After taking part in practice rounds this week at England's Royal Lytham & St. Annes, Swedish-born golfer Robert Karlsson made the head-scratching decision on Wednesday to officially withdraw from the 2012 British Open a mere hours before he was scheduled to tee off.
The 42-year-old Swede explained his decision to fans on Twitter:
Just pulled out of the British open. Have got into some bad habits in my game and routine that I need to address. taking a few weeks off.
— Robert Karlsson (@robertkarlsson) July 18, 2012
Clearly the brutal roughs and inconsistent weather conditions made Karlsson think twice about laboring through a pair of unbearable 18-hole rounds since, you know, he apparently has no chance at winning/competing. Because for as strange as this decision might be to every golf fan on the planet, Karlsson knows his body and golf swing better than anybody, and could merely be afraid of dropping an all-too-relatable score of 90 on the unsuspecting public or something.
Karlsson joins 2012 U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson, Mark O'Meara and Jason Day as the fourth player who has pulled out of this year's event. While there was initially some thought that Ben Crane would be taking Karlsson's open spot, Open officials opted to carry on without a replacement with the first round just hours away.
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