Former Fresno State star Nick Watney withdraws from PGA event with coronavirus confirmed
Former Fresno State golf star Nick Watney withdrew from the RBC Heritage after testing positive for the coronavirus on Friday, the PGA Tour announced.
Watney told tour officials he had symptoms that were consistent with the illness.
He consulted with a physician and was given a test, revealing the positive result for COVID-19.
Watney is the first PGA golfer to test positive for the coronavirus.
Watney missed the cut last week in the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas,, the PGA Tour’s first post-pandemic tournament. The PGA said Watney traveled privately to Hilton Head Island, S.C., for this week’s tournament and was not on the PGA Tour-provided charter flight. He had tested negative upon arrival.
A total of 369 individuals (players, caddies, essential personnel) underwent mandatory on-site testing prior to the start of the tournament with no positive results.
The PGA said it was launching a response plan in consultation with medical experts, including working with those who may have had close contact with Watney.
Watney has nine pro wins, including five on the PGA Tour.
He did not return a telephone call from The Associated Press seeking comment. Watney must self-isolate for at least 10 days under the PGA Tour’s protocols.
Reaction
Rory McIlroy said he chatted with Watney on the putting green. McIlroy said they were at a distance, and that Watney sent him a text about the positive result after McIlroy finished his round.
“He was just saying, ‘Look, I hope I didn’t get too close to you.’ He feels badly that he was here today at the golf course,” McIlroy said. “I said to him, ‘If I was in your position, I probably would have been here, too. At this point, you just have to concentrate on getting better and getting healthy.’”
Watney played the opening round Thursday with Vaughn Taylor and Luke List, and a rules official notified them at the turn Friday of the positive test.
“I was a little shocked, to be honest,” Taylor said. “Heart started racing, got a little nervous. Just hope Nick is doing well and we get through this.”
List won last week on the Korn Ferry Tour, where one player and three caddies tested positive before the event and did not come to the courses, and two non-players tested positive before this week’s event, both in Florida.
He missed the cut at Hilton Head with a 73.
“It was hard to concentrate out there for me, just thinking about different stuff, and I wasn’t playing my best, anyway,” List said. “It would be nice if they had an option — you can kind of say if you want to know or not in a situation like that. I would definitely like to find out after the round next time.”
Jordan Spieth, one of four players on the PGA Tour’s policy board, didn’t sound surprised at golf’s first positive test.
“The whole plan put in place was not if, but when somebody tests positive, what’s the protocol, and what are the next steps,” Spieth said. “So I feel confident, just in being on those phone calls, in what the PGA Tour is going to do going forward. Hopefully, contact tracing doesn’t lead to anybody else testing positive within the bubble.”
Taylor, who made the cut with two strokes to spare, said he had no close contact with Watney on Thursday, and he washed his hands immediately after the round.
“Nick never coughed or sneezed, so I feel comfortable,” he said.
As part of the contact tracing plan, Taylor, List and their caddies were to be tested immediately.
“If you contract it, that’s fine, but then it’s the fact that who have you come into contact with, and who you might have exposed and stuff,” McIlroy said. “Look, we’re still in the middle of a pandemic. Until this thing’s over, we all just have to stay vigilant and keep your distance and wear our masks if we’re going out in public and keep washing our hands.”
The PGA Tour is scheduled to play next week in Cromwell, Connecticut, where the Travelers Championship is testing everyone — including volunteers and media — who will be on property.
Tournament organizers made that decision. The PGA Tour has tried to create a bubble of its key people at tournaments, designating player hotels as an option and urging everyone in the bubble to avoid outside contact. Some players have been renting houses. There is no regulation if they choose to eat out.
Hilton Head has been particularly busy this week, with local restaurants packed with people who typically come to the quiet island on the Atlantic coast for vacation.
“South Carolina’s open. If you go anywhere to a restaurant, there’s a lot of people there right now,” Spieth said. “So I guess that’s probably best case is that he got it on his own outside” the bubble.
Sebastián Muñoz said “there’s just too many people hanging around” the island.
“It’s a pandemic, you know? A lot of people get it, and eventually one of us was going to get it,” Muñoz said. “I feel good that we caught early with one guy so far. So hopefully, it doesn’t rise up pretty quick.”
Watney’s most recent victory was in 2012 at Bethpage Black in the FedEx Cup playoff opener. He has struggled to regain his top form since missing 10 months in 2016 because of back surgery.
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 3:04 PM.
