By Joel Beall
On Sunday, Greg Norman revealed he had registered a positive COVID-19 test and was back in hospital to receive an infusion of antibodies.

It came after the U.S.-based Australian had returned home after spending Christmas in the emergency room with COVID-19 symptoms.

Norman, 65, took to Instagram Saturday to thank family, friends and fans for their well-wishes following his Friday hospital visit. Nomran said he was self-admitted to the ER due to “fever joint and muscle aches especially in my back and headaches.”

“Still have most but on a lesser level,” Norman wrote before returning the positive test. “These are what made me admit myself on Christmas Day as I wanted to know my status to Covid for the health and safety for all around me. I had a chest X-Ray and blood test where 2 markers showed up leading the Doc to say, assume you are positive with these symptoms and markers. They released me to continue quarantining at home on medication.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Greg Norman (@shark_gregnorman)

Last week Norman played with his son Greg Jr. in the PNC Championship. Norman alluded to being exposed to the virus during that time frame, and that despite a negative test at the tournament along with a negative test on Tuesday he has remained in isolation since Sunday night. On Wednesday COVID symptoms “raised their ugly head,” Norman said, with Greg Jr. announcing Friday that he and his fiancée had registered positive COVID-19 tests.

Norman said he does not have his latest COVID-19 test results, and until he registers two consecutive negatives he will remain in self-quarantine.

“Again thank you all for your concerns love and support and please be safe stay healthy and be smart,” Norman wrote. “And let’s put this 2020 in our rearview mirrors and look to 2021 and beyond where we can get back to life in whatever the new normal will be. God bless you all.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Greg Norman (@shark_gregnorman)

The post Greg Norman returns to hospital after returning postive COVID-19 test appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Nick Watney talks about being the first player to have to withdraw from a tournament and what happened in the aftermath

By Brian Wacker
Nick Watney became the first player on the PGA Tour to test positive for COVID-19, having done so during Friday of the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head Island, S.C., the second tournament back during June’s return to golf. Suddenly thrust into the spotlight for something other than his play at Harbour Town, the experience was a “surreal” one for the quiet 39-year-old from California not used to the whirlwind of attention that followed. The five-time PGA Tour winner recently spoke with Golf Digest about what that moment was like as well as the days and weeks that followed.

You were the first player to test positive for coronavirus. How would you describe that experience looking back now?
At the time it was extremely surreal because I felt like I had followed all the suggested protocols. I’d worn a mask in public, I’d mostly stayed home and not really gone out. A lot of things happened quickly, though, once I tested positive. We had a lot less information than we do now. I was scared. I have a wife and kids that I was just with. My mind was racing. I had a very mild case in terms of symptoms so the toughest part the first couple of days [was waiting on] all the contact tracing. I’d played practice rounds with guys, been around people. I certainly didn’t want to give it to anyone. When everyone I’d been around tested negative, things got a little easier from that standpoint.

What was the strangest thing that came with being the first positive test?
I’m the opposite of a famous person, so the publicity was strange. I started getting interview requests that I’d never gotten before. At one point I did a spot on “The Today Show.” When I was playing my best golf I didn’t come close to having any of that. And because I didn’t have much to do while quarantining, and I like sports, it was weird seeing my name across the ticker on ESPN every few minutes for something that had nothing to do with me playing golf.

Once you were cleared to return to play on tour, what was that like?
Some guys would do a double-take when I walked by them. That was a little odd and it felt a little awkward, but I don’t blame them. We knew a lot less about the virus at that point. The stigma is a lot less now, I think.

Was it hard to focus on golf and find a rhythm given the need to quarantine not long after the three-month interruption of the season?
I can’t say COVID or the layoff is the reason for my poor play [Watney missed the cut in three of four starts after returning to action and made just two cuts in 12 starts overall during the second half of 2020]. I wasn’t playing how I would’ve liked before any of that.

