Garcia out with Covid19
AUGUSTA, Georgia: Former champion Sergio Garcia pulled out of this week’s Masters tournament yesterday after testing positive for Covid19.
Garcia said he began experiencing a sore throat and a cough on Sunday while he was driving back from the Houston Open, where he missed the cut, and got tested on Monday.
‘‘After 21 years of not missing a major championship, I will sadly miss @themasters this week,’’ the 40yearold Spaniard wrote on
Twitter.
‘‘The important thing is that my family and I are feeling good. We’ll come back stronger and give the green jacket a go next April.’’
The 11time PGA Tour winner said his wife tested negative for the novel coronavirus.
He is the second golfer to withdraw from the Masters after testing positive for Covid19, with Chile’s Joaquin Niemann pulling out last week.
µ Lee Elder, the first black man to play the Masters, will next year join Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player as honorary starters for the golf major, Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said yesterday.
Elder made his historic Masters appearance in 1975 but it would be more than a decade later, in 1990, before Augusta National would welcome Ron Townsend as its first black member.
The 86yearold Elder qualified for the tournament for five consecutive years from 1977 to 1981. His best finish was a tie for 17th place in 1979. — Reuters