Golf star Romain Langasque, who went viral after withdrawing from The Open Championship after just eight holes, has explained his decision on social media.
Langasque's game took a turn for the worse at the challenging eighth hole, 'The Postage Stamp', when his tee shot landed just 84 yards into trouble at the 123-yard par-three. His situation worsened as he seemed to shank his second shot while wading through the thick fescue grass.
The DP World Tour star had enough and appeared to tell his caddie 'I'm done', before respectfully removing his cap, shaking hands with his playing partners and group officials, and exiting the golf course.
READ MORE: Dustin Johnson left to regret brutal four-hole stretch at The Open
READ MORE: Tiger Woods admits mistake as honest Open admission makes retirement stance clear
Langasque later explained on X (formerly Twitter) that an injury in his back led to his abrupt departure. "Hurt my back on hole 4 and it became worse and worse after it," the world No. 85 tweeted to his followers. "See you next year @TheOpen."
Before his withdrawal, Langasque had been struggling with the testing conditions at Royal Troon. He started his championship with a bogey-five at the first hole on Thursday, but quickly bounced back by making a birdie at the second after hitting an impressive approach into six-feet.
He managed to regain his composure at the third hole, but his back issues flared up again on the next hole. After a problematic tee shot down the left, Langasque had to wrestle his second attempt out of the thick rough, only for his ball to bounce from one problem area into a challenging fairway bunker.
Follow us on X for the best and latest in sports news
Forced to chip his way out of the sandy trap, Langasque managed to land himself onto the fairway, but still faced a daunting 250 yards to the green for his fourth shot. Despite an impressive strike, he could only manage a two-putt from 22-feet, marking his card with a second bogey of the day.
His performance continued to falter with two more bogeys in three holes at the fifth and seventh, before a mistake at The Postage Stamp proved too much for the 29 year old. Langasque wasn't the only one to end his championship early, as two more withdrawals appeared on the leaderboard ahead of Friday's second round.
The week also ended prematurely for two former champions, Ernie Els and John Daly. Els, like Langasque, struggled with a back problem throughout his opening round.
Daly, on the other hand, cited a knee issue as the reason for his withdrawal. Both veterans had tough opening rounds, finishing at 11-over-par through 18 holes.
Most Popular
Comments / 0