Frenchman Romain Langasque has revealed he suffered a back injury on the fourth hole that led to his withdrawal from The Open midway through his opening round.
Several golfers have found it difficult navigating their way through the tricky Royal Troon course with the likes of Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau both suffering horrendous opening rounds.
But Langasque wasn’t even able to finish his round after withdrawing from the event midway through playing the eighth hole.
The 29-year-old started his round with a bogey on the first hole before bouncing back with a birdie on the second.
Romain Langasque played just seven holes before withdrawing
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However, back-to-back bogeys on holes four and five were followed by another dropped shot on the seventh.
Things went from bad to worse on the signature Postage Stamp par-three eighth hole.
His tee shot on the 123-yard hole went only 84 yards and landed in the thick rough.
Langasque then thinned his wedge over the back of the green before taking a few steps forward and then turning around and removed his hat to signal his withdrawal.
“He just hit it a wee bit fat,” Scottish golfing icon Sam Torrance said.
“Oooh, this one doesn’t look too good either. He’s kind of hitting it on the run now, he’s three-over.”
The former Amateur champion shook hands with his playing partners CT Pan and Yuto Katsuragawa before walking up to a tournament official.
Langasque gestured towards his back as the reason for his withdrawal and later confirmed on social media that he suffered an injury earlier in the round.
Romain Langasque was four-over par when he withdrew
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He wrote: “Hurt my back on hole 4 and it became worth and worth after it … see you next year @TheOpen.”
Langasque is the first player to withdraw midway through his round and this year’s Championships.
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Romain Langasque was playing in his fifth Open Championship
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Sebastian Soderberg pulled out of The Open on Wednesday due to a back and rib injury that kept him out of last week’s Scottish Open.
Langasque had been enjoying a strong run of results on tour having finished tied-ninth at the BMW International Open earlier this month.
That was followed by a brilliant run at the Scottish Open where he finished third behind Robert MacIntyre and Adam Scott.