Sage Steele in 2013 at the espnW summit. DANA POINT, CA – OCTOBER 09: Sage Steele speaks onstage at the 2013 espnW: Women + Sports Summit at St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort on October 9, 2013 in Dana Point, California. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images)

On Thursday, ESPN’s Sage Steele was hit in the face by a Jon Rahm tee shot at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, OK. Steele received medical attention locally, then travelled home to Connecticut for further treatment. On Saturday, via ESPN PR, she offered a statement of appreciation for those who had sent her support:

It’s not clear yet exactly how badly Steele (seen above at an espnW summit in 2013) was hurt, but the ESPN broadcast’s shot-tracking data had the ball that hit her travelling 281 yards off the tee at 181 miles per hour. So that certainly has significant injury potential, and Steele’s description of the medical care she needed afterwards in both Tulsa and Connecticut makes it clear this was serious.

Steele has been with ESPN since 2007, and has hosted the noon SportsCenter with Matt Barrie since February 2021. She was covering this tournament for SportsCenter. We wish her all the best as she recovers.

[ESPN PR on Twitter]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.