Positive virus test knocks out Johnson from Vegas’ CJ Cup
Dustin Johnson became the most prominent player since golf resumed in June to test positive for the coronavirus, the result forcing him to withdraw from the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
The PGA Tour said in a statement that Johnson notified officials he was experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and was given another test that came back positive.
Johnson is the No. 1 player in the world and the reigning PGA Tour player of the year after winning the FedEx Cup for the first time. He has not played since he tied for sixth at the U.S. Open last month.
“Obviously, I am very disappointed,” Johnson said in a statement. “I was really looking forward to competing this week, but will do everything I can to return as quickly as possible. I have already had a few calls with the tour’s medical team and appreciation all the support and guidance they have given me.”
The CJ Cup was moved to Las Vegas from Jeju Island in South Korea due to the coronavirus pandemic. The event runs Thursday through Sunday.
Under the CDC-based protocols on the PGA Tour, Johnson is to self-isolate for 10 days before he can return. That would leave open the possibility of Johnson playing next week in the Zozo Championship at Sherwood in Thousand Oaks.
First alternate J.T. Poston will replace Johnson in the field at the CJ Cup, the second consecutive event to be held in Las Vegas.
KOEPKA DROPS OUT OF WORLD’S TOP 10 >> Brooks Koepka will return to the PGA Tour this week outside of the top 10 in the official world golf rankings for the first time in three years.
The former No. 1-ranked player and fourtime major champion has missed eight weeks while recovering from a lingering knee injury. Koepka, who ended each of the past two years atop the world rankings, now sits at No. 11 entering this week’s CJ Cup at Shadow Creek.
With his victory at the BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour on Sunday, England’s Tyrrell Hatton rose five spots to enter the top 10 for the first time in his career. He’s the 10th English player to reach the top 10.
Johnson remains No. 1, followed by Spain’s Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau.
College football
FLORIDA HALTS MEETINGS, PRACTICES AMID UPTICK IN COVID CASES >> No. 10 Florida paused all team activities following “an increase in positive COVID tests among players.”
Athletic director Scott Stricklin said the decision was made “out of an abundance of caution.” Stricklin added that coach Dan Mullen has spoken with players and parents and that he told last week’s opponent, Texas A& M, and Saturday’s opponent, defending national champion LSU.
The shutdown came three days after Mullen’s eyebrow-raising comments about wanting 90,000 fans at Florida Field to create a better home-field advantage against the Tigers.
Florida reported five new COVID-19 positives earlier Tuesday, but those results stemmed from last week’s tests. The Gators test student-athletes three times a week, with football players getting tested Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
Soccer
RONALDO TESTS POSITIVE FOR VIRUS >> Cristiano Ronaldo has become the latest international soccer star to test positive for the coronavirus.
The Portuguese soccer federation said Tuesday that Ronaldo was doing well and had no symptoms after he tested positive while with his country’s national team.
He was in isolation and was dropped from the country’s Nations League match against Sweden on Wednesday in Lisbon.
“Ronaldo is doing great. He is dealing very well with this,” Portugal coach Fernando Santos said. “He is asymptomatic, he has no problems. He doesn’t even know how this happened to him.”
Ronaldo, one of the most prolific goal scorers in the sport’s history, played in the 0- 0 draw at France in the Nations League on Sunday and in the 0- 0 draw against Spain in a friendly last week.
Players who tested positive for COVID-19 recently include Neymar, Kylian
Mbappé, Paul Pogba, Paulo Dybala, Ángel Di María, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Diego Costa.
EARTHQUAKES FACE GALAXY >> The lastplace Los Angeles Galaxy host the Earthquakes today at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson at 7:30 p.m. The teams have played three times already this season, with each team winning once and one tie.
The seventh-place Earthquakes’ season-high three-match winning streak was snapped Sunday by the Portland Timbers, who won 3- 0 in Portland.
NHL
BRUINS’ PASTRNAK, MARCHAND COULD MISS START OF NEXT SEASON >> The Boston Bruins could be without two-thirds of their top line when the next NHL season starts after the team said Tuesday that David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand each underwent surgery last month.
Pastrnak isn’t expected to be fully recovered and able to play until mid-February after an operation to repair a torn labrum in his right hip Sept. 16 in New York. Pastrnak shared the Rocket Richard Trophy by tying for the league lead with 48 goals last season and missed some time in the playoffs because of injury.
Marchand won’t be good to go until roughly mid-January after having a sports hernia repaired Sept. 14.
Women’s college basketball
UCONN-NOTRE DAME GAME POSTPONED A YEAR >> For the first time in seven years, the UConn and Notre Dame women’s basketball teams won’t play in the regular season.
The schools announced that the game was postponed because the Irish need to restructure their schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Teams are allowed to play only 25 regular-season games because of the coronavirus. While most conferences haven’t released their schedules yet, the ACC is expected to go to a 20-game conference schedule — up from 18.
Cycling
SAGAN WINS 10TH STAGE AS GIRO HIT BY VIRUS POSITIVES >> Peter Sagan won the hilly 10th stage of the Giro d’Italia, which was contested despite two teams withdrawing from the race because of coronavirus cases.
Sagan, a three-time world champion who is racing the Giro for the first time, was desperate for a win after three second-place results in the race. He now has won stages in all three Grand Tours — the Giro (1), Tour de France (12) and Spanish Vuelta (4).
And the Slovakian rider did it in style on Tuesday, getting into an early breakaway and then launching a solo uphill attack in the final stages on roads made treacherous by rain in Tortoreto, Italy.
The race was disrupted before the stage when the Mitchelton- Scott and JumboVisma teams withdrew.
Women’s hockey
TEAM USA STAR DUGGAN RETIRES >> Meghan Duggan, the 2018 Olympic gold medal-winning hockey captain, retired after a career in which she was at the forefront of the U.S. women’s players boycott over wages and equitable support that led to a new contract and a brighter spotlight on the sport.
Duggan’s resume includes that title in Pyeongchang in her final international tournament and seven consecutive world championship gold medals, a first by any American men’s or women’s player, plus with two silver medals at the Olympics and one at worlds.
Duggan’s legacy off the ice will be defined by when players threatened to boycott the 2017 world championships on home ice over compensation, especially in non-Olympic years. She helped spearhead negotiations with USA Hockey and was a spokeswoman for the team while they were ongoing before a four-year deal was reached.
Basketball
FORMER 76ERS COACH BROWN RESIGNS AS AUSSIE COACH AHEAD OF OLYMPICS >> Former Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown resigned as the head coach of Team Australia, citing both professional and personal reasons.
Brown was scheduled to coach the team, known as the Australian Boomers, in the rescheduled Olympics next summer in Tokyo. Instead, he told Basketball Australia that he no longer can fulfill the job.
The 76ers fired Brown on Aug. 24, a day after the Sixers were eliminated from the playoffs by the Boston Celtics.