Jed Jacobsohn
Watney struggled after returning to action from his positive test, making the cut in just two starts through the end of 2020.

Was what happened to you something of a wake-up call for everyone on tour?
It’s hard to say. I played at Colonial the week before and I’d say guys weren’t lax about what they needed to do to be safe. Especially at that point, I think most people in the world were taking it pretty seriously. That’s a great question, though. I can’t speak for others. But in talking with tour officials at the time it wasn’t a matter of if someone tested positive, it was when.

How do you think the tour as a whole has handled the pandemic?
I think it has gone pretty well. We’ve been playing for six months. Obviously, there have been some cases, but—and I don’t mean to say this is any means the same as the flu because it’s not—in a normal year I imagine more guys would have gotten the flu. The most we had in a single week was a few, or maybe even a handful. I think guys are doing what they’re supposed to do and it has gone as well as could be expected. With how smoothly it has gone and the tour as a whole taking it seriously, I think they’ve done a good job with it.

The post The first PGA Tour pro to test positive for COVID-19 reflects on his surreal experience appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Shane Ryan
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — On a slightly grey, very windy day at Sea Island Golf Course, England’s Matt Wallace battled his way to a tie for first with an opening-round 64 at the RSM Classic. His partner in crime was Jeffrey Cammon, a club-fitter who was conscripted for caddie duty when Dave McNeilly, Wallace’s usual looper, tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. On paper, playing in a foreign country with a new caddie in rough weather is an obvious recipe for failure, so it goes without saying that Wallace turned in what is arguably the best round of his PGA Tour career.

How much credit Cammon deserves … well, future historians may differ. When the week began, Wallace contacted Justin Parsons, a Northern Irishman and instructor at Sea Island who he had met on the European Tour, looking for a new caddie. Parson directed Wallace to Cammon, and after the two were introduced, Cammon asked his temporary boss both how much and when he should talk during the week.

“I was like, ‘Listen, mate, I don’t need anything,’ “ Wallace said. “‘I’ll ask you a question and you answer it just with pure facts of what you think.’”

True to that dictum, Wallace’s descriptions of their interactions Thursday on Sea Island’s Seaside course were not particularly cinematic, including this verbatim exchange:

“Is the wind more out of the left than it is helping?”

“Yep.”

That said, Cammon’s calm presence settled Wallace, and the surrogate caddie managed to give a perfect read on the fifth hole, where Wallace holed a 21-footer for birdie. After that, Wallace told him to quit while he was ahead.

“I said, ‘Don’t read anymore putts because you’re 100 percent,’” Wallace joked. “But no, he’s been great. He’s really chill.”

The round comes at a good time for Wallace, who has been working on sharpening his putting game and has Ryder Cup dreams. A four-time winner in Europe, he’s yet to be victorious on the PGA Tour, and when asked about the infamous Azinger-Fleetwood tiff, in which Azinger seemed to downplay success on the European Tour if it wasn’t matched by American success, the 30-year-old Wallace acknowledged that to win here would be a special badge of honor.

“One hundred percent,” he said. “Not just this week, every week that we want to do that. What I would say is I feel the depth over here … I did that long stretch after COVID when we started at Colonial, was it? So I did six weeks and I just thought the cuts were just unbelievable, they were so low.”

Of course, he’s still European, so he made sure to note that Azinger’s comment was “nonsense” and that Fleetwood was “going to win, he’s going to win big and he’s going to win a lot.”

Wallace’s quest to do the same was aided by the roughly 140 feet of putts he rolled in on Thursday, courtesy of a new Atlanta putter from Callaway with the sightline removed. His English upbringing may have helped too, particularly on a windy stretch on the back nine where the course runs along the water and the palm trees sway precariously as the wind whips in from St. Simons Sound. (“It’s like links golf in good weather,” Justin Rose said, though you wouldn’t call it particularly “good” on Thursday.)

