Hoey hobbles home from Hoylake with hole in left foot

Michael Hoey’s Open Championship came to a painful end at Hoylake yesterday as he was forced to withdraw during the second round due to a foot injury.

Hoey, who had begun the day at three over par, abandoned the Major after seven holes after becoming unable to swing properly or walk free of pain. His discomfort was caused when he inadvertently took a large lump of skin out of the sole of his left foot.

“I’ve had a big callous for months, took the tape off and the whole thing’s come off. It’s deep. I couldn’t really swing it, couldn’t move into it,” Hoey said. “It was a bit unlucky. I wasn’t going well. I’d a couple of good shots but I couldn’t load into my left foot and when I was walking, I was knackered, absolutely knackered. I needed to be going great to get adrenaline to override it.