Four-time Major winner, Ernie Els has withdrawn from The Open Championship just days before the action is due to begin at Royal Portrush.
This is the second successive year that the South African will have a WD next to his name at the sole European Major but the first ever in which he has failed to compete for the Claret Jug when eligible.
The 55-year-old past champion, who still has the option of teeing it up until the age of 60, pulled out of the running due to a bad back at Royal Troon 12 months ago after carding an 11-over 82 in round one.
But, announcing the news this year, the R&A did not share a reason for Els' Open withdrawal.
His replacement is South Korea's Si Woo Kim, who was first on the alternate list taken from last week's Official World Golf Ranking.
The Big Easy twice won this trophy throughout his illustrious career, in 2002 and 2012, first triumphing in a four-man playoff at Muirfield following a pair of US Open victories in the 1990s before repeating the achievement at Royal Lytham & St Annes a decade later.
Els missed the cut on his Open debut in 1989 but went on to play in every available running of the championship between 1992 and 2023. During that time, he managed 11 top-10s outside of his wins before failing to play the weekend for just the second time in 2010 on what was his 20th appearance.
In the years since Els' second Open victory, he has missed the cut six times - including three in a row between 2022 and 2024. He has not played in any of the other Majors since the 2019 US Open.
His most recent competitive appearance arrived at the US Senior Open two weeks ago. At Broadmoor Golf Club, Els finished T13th at even par thanks to rounds of 72, 69, 68 and 71.
On Monday, Paul Waring withdrew from The Open with Davis Riley replacing the Englishman in the field.
