Longtime ESPN anchor Sage Steele was reportedly injured Thursday following a freak accident during the first round of the PGA Championship in Oklahoma.
According to Geoff Shackelford of the Quadrilateral, Steele was struck in the face by an errant Jon Rahm tee shot at the Southern Hills Country Club. Shackelford reported one eyewitness saw Steele “on the ground, holding her nose, mouth or chin area” with her hands “covered in blood.”
Medical personnel tended to Steele immediately following the incident, which Shackelford reported the PGA of America was unaware of. The organization, instead, opted to defer to ESPN on the matter; the company has not yet offered a comment on the veteran SportsCenter personality or her condition.
According to the New York Post, Steele, an ESPN employee since 2007, has returned home to Connecticut and will not be back on the network’s coverage of the tournament this weekend.