Tag: COVID-19 positive test

Jon Rahm was mad ‘for about 10 minutes’ after last year’s stunning COVID WD at The Memorial

When he was told by Dr. Thomas Hospel that he had tested positive, Rahm fell to his knees in utter disbelief

Jon Rahm took in a simple pleasure when he arrived at Muirfield Village Golf Club this week for the Memorial Tournament.

With no COVID protocols restricting access to certain areas compared to last year, Rahm could use the locker room reserved for past champions that he hadn’t had the privilege of getting access to since winning the 2020 Memorial Tournament.

If not for poor luck, he would have been the only two-time champion there.

“It’s all good vibes,” Rahm said. “It’s a golf course that I like and I’m comfortable on, so hopefully I can do it a third year and keep playing good golf and give myself a chance on Sunday.”

Rahm returns to Dublin after having to withdraw from the tournament last year due to a positive COVID-19 test. He had just posted a stunning round of 8-under, 64, on Saturday to finish 54 holes at 18-under par with a six-shot lead when PGA Tour officials notified him of his positive test that he took earlier that day.

Rahm, currently the No. 2 ranked golfer in the world, needed to shoot 3-under, 69 on Sunday to break the four-round tournament record set by Tom Lehman in 1994. He also would have become the first back-to-back winner since Tiger Woods won three straight in 1999-2001.

The drama that unfolded last year amplified the storyline of Rahm winning his first major tournament at the U.S. Open two weeks later. Even if that hadn’t happened, however, Rahm’s concerns were elsewhere when he had to withdraw.

“Yes, I walked off the course, I was told I couldn’t play, and I was mad for about 10 minutes,” Rahm said. “But instantly my switch flipped and I called my wife and I made sure that she was OK and my son was OK.”

When he was told by Dr. Thomas Hospel that he had tested positive, Rahm fell to his knees in utter disbelief over the fact he had to exit the tournament. Shortly thereafter, he said, he actually found the entire episode amusing. He still had a good sense of humor about it a year later.

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“Once I knew they were OK, I was in my little trailer — that little COVID hut we had — and me and my caddie were laughing,” he said. “We ordered milkshakes and we were laughing at the funny part of everything. I mean, the fact that that happened; that I had a six-shot lead and it’s gone, I can’t even play. I mean, it’s just — the irony of it all kind of made us laugh.”

At the time of his positive test last year, Rahm was within the 14-day window after getting the vaccine. He said at the U.S. Open two weeks later that he wished he had gotten it sooner, but it wasn’t on his mind because he was concentrated on his game and the PGA Tour tour schedule. It wasn’t, he said, because he didn’t believe, rather than he not believing in the effectiveness of the vaccines.

The scenario where a player would be removed this year because of a positive test is nearly impossible. The PGA Tour no longer requires players, vaccinated or unvaccinated, to test for COVID-19. If a player has symptoms, it’s up to him to self-report. Rahm said he would still be honest.

“Now I feel like you can have symptoms and keep it to yourself and nobody will know,” Rahm said. “You’ve still got to the right thing. Physical, personal well-being and health, it’s always going to be more important than a golf tournament, and that’s just a fact.”

If he could change anything, he wants the WD next to his name removed for at least a top-10 finish.

“I hate that,” he said. “So at the least the PGA Tour, if they are listening, just give me the top-10, you know. I think I would have shot 85 that day.”

jmyers@dispatch.com

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Masters champ Hideki Matsuyama tests positive for COVID-19; British Open now in doubt

Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama has withdrawn from the Rocket Mortgage Classic prior to the second round after testing positive for COVID

DETROIT – Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama has withdrawn from the Rocket Mortgage Classic prior to the second round after testing positive for COVID-19.

“It’s disappointing to receive this news and have to withdraw from the Rocket Mortgage Classic,” said Matsuyama in a press release. “I will take all the necessary precautions to ensure the health and safety of all others. I appreciate and thank everyone for their concern in advance. I look forward to a full recovery and returning to competition as soon as possible.”

But will that be soon enough to play in the British Open, which is scheduled to begin in less than two weeks at Royal St George’s in England. The R&A recently informed contestants of its stiff requirements, including a five-day quarantine, when entering the country. Matsuyama’s ability to compete in the final major of 2021 is in serious doubt.

