Golf-Open-Immelman pulls out of Bethpage due to tendinitis

FARMINGDALE, New York, June 14 (Reuters) - Trevor Immelman, last year's U.S. Masters champion, has withdrawn from next week's U.S. Open because of tendinitis in his left wrist and elbow, organisers said on Sunday.

The 29-year-old South African has been replaced in the 156-strong field at Bethpage State Park by American Clinton Jensen.

World number 43 Immelman was the second top-50 player to pull out of the 109th U.S. Open.

Fourteenth-ranked Swede Robert Karlsson, the 2008 European number one, withdrew on Friday due to an eye infection.

Karlsson, who tied for fourth in last year's U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, was replaced by American Andrew Svoboda.

American Dudley Hart, a double winner on the PGA Tour, pulled out on Saturday because of a back injury, his spot going to 20-year-old amateur Scott Lewis of Goleta, California.

The second major championship of the year starts on Thursday when world number one Tiger Woods will defend the title he clinched 12 months ago in a gripping playoff with fellow American Rocco Mediate. (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Ed Osmond; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)