LIV Golf's Sam Horsfield Defends Open Championship Final Qualifying Withdrawal

LIV Golf's Sam Horsfield has defended his decision to withdraw from Open Championship Final Qualifying after just nine holes on Tuesday.

The Majesticks player was enduring a torrid start to what should have been 36 holes at West Lancashire Golf Club, posting seven-over on his front nine at a course he was successful at 12 months ago.

With qualification for the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush having turned into a monumental task, Horsfield apparently opted to departed the course at the turn and the field of 72 was marginally reduced almost immediately.

In the end, Alex Fitzpatrick, Kazuma Kobori and Kieran Vincent were also marked down as 'disqualified' from the West Lancs site after failing to complete their allotted number of holes.

But it was the LIV golfer whose embryonic exit caused the most intrigue as multiple reports stated that he had walked off the links course without telling his playing partners or - crucially - the R&A officials in north-west England.

Shortly after Final Qualifying had wrapped up across all four sites, the 28-year-old responded to said stories and explained his actions.

On his Instagram story, Horsfield said: "So I flew back home Sunday night and landed into Heathrow at 4pm, by the time I got up to West Lancs it was about late. Had a bit of dinner and fell asleep at 10:30/11pm.

"At 1am the fire alarm went off and we had to go stand outside for an hour or so. I eventually got back to sleep around 5:30am for a 6am alarm which I slept thru, but fortunately my caddy woke me up.

"I felt completely dizzy and out of it all day. Don’t listen to the propaganda out there against LIV players by some of these pages. Hope this clears things up. See you guys in Valderrama next week."

Horsfield's withdrawal marked a decidedly mixed day at Final Qualifying for his Majesticks squad, with Ian Poulter and his son, Luke both missing out by three strokes at Royal Cinque Ports.

However, co-captain Lee Westwood topped the scoring at Dundonald Links on seven-under to ensure half of the LIV team will have a tee time at Royal Portrush.

Westwood - who will join Majesticks teammate and 2016 Open champion, Henrik Stenson in Northern Ireland - qualified for his 28th Open Championship and first Major since 2022 thanks to an inspired afternoon performance, backing up a first-round 70 with a second-round 67.

Dean Burmester triumphed at Royal Cinque Ports by four strokes to earn his latest Major start while Lucas Herbert topped the standings at West Lancs by one shot, ensuring LIV golfers won three of the four Final Qualifying events.

The 153rd Open Championship will feature a total of 19 pros from the PIF-backed circuit when it takes place between July 17-20.