Jon Rahm was forced to withdraw from the Memorial Tournament on Saturday after testing positive for COVID-19, the PGA Tour announced.
Rahm was told of the test result after he had completed his third round. He shot an 8-under-par 64 and had a six-stroke lead after 54 holes at 18 under for the tournament.
Surreal TV moment as six-stroke leader Jon Rahm learns he tested positive for COVID and Jim Nantz tries to make sense of it without knowing what Rahm's been told pic.twitter.com/WvD6LmAlxs
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) June 5, 2021
The PGA Tour said in a statement that Rahm was subject to contact tracing this week because he was a close contact of a person who was COVID-positive. He chose to enter the PGA's tracing protocol, which led to daily testing and restricted access to indoor facilities. Rahm is asymptomatic.
His test between the second and third rounds came back positive at 4:20 p.m. ET Saturday while he was on the course, the PGA Tour said. A second confirmatory test came back positive at 6:05 p.m.
PGA TOUR Statement on Jon Rahm pic.twitter.com/HvMmWLCHeq
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) June 5, 2021
Rahm will be in isolation for the next 10 days per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines, which the PGA Tour follows. He is scheduled to remain in isolation through June 15, which puts his participation in the U.S. Open in jeopardy. The major is set to begin June 17.
He said in a statement Saturday night he was "disappointed" with having to withdraw.
"This is one of those things that happens in life, one of those moments where how we respond to a setback defines us as people," he wrote. "I'm very thankful that my family and I are all OK. I will take all of the necessary precautions to be safe and healthy, and I look forward to returning to the golf course as soon as possible."
As for the tournament, Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay are the new co-leaders at 12 under. Cantlay was on the course with Rahm with Scottie Scheffler in their threesome. There has not been any information regarding how his positive result impacts their participation.
