Past Champion Louis Oosthuizen Forced To Withdraw From 2026 Open Due To Injury

Louis Oosthuizen has been forced to withdraw from the 2026 Open due to injury.

The 2010 champion at St Andrews took to social media to update fans that he could not play this week, or at next week's LIV Golf UK tournament, due to a back issue.

Ooosthuizen has been replaced in the field by fellow South African Aldrich Potgieter, who narrowly missed out in the Open Last-Chance Qualifier.

It means the South African, who captains the Stinger GC LIV Golf team, misses The Open for the first time since 2008.

He also withdrew prior to the final round of LIV Golf Andalucia in his last start.

"Not the update I was hoping to share," Oosthuizen wrote on social media.

"Unfortunately, due to a back injury, I've had to make the difficult decision to withdraw from both The Open Championship and LIV Golf's JCB event.

"It's incredibly disappointing to miss two events I always look forward to, but my priority now is to focus on my recovery and make sure I'm fully fit before returning to competition.

"Thank you to everyone for the support and kind messages. I'll be backing the Southern Guards from afar and look forward to being back out there as soon as I can."

Oosthuizen adds his name to the big names missing the 2026 Open as well as the past champions not playing at Royal Birkdale.

He currently sits 32nd in the LIV Golf standings, with a best finish of T8 so far this season in Hong Kong.

The World No.419 will be eyeing up LIV Golf New York from August 6-9 as his next start.