Justin Rose forced to pull out of The Open at St Andrews

Justin Rose pulled out of The Open with a back injury and was replaced for his 8.14am tee time by Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino.

Rose had ended Wednesday’s practice round prematurely, leading to speculation he may have sustained a problem, and he did not arrive at the first tee for his scheduled time.

Therefore the 26-year-old Hoshino joined the Ryder Cup dream team pairing of Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari, the 2018 champion, as a late replacement.

First reserve had been Alex Noren but he chose to go to the PGA Tour’s Barracuda Championship in California, which starts later on Thursday.

‘On the fourth hole yesterday during my practice round, I made a swing with my driver and started to feel pain in my lower back,’ Rose wrote on Twitter.

‘I’ve been getting round-the-clock treatment but it just doesn’t feel ready to compete in this prestigious championship.’

Rose’s long-time Ryder Cup teammate, Ian Poulter, meanwhile, made an inauspicious start as he almost missed the widest fairway in golf, pulling his mid-iron heading well left across the 18th fairway with his ball finishing just a couple of yards short of the out of bounds line which borders The Links road on the fringe of the course.

He produced a good recovery, however, to make par and as he made his way down the course the mood appeared to lighten with fans greeting him cordially on the third tee.

Poulter’s fellow LIV rebels did not receive such a frosty welcome, with Phil Mickelson giving a thumbs-up to those fans who shouted ‘Let’s go Phil’.

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