Els withdraws from the Open, but 11 South Africans to tee it up at Royal Portrush
Ernie Els of South Africa in action at the senior US Open Championship at Broadmoor Golf Club on June 29. Picture:Two-time champion Ernie Els has withdrawn from this week's Open Championship at Royal Portrush, which tees off on Thursday.
Golf fans will be disappointed to not see Els in action at the year's final Major.
Els has one of the best records at the Open, a tournament he won in 2002 and 2012.
By not playing the Open this week, the 55-year-old Els will end a run of 32 straight appearances at the tournament, and 33 appearances in total.
He played his first Open in 1989 at Royal Troon, and then from 1992 – his next Open when he finished in a tie for fifth at Muirfield – didn't miss an Open until now. The tournament wasn't held in 2020 due to Covid.
Els has two wins, three runner-up finishes and two third-place finishes in his Open career. In total, he has nine top-five finishes.
The Royal and Ancient, the organisers of the Open, haven't given a reason for Els' withdrawal and the player hasn't said anything either about not playing. He played at this last weekend's Dick's Open on the Champions Tour where he finished in a tie for 16th with a score of eight-under-par after rounds of 70, 69 and 69.
In his most recent Open appearances, Els missed the cut in 2023 and had to withdraw with a back injury at Royal Troon last year.
Louis Oosthuizen, winner of the Open in 2010, will tee it up at Royal Portrush from Thursday. Picture:Oosthuizen and the other SA golfers in field
This week's 150th Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland will, however, see 11 South Africans tee it up on Thursday, including former champion Louis Oosthuizen, who now plays his regular golf on the LIV Tour.
Oosthuizen won the Open at St Andrews in 2010. His other best finishes are a tied second (2015) and tied third (2021).
The other South Africans in the field are Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Dean Burmester, Darren Fichardt, Thriston Lawrence, Dylan Naidoo, amateur Bryan Newman, Shaun Norris, Aldrich Potgieter, Daniel van Tonder and Justin Walters.
In five appearances Bezuidenhout's best finish is tied 49th at Royal Liverpool in 2023, Burmester's best in three showings is tied 11th at St Andrews in 2022 while Fichardt has so far missed six cuts in seven starts.
Lawrence was in contention at Troon last year before finishing fourth (in three Open appearances), while this will be Naidoo's first Open after he captured the SA Open title earlier this year to qualify.
Norris has played in five Opens before with a best finish of tied 61st in 2018, while Potgieter missed the cut in his first and only appearance up to now, as an amateur at St Andrews in 2022.
Van Tonder will be on debut while Walters' only appearance saw him miss the cut in 2014 at Royal Liverpool.
Newman will be chasing the silver medal, awarded to the best amateur, after the now 18-year-old qualified to play this week by winning the Africa Amateur Championship at Leopard Creek in February as a 17-year-old.
The defending champion at Portrush is American Xander Schauffele.
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