Newly-minted Ryder Cup rookie Thomas Pieters withdrew from the European Tour's KLM Open just hours before his opening-round tee time after a bee sting led to an allergic reaction.
Pieters is the event's defending champion, and he was set to make his first start since Darren Clarke added him to the European roster for Hazeltine. Instead, the 24-year-old Belgian posted a note to his social media accounts Thursday morning explaining his decision.
"The very unfortunate worst case scenario just happened," Pieters wrote. "One bee sting on Monday during the golf challenge against Joost Luiten, led to a major allergic reaction with flu symptoms and forced me to pull out of my favorite tournament of the year, the KLM Open.