(Reuters) – Cameron Champ has withdrawn from this week’s event in Cromwell, Connecticut after he tested positive for COVID-19 during pre-tournament screening, the PGA Tour said on Tuesday.
Champ, a two-times winner on the PGA Tour, is the second known member of the circuit to test positive for the novel coronavirus following fellow American golfer Nick Watney’s positive test last Friday.
“I feel great physically and I was obviously surprised and disappointed to learn of the test result,” Champ said in a PGA Tour news release. “It’s important now to take the necessary steps and measures to protect others, including my loved ones.”
The PGA Tour said it is expected to release full testing results at the completion of the pre-tournament testing process on Wednesday.
This week’s Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands is the third of five events on the PGA Tour’s revamped schedule that is closed to the general public in a bid to help stem the spread of the virus.
According to a PGA Tour participant resource guide, anyone who tests positive will be quarantined while a “disinfecting/decontaminating response” is implemented.
The guide also said at-home tests before traveling to a tournament are “strongly encouraged” but not required.
Upon arriving at a tournament, all players and caddies must proceed to a testing site to receive a nasal swab test and thermal screening.
Only once a negative test result is received, will players be issued a wristband or lanyard that grants them access to the locker room and clubhouse.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