At one point, Wallace hit a 5-iron approach from just 150 yards, which is only typical if you’ve spent your formative years playing links golf. After bogeying the 14th, he stiffed his approach on 15, and dropped a 15-footer on 17 to reach six under. He seemed poised to drop into a large group at -5 on the final hole after an errant drive led to a penalty, but saved himself with a 30-foot bomb for a surprise par.

When Wallace found out his caddie tested positive on Monday, he thought for sure he was next, since they had spent plenty of time together at Augusta. But he dodged that bullet, and now he’s in the mix among a crowded leader board, at a tournament that could reward his combative instincts. And if he gets too wound up in the windy fights to come, he’ll have Cammon by his side; a chill presence, with more than just a little local wisdom.

The post RSM Classic co-leader Matt Wallace had some priceless exchanges with his emergency caddie appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Alexander Levy has been withdrawn from this week’s European Tour’s event out of precaution.

In a statement, the European Tour said Levy, a five-time winner on the Old World circuit, had come in contact with a friend who had recently tested positive for COVID-19. The meeting occurred while Levy was at home in France last week. Though Levy has no symptoms and tested negative for the virus at this week’s tournament site at Celtic Manor Resort in Wales, the tour decided having Levy in the field was too much of a risk.

“I told the European Tour immediately after finding out that my friend tested positive. I informed them of my movements since arriving on site as I wanted to ensure the safety of my fellow professionals and their caddies,” Levy said.

Levy now must self-isolate for 14 days in accordance with local health authority guidance.

He will be replaced in the field by Martin Simonsen.

The post European Tour player forced to withdraw from event as COVID-19 precaution appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
The LPGA Tour announced the cancellation of the Buick LPGA Shanghai, which was scheduled to be played Oct. 15-18. Tour officials cited not only health concerns but also strict travel restrictions in place as the reasoning for the decision. The event has been on the LPGA Tour schedule since 2018. Danielle Kang has won both playings of the tournament.

After playing two events in Ohio since their restart, the LPGA Tour has left the United States to compete in Scotland. After two events there, the tour will return to the United States. The government has exempt LPGA Tour players from having to quarantine for two weeks after returning from international travel.

The next time the tour was supposed to leave the United States was to go to the Shanghai event, which was to be the start of a four-event swing in Asia. The other tournament in Asia, set for play in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, currently remain on the schedule.

With the cancellation of the Buick LPGA Shanghai, the 2020 LPGA Tour schedule has 21 events. The tour said in their statement that they will return to the Shanghai event at Qizhong Garden Golf Club in 2021.

The post Buick LPGA Shanghai cancelled due to concerns over spreading of COVID-19 and travel restrictions appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Branden Grace was in a tie for second at the beginning of Saturday at the Barracuda Championship. But Grace is no longer listed in the field, having to withdraw from the tournament after testing positive for COVID-19.

In a statement, Grace said he began feeling tired last night and reported his symptoms to the tour. He discovered he had the virus after getting tested Saturday morning.

“I wanted to get tested out of respect for my peers and everyone involved with the tournament,” Grace said. “While it is unfortunate given my position on the leaderboard, the most important thing is our health.”

It is a tough break in multiple ways for Grace. There is the obvious: the South African, who has not won on tour since 2016, was among the leaders at the alternate event in Truckee, Calif. Given Grace is 156th in the FedEx Cup, he was in desperate need of a strong finish.

Worse, the positive test knocks him out of next week’s PGA Championship, a major where Grace owns two top-four finishes in.

Grace is the eighth player on tour to test positive for COVID-19. Per tour protocols, he must self-isolate for 10 days.

The post Branden Grace, T-2 heading into weekend, forced to WD after COVID-19 test appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Major League Baseball was scrambling to save its 2020 season Monday, just three days after it had belatedly begun. More than a dozen members of the Miami Marlins roster and front office tested positive for COVID-19, forcing league officials to cancel Monday and Tuesday games between the Marlins and Baltimore Orioles. The New York Yankees-Philadelphia Phillies game was also postponed Monday as the Marlins had just played in Philadelphia, sparking fear the Phillies were exposed to the outbreak.

