Golfer speaks out after being accused of rage-quitting The Open at Royal Troon

Romain Langasque has provided an explanation after he quit The Open on the eighth hole, following a disastrous effort that saw him hit a tee shot just 84 yards. The Frenchman ended his time at Royal Troon with a score of four over par through eight, but has since shone a light on why he walked off the course.

Langasque was one of several golfers to struggle in the adverse Scottish weather, but had entered the competition in fine form after finishing third at the Scottish Open last week with a score of 15 under.

Having walked up to the eighth, the 29-year-old ended up well short of the 120-yard par three. He then skulled a chip way over the green on the shortest hole, before looking back at his caddie and shaking his head.

He could be heard saying “I’m done” before walking over to playing partners CT Pan and Yuto Katsuragwa, removing his baseball cap and promptly quitting mid-way through his round.

Many on social media felt that Langasque had simply given up, with one post on X (formerly known as Twitter) catching the golfer’s attention, as @ForePlayPod captioned a clip of his final shot: “Sometimes you just know it ain’t your week.”

But Langasque replied by revealing that he had picked up a back injury that worsened when he tried to play through the pain, writing: “Hurt my back on hole 4 and it became worth (sic) and worth (sic) after it … see you next year @TheOpen”

The one-time DP World Tour winner opened with a bogey, before pulling back with a birdie at the second. However, further bogeys at the fourth, fifth and seventh before an overhit wedge on the eighth that landed in the fescue grass.

"He just hit it a wee bit fat," Ryder Cup legend Sam Torrance said on commentary during Langasque’s wayward effort on the eighth. "Oooh, this one doesn't look too good either. He's kind of hitting it on the run now, he's three-over."

But footage later emerged of Langasque clutching his back in pain, before officially listing an injury to that area as the reason for his withdrawal.

He became the third player to pull out of the 152nd edition of the competition, after Sebastian Soderberg withdrew on Wednesday afternoon with a back and rib injury. David Duval, 2001 champion, also announced he would not be participating last week.

Langasque was far from the only player to suffer a disappointing afternoon in the Scottish wind and rain, as Rory McIlroy finished seven-over, just two shots worse than US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau. Shane Lowry tops the leaderboard.