British Open 2025: LIV golfer DQ’d from major qualifying after walking off course.
LIV Golf’s Sam Horsfield and Adrian Meronk both walked out of Open Championship Final Qualifying on Tuesday.
LIV Golf League member and three-time DP World Tour winner Sam Horsfield started seven over for his front nine at the Open Championship Final Qualifying at West Lancashire Golf Club. Despite still having 27 holes to get back in contention, the Englishman decided that that was enough and walked off the course after nine holes. It’s not the best look, but it’s also not uncommon in these kind of qualifying events; at last month’s U.S. Open, more than a dozen tour pros failed to finish up all 36 holes. And fellow LIV golfer Adrian Meronk also dropped out of his Final Qualifying event on Tuesday in Scotland after playing only 18 holes.
What made Horsfield’s move unusual, however, was that he apparently didn’t tell R&A officials that he was withdrawing from the event. The R&A confirmed to Golf Digest that Horsfield was ultimately “disqualified after leaving the venue without informing officials.”
The 28-year-old was one of a handful of LIV pros among the 72 golfers at West Lancashire, including Lucas Herbert, Andy Ogletree and Harold Varner III, looking to snag one of the five tickets to Royal Portrush. There were four Final Qualifying sites overall, with 20 spots into this year’s Open up for grabs. A total of14 LIV players are among those trying to earn their way into the major.
Horsfield has competed in three Open Championships to date, with his best finish being a tie for 67th in 2021. However, he won’t get the opportunity to top that result this year. A former University of Florida golfer, he earned $975,000 for his fifth-place finish at LIV Golf’s debut event, and his most recent victory on the DP World Tour came in May 2022 at the Soudal Open.
A torn labrum in his right hip, followed by surgery, kept him out for much of 2023, but he made his return to the Majesticks late in the year.
This non-finish finish is the latest in a precarious start to Horsfield’s 2025, in which he has just one top 10 over nine LIV events, with a T-7 at LIV Golf Adelaide. In his last seven starts, Horsfield has finished T-50, T-49, T-27, T-41, T-29, T-33 and T-25.