Given baseball’s rushed approach to conducting its season, this development is not necessarily a surprise. Not helping matters has been the United States’ inability to curb the virus’ spread, to say nothing of the pandemic’s continual politicisation. But baseball’s issues arise during a week where the National Basketball Association resumes its regular season and the National Football League welcomes players to training camp, begging the question if sports are truly ready to come back.

It is a question that has multiple answers, none that are entirely right or wrong. However, for those seeking hope, the PGA Tour can serve as a guide.

The tour wrapped up its seventh PGA Tour event in its return to golf on Sunday at the 3M Open outside Minneapolis, with two tournaments on its slate this week. What it has been attempting this summer—traveling around the country with a caravan of 350-plus players, caddies and other personnel—is nothing short of a high-wire act. Each step has not been graceful, and in Weeks 2 and 3 specifically, the rope began to wobble. There’s also a long way to go before the “Mission: Accomplished” banner can be unraveled. Yet as the tour finishes up its second month (along with holding seven Korn Ferry Tour events), what it has pulled off has been a success.

But can its success be replicated? Golf is a non-contact sport, played individually, held outside without real need for a locker room. Its inherent nature is what allowed the game to return months before baseball, basketball, hockey and football. The dynamics don’t lend themselves to an apples-to-apples comparison.

“I think we’re so fortunate in our sport, it’s different. We don’t have the contact that basketball has, that football has. Baseball, we’re not touching the same thing as in a baseball,” Justin Thomas said Tuesday at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis. “I have no physical touch with anybody in my group. I can stay away from them. And we’re outside. It’s so different compared to other sports.”

Mitchell Leff
The Miami Marlins celebrate winning their opening day game, but did so at the expense of strict adherence to social distancing best practices.

Still, there are lessons other leagues can learn from the tour’s foray into the unknown. Which starts with universal buy-in from players.

In a sense, that seems elementary, especially with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan threatening punishment to those who do not heed the tour’s COVID-19 guidelines. In that same breath, players are contractors, beholden to no one but themselves. Most are 35 and younger and all are professional athletes; as one tournament director told us as the tour was making plans for its return, there’s a certain amount of ego needed to reach this level, a conviction that can occasionally render as cockiness. In short, tour pros are a group that doesn’t like to be told what to do.

Luckily, the buy-in has been almost universal. Players and caddies have exercised caution to the tour’s expansive restrictions, holding themselves and others accountable. Players have self-reported possible symptoms to protect their fellow players and all others at an event. They acknowledge that if this endeavor falls apart, it’s on them.

“I’ve tried to be really careful, but I could probably be more careful,” said Webb Simpson, RBC Heritage winner, during that week at Harbour Town. “I hadn’t really gone out to dinner. I’ve gotten takeout every night. But in terms of even wearing the mask, any time I’m out of my comfort zone away from the golf course, I think it’s smart. And really, the six-foot rule I’ve been good about, but I probably could be better.”

There are still the occasional breaches of social distance, but on the whole players and caddies are doing their part. They are staying in their hotel rooms and rented houses, having food delivered rather than dining out, wearing masks where required. Even the lone “outbreak” during the Travelers Championship, where multiple players due to COVID concerns, at a human level, was understandable, as the caddies in question might have caught virus while attending a funeral.

Streeter Lecka
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan looks on during a practice round prior to last month’s RBC Heritage. Buy-in from players on the tour’s COVID protocols helped the tour resume play so quickly.

