Fourth-ranked Brooks Koepka is the third golfer to withdraw from the Travelers Championship, saying that pulling out of the competition is "the right thing to do."
No. 4-ranked Brooks Koepka is withdrawing from the Travelers Championship after his caddie, Ricky Elliot, tested positive for COVID-19, the golfer told Golfweek's Eamon Lynch.
Elliot, who previously tested negative for the coronavirus on Monday, received his positive COVID-19 diagnosis after a test Wednesday morning at TPC River Highlands. The PGA Tour event is scheduled to begin on Thursday.
“I’m going to pull out to protect everybody else. I think it’s the right thing to do,” Koepka said, per Golfweek. “I don’t want to risk anyone’s life if they have respiratory issues or underlying conditions. The only way this Tour can continue is if guys to do this sort of thing and be proactive about it.”
The latest positive COVID-19 test on the PGA Tour follows a withdrawal from Graeme McDowell, whose caddie, Ken Comboy, also tested positive. Koepka, Elliot and coach Claude Harmon III were re-tested on Wednesday after they played a practice round with McDowell on Tuesday, while Comboy remains isolated in Florida.
“We all got tested Monday—myself, Claude and Ricky. We all came back negative,” Koepka said, per Golfweek. “We had no symptoms. Nothing.”
Koepka marks the third PGA Tour player to withdraw from the Travelers Championship, following McDowell and Cameron Champ, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. Koepka recorded a seventh-place finish, -18, in the RBC Heritage on June 21.
The PGA Tour resumed on June 11 with the Charles Schwab Challenge without fans following a three-month layoff due to the coronavirus.