Wise ‘sore but fine’ after being hit by errant PGA tee shot

South African-born American Aaron Wise said he was sore but all right on Friday at the PGA Championship after being struck in the head by an errant tee shot.

Wise was struck on the right side of his head by a shot from Australian Cameron Smith in the second round on a windy day at Southern Hills.

As Wise bent down in the rough on the right side of the seventh hole to identify his ball, Smith blasted his tee shot on the adjacent second hole.

The ball soared way to the right, pushed that way by a prevailing wind on a gusty day, and Smith yelled “Fore” to warn of a shot going off target.

Unfortunately, at 300 yards away, the folks on the seventh hole didn’t hear the warning.

“I was surprised my ball wasn’t in the fairway,” Wise told The Golf Channel. “Next thing you know, there was a little bit of ringing in my head and I was down on the fairway.”

American Joel Dahmen, a playing partner of Wise, described the strike as a “glancing blow” that sent Smith’s ball 40 to 50 yards further down the adjacent fairway.

“All the spectators heard it. It was loud,” Dahmen the the Golf Channel. “He was definitely shook.”

Smith had a line through the trees to return to the second hole and went on to make par.

Wise took a water bottle from a nearby rules official and put it on his head. He would eventually send his second shot into the rough right of the fairway but chipped just outside five feet of the cup and made his putt for a remarkable par.

Wise, a back-nine starter, also parred the eighth hole and finished his round with a bogey for a two-over par 72, leaving him on one-over 141 after 36 holes.

The clearly head-strong golfer rested and visited the medical tent after the round, but declared himself all right.

“A little sore,” Wise said. “But I feel fine.”