Four-time Major winner Ernie Els has withdrawn from The Open Championship just days before the action is due to begin at Royal Portrush.
This is the second successive year that the South African legend will have a WD next to his name at The Open, but the first ever in which he has failed to compete for the Claret Jug when eligible.
Els, now 55, who still has the option of teeing it up until the age of 60, pulled out of the running due to a bad back at Royal Troon 12 months ago after carding an 11-over 82 in round one.
No reason
Announcing the news, the R&A did not share a reason for Els’s withdrawal this year.
His replacement is South Korea’s Si Woo Kim, who was first on the alternate list taken from last week’s Official World Golf Ranking.
The ‘Big Easy’ twice lifted the Claret Jug during his illustrious career, in 2002 and 2012, first triumphing in a four-man playoff at Muirfield following a pair of US Open victories in the 1990s before repeating the achievement at Royal Lytham & St Annes a decade later.
Els missed the cut on his Open debut in 1989, but went on to play in every available edition of the championship between 1992 and 2023.
During that time, he managed 11 top-10s outside of his wins before failing to play the weekend for just the second time in 2010 on what was his 20th appearance.
Els found time to wish all those competing this week in Northern Ireland the best of luck, writing: “Wishing all the contestants playing @theopen all the very best. Hope to see everyone next year at Birkdale. The Open Championship has meant so much to myself and our whole family through the years. Thank you to @therandagolf for your continued service to our sport!”
There will still be no fewer than 11 South Africans in the 156-player field this week.
They are: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Dean Burmester, Darren Fichardt, Thriston Lawrence, Dylan Naidoo, Bryan Newman (amateur), Shaun Norris, Louis Oosthuizen, Aldrich Potgieter, Daniel van Tonder and Justin Walters.
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