Sergio Garcia joins Joaquin Niemann as players to withdraw from the 2020 Masters after testing positive for COVID-19.
Augusta National Golf Club announced Monday that Garcia, the 2017 champion, had told the club he would not participate in the event after the positive test result.
Sergio Garcia has informed Augusta National Golf Club that he will not participate in the 2020 Masters Tournament due to a positive COVID-19 test result. pic.twitter.com/SdIlomCrNT
— The Masters (@TheMasters) November 9, 2020
In a statement on social media, Garcia said, "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."
Sergio Garcia played in 84 straight majors from the 1999 British Open Championship through the 2020 US Open.
Last week, Niemann, who qualified for the event with a September 2019 win in the final edition of the PGA Tour event at The Greenbrier in West Virginia, pulled out after also testing positive.
Since the Masters is an invitational tournament, neither player will be replaced in the 2020 Masters field, which now stands at 94 players.
Several high-profile PGA Tour players have tested positive for COVID-19 in the previous weeks, including Dustin Johnson and Tony Finau, but they have returned to competition after going through the course of their illness and testing negative.
Ahead of the US Open in September, Scottie Scheffler and Sam Horsfield were among those who had to withdraw from the week at Winged Foot after a positive COVID-19 test.
