Former champion Sergio Garcia has been ruled out of this week’s Masters after testing positive for Covid-19.
Garcia, who defeated Justin Rose in a play-off to win his only major title to date at Augusta National in 2017, will miss his first major championship since 1999.
The 40-year-old Spaniard wrote on Twitter: “On Saturday night after driving back from the Houston Open, I started feeling a bit of a sore throat and a cough. The symptoms stayed with me on Sunday morning so I decided to get tested for COVID-19 and so did my wife Angela. Thankfully she tested negative, but I didn’t. After 21 years of not missing a Major Championship, I will sadly miss @themasters this week.“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 field has now been reduced to 92 following the withdrawal of Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, also due to a positive COVID-19 test, while past champions Trevor Immelman and Angel Cabrera have decided not to play.
