Open over for Hoey after foot mishap
Michael Hoey speaks with his wife Bev and one of his coaches, Justin Parsons shortly after his withdrawal with a foot injury in the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.
Michael Hoey hobbled out of The Open — and his Russian Open defence next week — after tearing skin off his left foot.
The Ulsterman, 35, had a callus removed recently but "a huge piece of skin" came off his foot as he changed the dressing on Thursday night, leaving him in pain and unable to continue his Open challenge.
Six over of the championship and three over for the day after seven holes when he decided to call it a day, he saw a doctor and opted not to travel to Moscow for his M2M Russian Open defence next week.
Hoey said: "I’ve had calluses for months. It’s just what happens when you walk seven miles a day for 10 years.
"I couldn’t really swing it, couldn’t move into it. It was a bit unlucky.
"I wasn’t going well — I'd only it a few good shots — but I couldn’t load into my left foot and when I was walking, I was knackered, absolutely knackered."
Birdies could have helped Hoey get to the finish but after bogeys at the first, third and sixth, he said: "I needed to be going great to get adrenaline to override it.
"I’ve played nine out of 10 weeks but it’s not just that. I’ve actually torn a lot of skin off it last night.
"It is very sore and I said I’m just better coming in and not holding my playing partners up."
Hoey tried to repair the damage with a late dash to the chemist but it was impossible to go on.
He said: "I went down to Tesco’s late last night to try and get some stuff for it but it doesn’t fit in the shoe because there’s so much padding around it.
"Then I was walking differently and it felt really uncomfortable playing the shot."
The five-time European winner opted to withdraw from Russia on medical advice, explaining: "I just need to heal it up a bit."
