from the organisers."

American Koepka spoke about the emotional damage the incident had caused him the day after he found out about the extent of Mrs Remande’s injuries.

He said: “Yesterday was one of the worst days of my life. I haven’t had too many tragedies in my personal family where there has been a loss or any accident. I’ve been lucky in that sense.

“So when I was told the news about Mrs Remande I was heartbroken. My stomach sank and yesterday was probably one of the hardest days of trying to focus on playing golf, knowing what is going to come.



“I don’t get to play with my brother very much and I brought my caddie here to play but I wasn’t very talkative as I spent and hour and a half on the phone and making text messages to get the real story of what was going on.

“It’s sad and I am torn up about it. We reached out to Mrs Remande and her husband to see how things are going and we didn’t hear back last night.

“I’m looking forward to speaking to her today or in the next few days because there is nobody who feels worse about this than I do. It’s a tragic accident what happened and I’m heartbroken, I’m all messed up inside.

“In my career it will be the one shot I definitely regret even though everyone from the Ryder Cup and the PGA of America have assured me she will get the care she needs. It’s upsetting, it really is. I hit a golf ball and someone lost their sight in their eye.

“The European Tour and the PGA Tour do an unbelievable job on the set-up but unfortunately we can’t always hit the fairway every time. It seems every week someone gets hit.”

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