THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Adam Scott tested positive for COVID-19 at the Zozo Championship and withdrew from the tournament Wednesday, as required by PGA Tour protocols.
Scott, the 2013 Masters champion who won the Genesis Invitational earlier this year, was replaced in the field by Jim Herman.
“While it’s difficult news to receive — as I really looked forward to playing this week — my focus now is on recovery for the final stretch of the fall,” Scott said in a statement.
No. 1-ranked Dustin Johnson withdrew from this week’s tournament after testing positive prior to the CJ Cup in Las Vegas last week.
According to the PGA Tour, Scott is the 15th player to test positive since the tour returned in June following a 13-week shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. This is the 19th consecutive week of tournaments since the return.
Scott, ranked 15th in the world, has played just four times since the tour’s restart, his last event a tie for 38th at the U.S. Open.
After the shutdown, Scott returned to his native Australia and said in May when the tour was planning to come back that he did not feel comfortable with the protocols.
“They are being fairly thorough, but my initial reaction was I was surprised it wasn’t tighter than it is,” Scott told AAP in May. “What concerns me is dialogue that [the tour] is hopeful of returning one- or two-hour test [results]. You’d want that in place before competing.
“The other [concern] is it seems as an asymptomatic person could operate within a tournament. If they’re not showing symptoms and I somehow pick it up inside the course and I’m disqualified, I’m not self-isolating [in that city] for two weeks. I’d be annoyed if that happened.
“I thought you’d start quite tight and loosen those protocols to normal, if appropriate.”
The tour has since altered some of those rules, including allowing a player to travel 10 days after the start of symptoms.