Add Bubba Watson & Hideki Matsuyama to List of Golfers Withdrawing from Open Championship
A number of golfers have withdrawn from next week’s Open Championship, whether it’s been voluntary or involuntary, and now Bubba Watson is that latest named to get added to that list.
Watson took to social media on Sunday morning to explain that he won’t be competing in the Open due to coming in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
Please read… pic.twitter.com/ryN6tDL2TU
— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) July 11, 2021
He followed up the post with some more context.
“For those wondering, the UK and US Covid-19 guidelines are quite different. Getting on the charter or a commercial flight was not an option available to me after my recent exposure. I don’t make the rules but I do have to follow them.”
Watson was the second golfer of the day to officially announce that he'll be withdrawing from the competition, as the 2021 Masters Champion Hideki Matsuyama also said that he won’t be traveling to the UK due to testing positive for Covid-19 at last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Masters champ Hideki Matsuyama is out of @TheOpen. Tested COVID positive July 2 at Rocket Mortgage and has quarantined since, but “subsequent PCR tests have continued to show positive results.”
— Will Gray (@WillGrayGC) July 11, 2021
Replaced by @HV3_Golf. Top alternates, in order, are Steele, Catlin, Long.
The R&A, the entity that hosts the Open Championship, has come under fire lately for how they’re handling the Covid-19 guidelines. Golfers were made aware of the extremely strict protocol and regulations that they will have to follow in order to compete, but at the same time they’ll be allowing 32,000 fans to attend the event.
The inconsistency has frustrated many golfers, with one unnamed person telling Golf Digest “Don’t be surprised if some eligible players say f*** it and don’t play.”
There are now five players ranked inside the Official World Golf Rankings top 50 that won’t make the trip to Royal St. George’s for the Open. In addition to Matsuyama, Matthew Wolff, Kevin Na, Sungjae Im, and Si-Woo Kim have all withdrawn from the event. Watson, who is ranked 51st in the world, would make the 6th person in the top 51 that won’t be competing in the event.
Cameron Davis, who won last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, was an alternate to compete in the final major of the season, but he also had to forego the opportunity due to travel restrictions.
Most of the top golfers in the world are already in the UK, competing at this week’s Scottish Open.
With that being said, don’t be surprised if a few more names get added to the list of withdrawals before the event tees-off on Thursday.
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