Which flows into the second part of this equation: the tour’s environment. Despite entering a handful of coronavirus hot spots, the tour has maintained a safe working space for its membership. No, the process is far from fool-proof. In fact, the bubbles the NBA and NHL have enacted have proven safer environments in the early going: The NHL announced that it performed 4,256 tests on more than 800 players and had zero positives, while the NBA had zero positive tests after one week in its stay at Disney World. The tour doesn’t have a true “bubble,” per se, not with weekly travel and players and caddies arranging personal travel and accommodations.

Nevertheless, that only seven PGA Tour pros in seven weeks have tested positive is not providence. A lot of this stems from stringent policing of who is and is not allowed on site and re-engineering tournament properties to meet COVID-19 protocols. When leaks emerge, the tour does its best to plug them up. Every aspect of tour life is being recalibrated on a weekly, and sometimes daily, basis.

Perhaps the biggest lesson, and possible salvation for baseball as it tries to dig itself out of its hole, is malleability.

The tour’s health and safety protocols were comprehensive when announced in May. Of course, every league has laid out a detailed approach in COVID-19 prevention (MLB has orders on how to properly flush an airline toilet, for example). What has spurred efficiency on the PGA Tour front, though, has been the evolution and continual tinkering of those rules. And they have, particularly when the protocols showed vulnerability.

“You know, [we’re all trying to] learn to live in an environment of COVID-19,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said during last month’s Travelers Championship. “I’m concerned but I’m also confident in the program and protocols we’ve put in place, and our ability to be able to sustain the PGA Tour and give our players opportunities on both of these tours over the course of the year, so long as we continue to be as diligent as we intend to be.”

It wasn’t that Nick Watney tested positive (the tour’s first COVID-19 positive player) in the second tournament that was a sore point for critics; it was that he was allowed on property while awaiting the results, potentially exposing other players. Within a week, the tour adjusted its protocols on player/caddie clearance, declaring no one would be allowed at a tournament site without a passed in-market test.

Additional testing was added for those on the tour’s chartered planes. Fitness trailers were brought to courses to discourage visiting gyms out of the tour’s jurisdiction. They have adjusted tee pairings to prevent possible transmission from players who have tested positive but are no longer showing symptoms. (On Tuesday, the tour adjusted again to do away with its “COVID-19 pairings.”) In short, as our collective knowledge of the virus grows, so does the tour’s abilities to combat it.

Obviously, the tour’s success is predicated off of more than buy-in from players, its work environment and its adaptability. But they lay a foundation for the rest of the operation to function. Without those pillars intact, as evidenced in baseball this week, the proverbial house falls apart.

The post What Major League Baseball, the NBA, NFL and others can learn from the PGA Tour’s return amid the pandemic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
Monday qualifiers for both the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour have always been brutal, but as we wrote ahead of pro golf’s restart amid the coronavirus pandemic, they’ve gotten even tougher. Let’s call what happened ahead of this week’s Korn Ferry Tour event Exhibit A.

With so many players trying to get into the Colorado Championship, its Monday qualifier was actually held at two different sites with four spots up for grabs at each. At Riverdale G.C., competition was stout with Joshua Seiple firing 61 to earn medalist honours and there being a two-man playoff at 64 for the fourth and final spot. And that wound up being the easier of the two sites to make it through.

That’s because at Highland Meadows G.C. a 64 only got you into a five-way playoff for two spots. Yep, that means four golfers shot 64 at the two sites and did not make it through. Rough.

Taking it further, there were 13 players who shot 65 and didn’t even sniff those playoffs. And those additional 18 golfers who shot 66? Sorry, not even close.

And again, this was the Monday qualifier for the Korn Ferry Tour event. Although, as Ryan French, AKA Monday Q Info on Twitter, predicted earlier this month, the competition on the PGA Tour’s developmental circuit might be even fiercer due to the eight spots available, versus only two (usually four) for PGA Tour events.

Many golfers, including the 240 who signed up for the two Colorado Championship qualifiers, like their odds better with more spots available. But as you can see by these results, those are still some pretty long odds. And some really low scores that need to be shot.