Jon Rahm, who won the U.S. Open last month, experienced a similar dilemma when he had to withdraw from the Memorial after testing positive for COVID. At the time, he had a six-stroke lead. But Rahm tested negative in time to be cleared to play at Torrey Pines, and also benefited from the fact he didn’t have to travel overseas.

Matsuyama took last week off and had last competed at the U.S. Open, where he finished T-26. He shot a 2-under-par 70 on Thursday at Detroit Golf Club. Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler, who played with Matsuyama in the first round, will play as a twosome on Friday. Neither Mickelson nor Fowler are required to do contract tracing.

The PGA Tour said in a statement that Matsuyama will have its full support throughout his self-isolation under CDC guidelines.

Former champ Sergio Garcia WDs from Masters after positive COVID test

Sergio Garcia, who won the event in 2017, will be forced out of this year’s tournament.

With PGA Tour players making their way to Augusta, the pandemic continues to shape the 2020 Masters — and this time a former champ was forced to withdraw after a positive COVID test.

Sergio Garcia, who won the event in 2017, will be forced out of this year’s tournament.

Garcia tweeted early on Monday.

“On Saturday night when I got back from Houston, I started to notice an itchy throat and a slight cough. These symptoms continued with me on Sunday, so I decided to get tested for COVID-19, as did my wife Angela. Fortunately she tested negative but I did not.”

Garcia played with Tony Finau and Brian Gay during the first two rounds of the Vivint Houston Open. He failed to make the cut.

The Houston event was the first on the PGA Tour to allow fans back on-site, as about 2,000 per day were allowed to roam the grounds at Memorial Park Golf Course.

Garcia won his green jacket in thrilling style, beating Justin Rose in a playoff. He has three other top 10 finishes in Augusta, including a T-4 in 2004.

Although he failed to make the cut in Houston, Garcia has been better of late. He won the Sanderson Farms in October. Prior to that, he’d been mired in a prolonged slump, recording just one top-10 finish since February and he’d missed three of his last four cuts. He failed to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs and in the latest indignity, dropped out of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking this week for the first time in nine years.

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Joaquin Niemann tests positive for COVID, WDs from the Masters

The 21-year-old Chilean has on the top of his game of late — he’s finished in the top 25 at all four of this season’s PGA Tour events,

As if the potential for a tropical storm and shortened daylight window weren’t enough, the pandemic continued to mess with the 2020 Masters as Joaquin Niemann withdrew from the event on Friday after testing positive for COVID-19.

Niemann is currently ranked 41st in the Official World Golf Ranking and 38th in the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings.

The 21-year-old Chilean has been on the top of his game of late — he’s finished in the top 25 at all four of this season’s PGA Tour events, including a sixth-place finish at the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas.

Niemann has one Tour win under his belt, taking the title at the 2019 Military Tribute at The Greenbrier, an event that has since been removed from the schedule.

He has played in seven major tournaments so far in his young career, but failed to make the cut in his only other appearance at Augusta in 2018.

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Tony Finau tests positive for COVID, is out of Shriners Hospitals for Children Open

World No. 16 Tony Finau tested positive for COVID-19 and has been withdrawn from the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin.

LAS VEGAS – World No. 16 Tony Finau tested positive for COVID-19 and has been withdrawn from the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin.

“Earlier today, I received a positive result for Covid-19 under PGA Tour on-site testing protocols and have begun a period of self-quarantine to protect others around me,” Finau said in a tweet on Tuesday. “I am feeling well, and am otherwise in good spirits.”

“I look forward to returning to action as soon as I am able, and I wish everyone at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open a great week ahead!” Finau said in a follow-up tweet.

Finau tied for eighth in the U.S. Open in his most recent start.

First alternate Bronson Burgoon replaces Finau in the field.

The tournament begins Thursday.

Finau’s is the first on-site positive test since Branden Grace tested positive after the second round of the Barracuda Championship in August. Grace was tied for second place at the time. He also missed playing the following week’s PGA Championship.

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Sam Horsfield also tests positive for COVID; WDs from U.S. Open

Sam Horsfield announced he’d be out of the field at Winged Foot Golf Club after testing positive at the U.S. Open testing center.

Another day brought another positive COVID test resulting in a withdrawal from the U.S. Open.

