LIV Golf star Sam Horsfield has explained his ‘disappointment’ over how he was singled out by some online last weekend for withdrawing from Open Championship Final Qualifying.
The 28-year-old Majesticks star teed it up at West Lancashire Golf Club in a bid to gain a spot on the entries list at Royal Portrush next week.
However, the Manchester-born star was forced to end his round prematurely after playing only nine holes, with Horsfield taking to social media to explain that he had felt ‘dizzy’ on the course.
He was not alone either, with several other players leaving mid-way through their rounds.
Horsfield, who was seven-over par at the time he chose to retire, was subsequently disqualified by the R&A.
But speaking to Mail Sport, the 28-year-old said the R&A were wrong to disqualify him and clarified what actually happened on the course.
Majesticks star Sam Horsfield has opened upon why the R&A made a mistake in disqualifying him from Open Qualifying this week
The 28-year-old explained last week on his Instagram story that he was woken up late at night by a fire alarm, meaning he had felt unwell and ‘dizzy’ on the course
The LIV star took to Instagram last week to break his silence on his disqualification from Open Qualifying
‘The R&A made an initial mistake disqualifying me and a number of other players in the four qualifiers.
‘I was an NR (no return) and this is very typical in a qualifier,’ Horsfield told this masthead.
‘It happens and has happened for years.’
After the Qualifying event, Horsfield took to Instagram to shed some light on his disqualification, having copped backlash online and on social media.
The 28-year-old, who signed for the Majesticks during LIV’s inaugural season in 2022, explained that he had been woken up in the middle of the night by a fire alarm in his hotel room and had subsequently slept through his early-morning alarm.
He then added that he had been feeling unwell on the course and decided to withdraw from the event, while criticising those online who had lambasted him over the move.
‘At 1am the fire alarm went off and we had to go stand outside for an hour or so,’ Horsfield wrote on his Instagram story, overlaying his comments on a post on X from NUCLR Golf.
‘I eventually got back to sleep around 5:30am for a 6am alarm, which I slept through but fortunately my caddy woke me up.
Horsfield was also spotted at the British Grand Prix this weekend giving golf lessons to F1 drivers Gabriel Bortoleto (left), Oliver Bearman (centre) Esteban Ocon (right)
He explained he was ‘disappointed’ that he was ‘singled out’ by some online after the withdrawal
‘I felt completely dizzy and out of it all day.
Horsfield added: ‘Don’t listen to the propaganda out there against LIV players by some of these pages. Hope this clears things up.’
Delving deeper into the criticism he has recieved from those online, Horsfield told Mail Sport that the ongoing bashing of LIV players is getting stale.
‘It’s disappointing that as a LIV player you get singled out by certain publications when I was one of circa 20 players doing the same thing,’ he explained.
’I think if you look at the number of fans that came out in force to watch me and a my Majesticks team-mates at the various Q sites across the UK, the fans can see beyond the noise.
‘The UK fans are the best in the world and can’t wait to see them all turn out in force at the Open and LIV UK later this month.’
He added that events this weekend had given him more motivation to push for a spot at the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
Majesticks stars Horsfield (fourth from right) and Ian Poulter (fourth from left) have been working to help provide greater opportunities for kids to help them get into golf
Their programme ‘Little Sticks’ is helping kids in schools around the UK and US get into the game
Horsfield explained how rewarding the scheme has been for both himself and the kids involved
It comes as he and his Majesticks team-mates, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Henrick Stenson, are endeavouring to help get more young people into golf, using their Little Sticks initiative.
Among several other projects the group are working on, their Little Sticks programme is aiming to unlock the potential of young golfers around the world, with the community impact programme seeing the players impart key skills on younger players in primary and secondary schools.
Little Sticks was first launched back in 2023, and since then, the Majesticks’ inspiring initiative has been a huge success.
The programme has been launched in schools in the UK and one in the US. Schools receive Little Sticks golf training and educational resources, with the programme focusing on helping to develop key life skills for children in primary and secondary schools.
‘Little Sticks has been so incredibly rewarding for the kids,’ Horsfield said.
‘You see them playing all the games and they don’t even know (in the moment) the life skills they are learning, but they are! Resilience and teamwork in abundance!’
And it appears the children love the new curriculum with survey results showing that 95 per cent of kids delivered positive results on their ability to learn new skills, 88 per cent were positively impacted in relation to their confidence, and 83 per cent said the sessions had a huge boost on their teamwork and resilience skills.
‘These are skills that will last them a lifetime,’ Horsfield added on the key takeaways from the event.
‘Not just in golf but whatever life has in store for them.
‘That’s what I love about Little Sticks, we’re not trying to find the next Majesticks player, but more importantly (through the game of golf) installing life skills these children will have in abundance for their futures.’
