European Tour Member Trevor Immelman has withdrawn from The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club to be with his wife who has given birth to their first child, a son, Jacob Trevor Immelman.
Immelman had not been expecting to miss the tournament at Hoylake as doctors has told the couple that the birth was not scheduled until the middle of next week. But the three time winner on The European Tour International Schedule received a call on Tuesday night telling him his wife Carminita had given birth by Caesarean section in America.
As Immelman caught a plane back to Orlando in Florida, his replacement, Australian Andrew Buckle, was catching a flight in the opposite direction on his way to Hoylake.
Immelman had said on Monday: "We went to the doctor right before I came over here and he didn't see any chance that she was going to have the kid this week."
The 26 year old, who held off Tiger Woods to capture his first US PGA Tour title two weeks ago at the Cialis Western Open in Illinois, added: "My wife really wanted me to come over to this tournament. She knows it's my favourite.
“But at the end of the day, golf is golf and you must never lose perspective. The birth of a child is a one-time experience and one I desperately want to be part of. There is life after golf and, for me, family takes top priority.”
