Noren withdraws from Open Championship

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Alexander Noren of Sweden has withdrawn from the Open Championship at St. Andrews.

The R&A did not disclose why Noren, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Sunday, had to withdraw. He was replaced in the field by Hiroshi Iwata of Japan.

In addition, Richie Ramsay of Scotland has replaced Tim Clark of South Africa in the field for next week's British Open at St. Andrews.

The R&A did not give an official reason for Clark's withdrawal.

Noren, who qualified from the current Race to Dubai standings on the European Tour, is the third player to withdraw in the past five days. Defending champion Rory McIlroy took himself out of the Open because of an ankle injury from playing soccer. Chris Kirk withdrew Saturday because of a hand injury.

The Open begins on Thursday.

This article was from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.