Jon Rahm has the tournament of his life end with positive COVID test

Jon Rahm’s dreams of repeating as Memorial Tournament champion were crushed following his third round

Jon Rahm had one of the best days of his PGA Tour career turn into his worst in just a matter of moments.

Rahm had just finished playing his third round of the Memorial Tournament on Saturday. He held a six-shot lead, cruising toward a repeat title at Muirfield Village and his sixth PGA Tour win. He tied scoring records first set by Tiger Woods two decades ago. Life was looking good for the new father. Then it all came crashing down.

As he walked off the 18th green following a closing par, Rahm was approached by a PGA Tour official and given the awful news: he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was being forced to withdraw from the tournament. He immediately slumped over, tears in his eyes as his caddie tried to keep the television cameras away. There would be no back-to-back wins, no handshake with Jack Nicklaus, no more shots in what was turning into a historic week.

Per the PGA Tour’s statement, Rahm came into contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the week. Rahm was placed in the tour’s contact tracing protocol, mandating daily tests. They came back negative every day until Saturday, when, at 4:20 ET, a test performed in the morning came back negative while Rahm was playing his third round.

Rahm was unstoppable on Saturday. Almost.

What a day it was for Rahm. He made a hole-in-one at the rain-delayed conclusion of his second round in the morning to take the lead. He shot six-under on the back-nine in the third round to get six shots clear of the rest of the field, tying Woods for the largest 54-hole lead in the 45-year history of Jack’s tournament. He also tied the record for the lowest 54-hole score and most birdies made in the tournament through three rounds.

All that now stands for nothing. The tournament lead is now held by Patrick Cantlay and Collin Morikawa at 12-under. The two of them finished their rounds knowing it would take a miracle to catch up to Rahm; now they find themselves at the top of the leaderboard.

“Yeah, that’s obviously really disappointing,” Cantlay said after hearing about Rahm’s withdrawal. “It’s kind of the worst situation for something like that to happen and he played awesome today. It’s just, it’s really, it’s a shame. It’s unfortunate.”

Cantlay and Morikawa are no strangers to winning at Muirfield Village. Cantlay won here in 2019. Morikawa won the Workday Charity Open held on this same course last July. They’ll have a chance to add to that trophy collection on Sunday. Just not in the manner that anyone could’ve hoped for.