The Masters: Sergio Garcia withdraws, sees major streak end
By Tim Letcher
The longest current streak of major championship starts will end this week after Sergio Garcia withdrew from the Masters after a positive COVID-19 test.
Sergio Garcia will miss the Masters after testing positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. With that, Garcia’s streak of 84 consecutive majors will come to an end.
The streak started in the Open Championship at Carnoustie in 1999. It will end at the site of Garcia’s only major title, a 2017 victory at Augusta National, a year when he topped his Ryder Cup teammate Justin Rose in a playoff.
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Garcia becomes the second player to withdraw from this week’s Masters. Last week, Joaquin Niemann took himself out of the event after a positive COVID-19 test.
The withdrawal by Garcia means that there will now be 94 players in the field this week at Augusta. There will be 17 former Masters champions among that group.
This year, the Masters has COVID-19 testing protocols in place. All players and caddies must pass a COVID-19 test before entering the grounds at Augusta National. Like much of everything else in 2020, this is new territory for everyone.
Garcia was seen as someone who might have a chance at the Masters this year. He’s proven that he can win there before and his game seemed to be rounding into shape. In October, he won at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi.
Now, the Spaniard will have to watch the Masters at home as he battles the symptoms of COVID-19.
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“On Saturday night after driving back from the Houston Open, I started feeling a bit of a sore throat and a cough,” Garcia said on Twitter. “The symptoms stayed with me on Sunday morning so I decided to get tested for COVID-19 and so did my wife Angela. Thankfully she tested negative, but I didn’t.”
This is a tough break for Garcia, having his streak of major starts broken. But he will focus on getting healthy and he hopes to return to the tour as soon as possible.