The Floridian, who played at The K Club last year and was looking forward to returning to the scene of the USA’s 2007 Walker Cup win, hopes to be fit for the BMW PGA at Wentworth, the Alfred Dunhill Links and the Open de France.
“I sustained a minor back/rib injury early in the week at the BMW Championship that carried on last week at the Tour Championship,” Horschel posted on social media. “My body needs another week to recover so the injury doesn’t continue to linger. I’m disappointed to miss the Irish Open, as I enjoyed and loved my time at The K Club last year.”
West Waterford’s Gary Hurley will be in Newcastle next week, and he showed form in the Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre in the Swiss Alps yesterday, carding five birdies in a 68 to share 38th place on two-under.
He was five strokes behind Spain’s Alfredo Garcia Heredia and England’s Alex Fitzpatrick, whose brother Matt opened his bid for a third win in Crans Montana with a four-under 66. The leaders shot seven-under 63s to lead by a shot from England’s Matt Wallace, the Netherlands’ Daan Huizing, Australian Jason Scrivener and Swede Henrik Norlander.
On the Challenge Tour, it was a day to forget for the six-man Irish contingent in the Big Green Egg German Challenge.
Ballymena’s Dermot McElroy and Galway rookie Liam Nolan shot one-over 73s to lie one stroke outside the projected cut mark at Wittelsbacher Golfclub but the rest have their work cut out to make the weekend.
Mark Power and Conor O’Rourke signed for 75s, Jonny Caldwell shot 78, and John Murphy an 83 as Denmark’s John Axelsen fired an impressive eight-under 64 to lead by a shot.
Meanwhile, Cormac Sharvin (31) went bogey-free for the second day running to put himself in position to progress from the First Stage of the DP World Tour Qualifying School in Belgium.
The former Walker Cup star from Ardglass shot a six-under 65 in the third round at Millennium Golf to move up to joint eighth on 14-under par, just one stroke inside the top 15 and ties who will progress to next month’s Second Stage after today’s final round.
On the LET Access Series, rookie Sara Byrne will be playing for a winner’s cheque for €13,600 when she makes her professional debut in the Rose Ladies Open at Brocket Hall today.
The prize fund was increased by €15,000 to €85,000, making it the biggest purse on the LETAS schedule.
The Douglas star (23) is joined in Hertfordshire by Lurgan’s Annabel Wilson (23), who missed the cut by three strokes on her professional debut in last week’s KPMG Women’s Irish Open.
On the Alps Tour, an opening six-under 66 left Castle’s Robert Moran just a shot behind France’s Benjamin Kedochim in the Longwy Alps Open in France.
Omega European Masters, Live, Sky Sports Golf, 12.30