Nicolas Colsaerts's professional career ended not with a birdie but with a tearful walk up the 18th at Rinkven International Golf Club on Friday, the 43-year-old Belgian missing the cut at the $2.75 million Soudal Open and stepping away from competitive golf after 26 years and more than 500 tournaments.
Colsaerts had technically retired at the end of last season but returned for a four-event farewell run that took him through the Mauritius Open, the Australian Open and the BMW Australian PGA Championship in December 2025, before culminating at his home tournament near Antwerp. He finished two strokes outside the cutline at Rinkven, ending his final professional round with the kind of ceremony that left little doubt this time was final.
An estimated 5,000 Belgian fans lined the closing stretch to applaud him in, and Colsaerts fought back tears as he tried to put the moment into words.
"I'm so grateful," he said. "The faces along the way, wherever it is, are really heartwarming."
The three-time DP World Tour winner — who built much of his identity around being one of the longest hitters on the European circuit — leaves the playing side with the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah as his signature week. Partnering Lee Westwood in Friday fourball, Colsaerts holed eight birdies and an eagle to defeat Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker 1 up, the most decisive Belgian contribution to a Ryder Cup ever made.
He returned to that idea on Friday when reflecting on what his career has meant inside Belgium, a country that has produced only a handful of internationally ranked players in his lifetime.
"I come from a small country, and so when we have somebody that shines at something, we kind of have a soft spot for them," Colsaerts said. "I've always tried to be genuine, I've never forgotten where I come from, and I'm a proud Belgian."
The farewell is not a full retirement from the sport. Colsaerts has joined LIV Golf's commentary team for the 2026 season as a full-time analyst alongside Brett Rumford, replacing Dom Boulet and Pat Perez in the booth. He has already worked a handful of broadcasts and is expected to be on call for the upcoming LIV Golf Korea event in Busan next week.
While Colsaerts walked off the course, the tournament itself continued. South Africa's Zander Lombard backed up his bogey-free 63 from Thursday with another low round to remain the man to catch, while Spaniard Mark Roca posted a 66 to sit two shots adrift in tied fourth. Casey Jarvis, a two-time DP World Tour winner this season, joined Roca and Richard Sterne on 10 under after a bogey-free 65, and South Africa's Robin Williams climbed into the picture with an eagle at the par-five sixth.
A bigger moment for the home crowd came from Eddie Pepperell, who made his fourth career hole-in-one at the 15th in his 300th DP World Tour start, briefly stealing the soundtrack from the Colsaerts farewell.
For Belgium, though, Friday was always about one man. Colsaerts ended his round signing autographs on the way to the recorder's hut and stopping for one final embrace from his playing partners on the bridge crossing the lake at 18. He leaves the playing ranks as the most accomplished Belgian male player of his generation and the only one to have beaten Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker in a Ryder Cup match.
For now, the booth awaits.
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*Originally published on [Golf News](https://golfnews.global/article/nicolas-colsaerts-soudal-open-farewell-rinkven-2026-belgian-ovation-liv-golf-commentary). Visit for full coverage.*