On Sunday, it was Scottie Scheffler, who was asymptomatic, but the star rookie stepped and contender for PGA Tour Rookie of the Year was forced aside after learning of a positive test.

And on Monday, 24-year-old Brit Sam Horsfield announced he’d also be out of the field at Winged Foot Golf Club after testing positive at the U.S. Open testing center.

Horsfield said he had tested negative last Thursday, prior to making the trip to Mamaroneck, N.Y.

Horsfield has played in three previous U.S. Opens, but failed to make the cut in any.

A recent stretch of golf has been his finest, however, as the University of Florida product won a pair of events on the European Tour — the Hero Open and the Celtic Classic — in the month of August.

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Scottie Scheffler tests positive for COVID, will miss U.S. Open

Scottie Scheffler tested positive for COVID-19 and although he’s asymptomatic, was forced to withdraw from the event, which starts Thursday.

Scottie Scheffler, who won 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Rookie of the Year and is poised to win the same award from the PGA Tour for the recently completed 2019-20 campaign, will not be in the field at Winged Foot this week for the U.S. Open.

Scheffler tested positive for COVID-19 and although he’s asymptomatic, the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur champion and a member of the victorious 2017 USA Walker Cup team, was forced to withdraw from the event, which starts Thursday.

“We are sorry to lose a member of the USGA family in this year’s U.S. Open field,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA senior managing director, Championships. “Scottie has had a phenomenal rookie season and we look forward to welcoming him back to the U.S. Open Championship for many years to come.”

The former University of Texas star has finished in the top 10 seven times during his rookie campaign on Tour and was hoping to build on previous U.S. Open success — he was the low amateur at Erin Hills in 2017, when he tied for 27th.

Scheffler’s withdrawal opens a spot for South African Branden Grace.

Brooks Koepka also withdrew from the field Wednesday. The two-time U.S. Open winner withdrew from the FedEx Cup Playoffs ahead of the Northern Trust citing a knee and hip-related injury.

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Charley Hull withdraws from ANA Inspiration after testing positive for COVID

Charley Hull has tested positive for COVID-19 at the ANA Inspiration and has withdrawn from the event.

Charley Hull has tested positive for COVID-19 at the ANA Inspiration. Only one player and one caddie are still awaiting results in the 105-player field. Hull has withdrawn from the event and is working with tour and health officials on contact tracing.

“As part of the LPGA TOUR’s COVID-19 testing process, I was informed this morning that I tested positive for COVID-19 and I have withdrawn from the ANA Inspiration,” Hull said in a statement. “I didn’t feel great yesterday but I put it down to jet lag, the heat and my asthma playing up. I now realize I have some mild symptoms which feel similar to having a cold and I am self-isolating and working with Tour on contact tracing. I am very disappointed to have to withdraw from what is one of my favorite events of the year but wish everyone the best of luck at this week’s tournament and look forward to when I can return to playing on Tour.”

Hull will be quarantined for 10 days. She’ll then be reevaluated by the LPGA’s medical team to determine if she’s cleared to return to competition.

The 24-year-old Englishwoman has a strong career at the ANA that dates back to her amateur days. In seven showing at the event, her worst finish was T-38 back in 2012. She has three top 10s, including a tie for second in 2016.

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LPGA’s Kris Tamulis fighting through elbow injuries, happy to have caddie back

Tamulis hadn’t played any golf in months; she’d torn the tendon completely off the bone in both of her elbows.

Kris Tamulis’ return to the LPGA Tour didn’t go quite as smoothly as she would’ve liked as she tied for 40th in the Drive On Championship in Toledo, Ohio.

Tamulis hadn’t been playing after she tore tendons in both elbows, and also had to carry her own bag when her caddie wasn’t cleared from coronavirus testing. That included a second round in a pouring rain Saturday.

“My caddie didn’t take his COVID test in time,” Tamulis said Monday. ‘There was nobody else that could’ve done it. That was definitely a first for me, and then not having played since Dallas (last October).”

Tamulis hadn’t played any golf in months, but it wasn’t all due to the halt of the tour — and much of the sports world — from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. She’d torn the tendon completely off the bone in both of her elbows.

Tamulis, 39, said it was due to wear and tear.

“I’m an aging repetitive athlete,” she said, referring to the thousands of times her body has swung a golf club in her life.

