Mark Calcavecchia hopes he’s on the mend, but he wouldn’t wish COVID-19 on anyone. The PGA Tour Champions veteran and former British Open champion tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday, and drove his 45-foot Tiffin motor coach 1,800 miles from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, site of this week’s Sanford International, to his home in South Florida.
“Driving with COVID wasn’t that much fun,” Calcavecchia said after being reached via telephone. “Somehow I did it in 3 ½ days, but when I got home everything just kind of fell apart.”
Calcavecchia, 60, played in the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National event and finished T-15, his best result of the season. He and wife Brenda drove to Omaha, Nebraska, for a couple of days, where he conducted a clinic for members at The Players Club on Sept. 4. Longtime caddie Troy Martin, and his wife, Mary, are members there and 40-50 people attended with social distancing practices in place, Calcavecchia said. Attendees wore masks, but two days later, Martin and his wife, Mary, tested positive after she suffered from headaches.
Update from Covid-19 Ville. This shit is very real! And it sucks. I’ve never had so many symptoms hit me all at the same time. I keep moving around the house trying to escape it. Please be safe and wear ur mask. I thought I was but with this evil shit you never know 🤬🤬🤬🤬
— Mark Calcavecchia (@MarkCalc) September 12, 2020
Calcavecchia continued on where he played Sand Hills (“my favorite”), The Prairie Club and Dismal River with fellow pro Lee Janzen, who tested negative.
“I sent a spit-test in nine days ago and it came up positive. I went to Sioux Falls and the test was positive on Sunday. I started feeling crappy on Sunday,” Calcavecchia said.
The glamour of spit testing 💦@brendacalc @LeeJanzen done w theirs- allergy pills were not a good idea pic.twitter.com/0yRXXzSvW6
— Mark Calcavecchia (@MarkCalc) September 3, 2020
Wife Brenda tested negative three times. Calcavecchia said he’s been taking Tylenol for his fever, which he said hasn’t gotten worse than 101.
“I had a little runny nose at first and just thought it was allergies,” he said. “When the fever goes away for awhile I feel OK. It’s aches and pains, can’t get comfortable, the whole nine yards.”
He also tweeted: “I’ve never had so many symptoms hit me all at the same time.”
Calcavecchia hopes that he will only have miss this week’s event and the Purse Insurance Open at Pebble Beach next week. The Champions Tour takes a two-week break before returning for its final four events of the season.
On Saturday, PGA Tour pro Kevin Kisner apologized for an insensitive tweet in response to a post by former NBA player Rex Chapman.
The original tweet referenced that a friend’s parents died from COVID-19 and that Chapman’s family also had been personally affected by the pandemic. He expressed his frustration with President Donald Trump’s handling of COVID-19.
Kisner responded, saying, “Guess they can’t follow the guidelines.”
After social media erupted against him, Kisner deleted the tweet and posted an apology.
Earlier this morning, I made a reckless comment. I diminished the real experience of pain and loss suffered by many during the pandemic. I am not without empathy, but I certainly exercised poor judgement. I apologize to @RexChapman and anyone else that was hurt by my comment.
— Kevin Kisner (@K_Kisner) September 12, 2020
When asked what he thought about Kisner’s comment, Calcavecchia said, “To each their own. I don’t know him, but until you have it you shouldn’t really say anything.”
My quarantine- not bad! pic.twitter.com/ERd4fAeCWQ
— Brenda Calcavecchia (@brendacalc) September 11, 2020