Dustin Johnson withdraws from Zozo Championship, one week after testing positive for COVID-19
The world’s current top-ranked golfer will miss his second straight tournament this week while dealing with COVID-19.
Dustin Johnson officially withdrew from the Zozo Championship on Monday, almost one week after he withdrew from The CJ Cup following a positive coronavirus test. Johnson was experiencing mild symptoms initially.
While those had mostly cleared up, the 23-time Tour winner opted to wait before attempting to return to the Tour.
“Unfortunately, Dustin just made the decision to withdraw from Zozo,” his agent, David Winkle, told the Tour in a text. “While he is feeling much better, he is still a bit low on energy and feels it would be best to wait and resume his schedule in Houston.”
Johnson planning to return one week before the Masters
Johnson, who last finished T6 at the U.S. Open in September, is next scheduled to compete at the Vivint Houston Open — the final event before the rescheduled Masters Tournament in November.
Johnson will be replaced by Adam Scott at the Zozo Championship, which was relocated from Japan to Sherwood Country Club in Southern California due to the coronavirus.
The 36-year-old is fresh off his FedExCup win last season. Johnson won three times last year (at the Travelers Championship, The Northern Trust and the Tour Championship), and closed the year in dominant fashion.
[ Coronavirus: How the sports world is responding to the pandemic ]
There have been more than 8.2 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States as of Monday afternoon, according to The New York Times, and nearly 220,000 deaths attributed to it. The country is averaging more than 56,000 new cases per day over the past week, and is rapidly approaching numbers seen during the first peak in July.
The PGA Tour is planning to allow fans back in for the first time at the Vivint Houston Open next month, though will only allow 2,000 fans to attend each day.
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