Her husband, Jeremy Maddox, is a physical therapist, so that was a help in figuring out ways to address the injuries. But nothing seemed to work.

“You don’t realize how much you use your arms until something hurts,” said Tamulis, who had pain doing such simple things as pulling off a pillowcase. “I really struggled with it most of the winter.”

Tamulis has been using platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatments and blood flow restrictive training, which involves a machine with a cuff that goes over whatever arm she is working on. She posted a video on her Instagram of curling a can of corn, saying “Who knew a can of corn could be so heavy!!!”

So understandably, Tamulis didn’t arrive in Toledo last week feeling too confident about her game.

“I came in with very low expectations,” she said. “It’s not usually the way I prepare. But it’s not like I forgot how to play golf.”

During the time off during the pandemic, Tamulis, who lives in the Tampa area, also remembered something else she loves to do — fish. Her Instagram feed is filled with photos of Tamulis and her husband on their boat and with their catches.

“I grew up fishing with my dad,” she said. “My husband loves to fish. That’s what we like to do together. Living where we do in Florida, it’s just such a big part of our lives. I don’t think there’s any place better than being on a boat.”

And that includes golf. Tamulis, who made her tour debut out of Florida State in 2005, admitted that while there are elements of playing professional golf she enjoys, there are parts she didn’t miss.

“I just miss my friends,” Tamulis said. “I don’t miss the grind of trying to make a cut or being disappointed in a shot or feeling like you’ve never done enough.”

Yet Tamulis has an LPGA Tour victory and career earnings of more than $1.8 million.

“That’s been my job, my whole career,” she said. “I didn’t necessarily think I was going to make it a career.”

Tamulis was tied for 14th after the first round last Friday, but when the rain moved in, she was trying to balance carrying her bag, her umbrella, and keeping her clubs dry, already without the second set of eyes and advice caddie Louis Paolini brings.

“I was completely unprepared,” said Tamulis, who followed a 1-under 71 with a 7-over 79.

When she was warming up on the range Sunday, the rain was coming down again.

“I don’t like playing in the rain,” she said. “That’s why I don’t play in the Scottish and the British (Opens). I want to enjoy the golf instead of beating myself up.”

The rain cleared for the final six holes, and Tamulis finished off another 71 to win $4,293. She’ll play in the Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio, this week. Now she’s more used to the coronavirus protocols, which she said pretty much have mirrored the PGA Tour’s, including an at-home test before leaving for a tournament site, daily temperature checks, and another test on site. The good news is that Paolini has returned.

“We were able to play two weeks in a row and test our COVID protocols, which were fairly extensive,” she said.

Perrine Delacour WDs from Marathon Classic after caddie tests positive for COVID-19

Perrine Delacour withdrew from the Marathon Classic after her caddie tested positive for COVID-19.

TOLEDO, Ohio – The LPGA has announced that Perrine Delacour withdrew from the Marathon Classic after her caddie tested positive for COVID-19. That brings the LPGA’s total positive case to four, with two players and two caddies missing action since the tour began testing.

Delacour is the first player forced to withdraw due to a caddie’s results. The 26-year-old Frenchwoman will now begin a 14-day quarantine. Both she and her caddie have been working with the LPGA and local health officials on contact tracing.

“After learning that my caddie tested positive today, despite not having any symptoms, I have withdrawn from this week’s event in order to self-isolate following CDC and LPGA guidelines,” said Delacour in a statement. “I feel perfectly normal and I wanted to do the right thing. I am looking forward to being back competing as soon as it is safe to do so.”

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Full pre-tournament testing results for the Marathon LPGA Classic will be available later this week. As the Marathon field wasn’t full, Delacour will not be replaced.

In all, a total of 466 pre-travel and onsite COVID-19 saliva tests were given to players and caddies before last week’s LPGA Drive On Championship began on July 31. Three tests came back positive: Marina Alex, Gaby Lopez and one caddie.

LPGA commissioner Mike Whan was asked to assess the tour’s COVID-19 situation thus far, especially in the context of how other sports are faring.

“I never feel like you win in this process,” said Whan, “but you’re right, we’ve probably had closer to 1,000 tests all in, and certainly the numbers are low, but geez, we’re a long way from claiming victory.”

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