The post You won’t believe how hard it was to Monday qualify for this week’s Korn Ferry Tour event appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Once again, there was a layer of uneasiness on Friday at the Travelers Championship. Two more players—Bud Cauley and Denny McCarthy—withdrew due to COVID-19, though only one (McCarthy) tested positive. Depending on how you view it, it could be a troubling trend or it could be the new normal the tour just has to deal with as it moves forward.

However you feel about it, the show is continuing on at the Travelers Championship, the latest PGA Tour event that is set up for an electric weekend of golf. Here are our takeaways from Day 2 at TPC River Highlands.

50-year-old Phil Mickelson is your solo leader

Ten days removed from Mickelson’s 50th birthday, this geezer proved he’s still got plenty left in the tank. Anytime Lefty shoots a low one these days, one has to wonder if it’s just a flash. Yes, he did win at Pebble a year ago, and nearly did it again this season, but aside from those two weeks, Mickelson has shown that he still struggles to put four consecutive good rounds together.

This week, he had no issue putting two consecutive low rounds together, opening with 64 then backing it up with a 63 at TPC River Highlands, which featured a PEAK Phil rules situation. His off-the-tee game, where he ranks 18th in the field in strokes-gained, has been key. That’s what allows Phil to, as he calls it, “attack pins,” which he’s done an excellent job of through 36 holes (10th in strokes-gained—approach). I sincerely hope he continues to hit hellacious seeds and attacks pins this weekend, because Mickelson in contention on Sunday would be the biggest sign of the golf gods spoiling us with the finishes of these first few tournaments.

There was another 59 scare, and it came from … Will Gordon?

If you’re not up to speed on the story of Will Gordon, here is a good place to start. The 23-year-old from Davidson, N.C., has no status on any tour, and is at the Travelers this week by way of a sponsor’s exemption. Through two rounds he’s one off the lead of 44-time PGA Tour winner Mickelson, who he’ll play alongside in Saturday’s third round. No pressure, kid!

Gordon, who has surprisingly racked up three top 25s on tour this season (all pre-pandemic), flirted with 59 on Friday at TPC River Highlands. Through 11 holes he was seven under, then had eight feet for birdie at the par-4 third (his 12th hole). He missed, causing the putter to go cold the rest of the round, though he did add his ninth and final birdie at the par-3 eighth, eventually settling for an eight-under 62. No one expects Gordon to win, and he doesn’t have to in order to earn a few more opportunities on tour. A win, of course, would be life-changing. Gordon isn’t getting that far ahead, choosing to go about the weekend the only way he should: “I’m just going to try to continue to play good golf and see what happens.”

We look forward to watching it.

Elsa
Bryson DeChambeau flips his putter on 14th green in second round of Travelers Championship.

If Bryson could make some putts, he’d win by 10

Statistically, Bryson DeChambeau’s putting has been fine these first three weeks back. He’s gained on the greens in each start, but am I the only one who feels like he’s still putting poorly? I think the problem is, he’s giving himself so many good chances because of his long drives, which set up wedges into the greens, which set up short birdie looks, that the missed putts are that much more frustrating for him and the unfortunate souls who keep betting on him (cough cough).

He missed twice from eight feet on Friday, and four times from 16 feet or shorter. If he starts making those like he did at the WGC-Mexico (he gained 6.3 strokes on the greens that week), he might never lose.

Maddie Meyer
Wesley Bryan watches his shot off 18th tee on Friday in Travelers Championship.

Wesley Bryan is BACK!

These past two weeks, we’ve thrown around plenty of “BACK!” performances, mostly involving Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka. Wesley Bryan isn’t exactly in the same class as those two, but he is quite literally “back” from shoulder surgery, which caused him to miss 19 months. It’d be easy for him to ease back into competition and try to make a few cuts, but on Friday he took it deep, shooting a four-under 66 to thrust himself into contention at seven under. As Bryan showed last Sunday during his mic’d up round with Bubba Watson, he’s the type of lively presence the tour needs plenty more of. Good to see him … BACK.

