James Nicholas arrived at The Open after spending the previous week in Mallorca, the largest of Spain’s Balearic Islands. What seemed like a routine trip, however, ended up costing him a chance to compete in the season’s final major. The 29-year-old earned his place in the 156-player field through final qualifying, but after carding a 5-over 75 in Thursday’s opening round, the PGA Tour announced that he had withdrawn from the championship before Round 2. 

“James Nicholas withdrew prior to his second round at The Open Championship,” they wrote on X.

Nicholas later shed more light on what caused him to withdraw from the event. 

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“Unfortunately, I’ve withdrawn from the second round of The Open Championship,” he wrote on Instagram. “I’ve been battling through an injury all week and pushed through it yesterday, but unfortunately that only made things worse, and I’m unable to tee it up today.”

As far as the reason goes, Nicholas went on to explain how he suffered the injury on his socials. It happened last week in Mallorca while he was trying to get out super early for a practice session. With his hotel locked and no access to his car, he took what he called an “alternative route,” climbing over a wall before landing “flat-footed on both my feet.” 

An MRI “thankfully ruled out any fractures,” but he said the symptoms returned after his opening round, forcing him to withdraw. Calling the setback “extremely frustrating,” Nicholas said he now plans to recover and “get back to 100%.” And during this entire week, he revealed on his Instagram story that he had been soaking his feet in water. 

The Open was his second appearance in a major after qualifying thanks to his performance in the KFT. He previously competed at the U.S. Open earlier this year and finished tied for 65. However, he has missed several cuts this year, including the Panama Championship and BMW Charity Pro-Am.

Such withdrawals, however, are nothing new to the sport and its fans. Jason Day had to withdraw from the U.S. Open due to a lingering back injury, and Brooks Koepka pulled out of the RBC Canadian Open in the final round due to a hand injury. At the time of writing, the second round has already begun, with Lucas Herbert on top of the leaderboard. 

He was supposed to tee off at 11:41 a.m. local time with Thomas Detry and local Matthew Baldwin. Nicholas normally plays on the Korn Ferry Tour and is currently ranked No. 18. 

With his latest injury, it’s currently unclear which tournament he will play next. That is, of course, if he recovers fully to get back in the game.