SPECTATORS at the US Open will be given free bottled water after traces of E.coli were discovered in a public water fountain at Erin Hills.
Nobody has been reported ill after drinking from the hydration facility during practice days at the second major of the year, and it has been confirmed that it was shut off on Thursday morning.
Tournament organisers the United States Golf Association (USGA) said in a statement: “The Washington Ozaukee Public Health Department notified the USGA that it identified evidence of E.coli bacteria from a sample from one hydration station near the 12th hole at Erin Hills golf course.
“The water line to the hydration system was disconnected immediately and bottled water was provided to guests while we waited for the preliminary results to be confirmed by the public health department.
“The safety and security of our guests is of paramount importance to the USGA. Out of an abundance of caution, we will offer all guests complimentary bottled water at all four hydration stations throughout the duration of the championship.”
Meanwhile, it was revealed that the pilot of the blimp which crashed and burst into flames near the site of the US Open on Thursday had been involved in two previous emergency landings.
In November 2015, Trevor Thompson was forced to make an emergency landing on a baseball field at a school in Long Island as he attempted to fly an advertising blimp to a Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan.
And in March 2016 he was forced to land in a construction site just off Interstate 95 in Philadelphia when his engine failed.
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