Home favorite Joost Luiten held the clubhouse lead at the end of a curtailed first round of the Dutch Open at Zandvoort on Thursday, but the day was overshadowed by an injury to Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti.
The 31-year-old BMW International Open champion was hit in the head by a ball and rushed to hospital, although European Tour officials expressed hope that Zanotti would quickly recover.
“The latest report from the hospital is that all neurological tests have come back clear. We wish Fabrizio a speedy recovery,” European Tour tournament director Miguel Vidaor said.
Zanotti was on the 16th fairway, the seventh hole of his round, when he was hit on the forehead by a drive from Frenchman Alexandre Kaleka, who was hitting off the 14th hole.
Blood began pouring from the wound, with Zanotti’s playing partner Hennie Otto immediately rendering assistance before medical staff rushed to the scene.
Ambulances were then called and the Asuncion-born player was rushed to a local hospital.
Chile’s Felipe Aguilar, who was one of the first at the scene, and Argentina’s Ricardo Gonzalez traveled in the ambulance with Zanotti and withdrew from the event to stay with the Paraguayan.
Play was suspended for about two hours because of the incident and bad light later forced the action to be suspended, leaving more than 50 players to wait until yesterday morning to finish their rounds.
Defending champion Luiten began his title defense with a five-under-par 65 that featured three birdies and an eagle.
He leads by one stroke from Frenchman Gary Stal and Italian duo Edoardo Molinari and Andrea Pavan, while Scotland’s Jamie McLeary was also five-under with two holes of his round still to play.
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