Elsa
Mackenzie Hughes on the fifth hole Friday in the Travelers Championship.

Who is the bet this weekend?

While pre-tourney betting is great, I’d argue post-second round, Friday-night betting and Sunday-morning betting are the two best gambling opportunities in golf. There is value all over the board, and this week is no different.

Mackenzie Hughes, who sits just one off the lead, is 18/1 on MGM. Abraham Ancer is 20/1, and has shown recently that it’s just a matter of time before he closes the deal. Marc Leishman, a former winner of the Travelers Championship, is 12/1. All good options.

But I’m going to lean with Patrick Cantlay, who was 25/1 pre-tourney and is currently 28/1 through two rounds. He’s at seven under, six off Mickelson’s lead. Somehow he’s posted rounds of 66 and 67 despite some shaky play off the tee and around the greens, which could be a product of rust, as this is his first start back post-quarantine. Just imagine if he can get those areas cleaned up for the weekend.

As Gordon and Hughes have shown, there are low rounds out there. With some rain in the forecast this weekend, the course will be soft. Cantlay is a guy who could feast in those conditions, and you’re getting him at longer odds than he was pre-tourney and he’s not that far off the lead. Hammer it.

The post A newly celebrated 50-year-old is in the lead and four other takeaways from Day 2 of the Travelers appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
CROMWELL, Conn. — Two more players have withdrawn from the Travelers Championship due to COVID-19 issues.

Denny McCarthy and Bud Cauley reported symptoms to the PGA Tour on Friday morning, sources told Golf Digest. Per tour protocols, reporting symptoms requires the administration of further COVID-19 testing. McCarthy confirmed in a statement that he had tested positive.

“I was feeling pretty tired and sore after the round yesterday but didn’t think much of it because I had practiced a lot Monday to Wednesday,” McCarthy said. “Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night with additional aches and soreness and sensed something was off. I felt like the only thing to do was get tested at that point before I went to the course.”

Cauley did not test positive, but stated he was withdrawing out of caution.

“I’m very thankful I have tested negative but have decided to withdraw out of an abundance of caution for my peers and everyone involved with the tournament,” Cauley said.

McCarthy and Cauley played together in the first round of the Travelers on Thursday. McCarthy had shot a three-under 67 in the opening round while Cauley turned in a one-under 69. According to health officials, symptoms tend to appear two to 14 days after exposure, so it’s unlikely the pair’s round together was the source of infection. Matthew Binnicker, director of clinical virology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., says that the golf course is also believed to be an unlikely source of transmission.

The third member of the group, Matt Wallace, remains in the tournament, and will play on Friday at TPC River Highlands as a single.

McCarthy and Cauley are the sixth and seventh players to withdraw this week from the Travelers with coronavirus-related concerns. Cameron Champ tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, while Brooks Koepka and Graeme McDowell bowed out after their caddies contracted the virus. Webb Simpson withdrew after one of his family members tested COVID-19 positive, and Chase Koepka withdrew due to an “abundance of caution.” Last week, Nick Watney became the first player to test COVID-19 positive in the tour’s return from the pandemic.

In a statement, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said McCarthy has the full support of the tour.

“I know I speak for the entire tour membership in thanking him for doing the right thing in requesting an additional test before heading to the golf course today,” Monahan said. “What Denny, Bud and others are demonstrating is exactly what we asked of everyone—continue to do your part in taking this virus seriously and keeping not only your own health as a priority, but also that of your fellow competitors and those you may come in contact with. Today’s update again demonstrates our rigorous and quick testing, contact tracing capabilities and overall healthy and safety protocols. We will continue to liaise directly with local and state government and health officials this week and throughout our return to golf.”

The post Two more players withdraw from Travelers Championship due to COVID-19 concerns appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.