We are up to three Masters champions who have withdrawn from The Open for coronavirus-related reasons.
Zach Johnson, who triumphed at Augusta National in 2007 before winning The Open in 2015, was forced out of this year’s staging of the latter event after he tested positive on Sunday. He joins on the sidelines reigning Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, who has been quarantining while testing positive for the virus, and Bubba Watson, the 2012 and 2014 Masters winner, who has been identified as a close contact of someone who tested positive.
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According to reports, Johnson was given a coronavirus test after completing his final round at the John Deere Classic in Illinois. He learnt of his result shortly before he would have boarded a charter flight to England that evening with numerous other players, as well as with caddies and other personnel.
Johnson, 45, confirmed his positive test and subsequent withdrawal from the British Open in a message he shared on Monday morning on social media. He said he looked forward to returning to the event next year, when it will be at St Andrews in Scotland, where he won the Claret Jug in a three-man play-off over Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman. Noting he had “such wonderful memories” of that course, Johnson offered well-wishes to this year’s competitors, who will be playing at Royal St George’s in Sandwich.
