Ishikawa gets Open spot after Stricker pulls out
(Reuters) - World number 19 Steve Stricker will miss next week's British Open at Hoylake after deciding not to take up his exemption, organisers said in a statement on Tuesday.
The 47-year-old American, a part-time player in recent seasons who also missed the Open championship in 2013, is replaced by Ryo Ishikawa of Japan.
Stricker told reporters at last week's Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia that he was undecided whether to make the trip across the Atlantic for the year's third major.
"I'm not sure about the British yet but still looking forward to playing four or five tournaments before the year's out, or maybe six, and see what happens from here on out," Stricker said.
"I'm leaning on not going. That is my gut instinct right now. It will be a last-minute decision probably."
Stricker, who qualified for the Open through his world ranking, has made the cut in all eight of his U.S. PGA Tour starts this season, recording one top-10 finish and four more in the top-25.
The Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club starts on July 17.
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Tony Jimenez)
