Johnson pulls out of CJ Cup after testing positive for COVID-19

Los Angeles: Dustin Johnson has tested positive for Covid-19, the PGA Tour said on Tuesday, forcing the world number one Golfer’s withdrawal from the CJ Cup in Las Vegas.

Johnson underwent a test after experiencing symptoms of coronavirus ahead of Thursday’s opening round at Shadow Creek, the tour said in a statement.

The 36-year-old, whose last outing came at last month’s US Open, is now undergoing self-isolation, the tour added.

“Obviously, I am very disappointed,” Johnson said.

“I was really looking forward to competing this week, but will do everything I can to return as quickly as possible. I have already had a few calls with the Tour’s medical team and appreciate all the support and guidance they have given me.”

Johnson’s withdrawal comes after a stellar season which has seen him win the FedEx Cup for the first time as well as PGA Tour Player of the Year honors. He is the highest-profile Golfer to test positive for Covid-19 since the 2019-2020 season resumed in June after a three-month shutdown caused by the pandemic.

Since the tour restarted, PGA Tour events have been taking place without spectators while players are not allowed to enter “the bubble” for each tournament without recording a negative test first.

Koepka returns from two-month injury absence: Brooks Koepka, injury troubles “squared away” is back -- again -- and hoping some good golf will see him end a disrupted 2020 on a high note.

“I’ve got my body squared away, feels a lot better,” Koepka said in Las Vegas Tuesday as he prepared to make his first start in almost two months at the US PGA Tour CJ Cup.

Koepka, who started the year ranked number one on the world but was bumped out of the top 10 this week, has been sidelined since withdrawing from the first event of the US tour’s playoffs, the Northern Trust, in August.

The two-time US Open champion missed the coronavirus-postponed championship at Winged Foot as he continued to recover from a hip injury that he says was related to earlier knee trouble.

It was at the CJ Cup in South Korea last year that Koepka slipped on some wet concrete and aggravated a prior left knee injury.

He was sidelined three months, and played just two months before the pandemic brought golf and the rest of the sports world to a halt.

In 13 starts worldwide this year the four-time major winner has two top-10 finishes, including a tie for second at the WGC event in Memphis.

He was in contention at the PGA Championship in San Francisco as he sought a third straight title. But he fired a final-round 74 and after missing the cut at the Wyndham Championship he called a halt to focus on treating and rehabbing his hip.

“I really had no idea how bad I felt through the whole year,” Koepka said. “It’s the whole reason I played like crap.”

Koepka said he received another round of platelet-rich plasma treatment on his knee about three weeks ago. He also had a painkilling injection in his hip, but was told that rest would be the real key.

“It’s just all about trying to make sure everything’s good. I spent basically the last month out in San Diego, so I haven’t been home. I’m just doing rehab every day and just trying to get better.”

Agence France-Presse