The 2017 Masters champion won’t be in the field at Augusta National this week. Augusta National Golf Club announced via Twitter on Monday morning that Sergio Garcia had tested positive for Covid-19 and therefore will not be in the field.
The Masters does not fill the spots of players who withdraw from the tournament.
Garcia, now 40, delivered his breakthrough Masters victory in 2017 when he beat Justin Rose in a playoff. He was winless on the PGA Tour since then until he won the Sanderson Farms Championship last month. He tweeted about his positive Covid-19 test shortly after his WD was announced.
Garcia and his wife, Angela, named their first child, a girl born in 2018, Azalea, which is the name of the 13th hole at Augusta National and also the club’s famous flower.
“We started looking at different names from here, related to Augusta, obviously looked at Georgia,” Garcia said in his 2018 Masters press conference. “We looked at Magnolia, Holly, different ones, but we really liked Azalea, for different reasons.”
Garcia is the second player to withdraw from the Masters in the last four days. Joaquin Niemann of Chile withdrew on Friday after a positive Covid-19 test.
The 2020 Masters begins on Thursday. Tiger Woods is the defending champion.
