ZANOTTI INJURED AT KLM DUTCH OPEN

By Torleif Sorenson on 9/11/14

Play at the European Tour's KLM Dutch Open was temporarily suspended earlier today after Fabrizio Zanotti suffered a head injury. The Paraguayan golfer was hit in the head by a wayward tee-shot by French golfer Alexandre Kaleka. The scene was captured by photographers, but we have decided only to show the departing ambulance instead, out of respect for Zanotti.

Fellow tour players Felipe Aguilar and Ricardo Gonzalez not only accompanied Zanotti to the hospital, but they actually withdrew from the tournament in order to stay with him.

The accident occurred on the 16th fairway of Kennemer Golf & Country Club in the North Holland town of Zandvoort. Tournament director Miguel Vidaor later told the press that "the latest report from hospital is that all neurological tests have come back clear. We wish Fabrizio a speedy recovery."

Thankfully, Zanotti has been released from hospital and posted these updates on Twitter, the English versions of which are duplicated below:

Thank a lot for the messages, I have been discharged from the hospital. Now I will have to take a couple of weeks off.

— Fabrizio Zanotti (@fabrizanotti) September 11, 2014

Thanks a lot to all the players for the messages and especially to Ricardo Gonzalez and @FelipeAgui for being always with me!!!

— Fabrizio Zanotti (@fabrizanotti) September 11, 2014

Zanotti captured his first European Tour victory and his third professional win overall back in June, when he won the BMW International Open in a playoff over Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Grégory Havret, and Henrik Stenson.


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Image via Twitter