PGA Tour's Dylan Frittelli tests positive for COVID-19 before he was set to board plane to Detroit
Tony PaulDetroit — Dylan Frittelli became the fourth PGA Tour player to test positive for COVID-19 in less than three weeks, costing Frittelli his spot in this week's Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Frittelli was tested Sunday, so he could board the PGA Tour's charter plane from the Travelers Championship in Connecticut on Monday.
The test came back positive, forcing him to withdraw from the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
"I am experiencing no issues and feel great physically and was surprised and disappointed to learn of the positive test today," Frittelli said in a statement. "I look forward to getting back on tour once it's safe to do so."
Frittelli, 30, is a native of South Africa who has won once on the PGA Tour, last year's John Deere Classic.
Nick Watney, Cameron Champ and Denny McCarthy also have tested positive, with Champ, McCarthy and Frittelli all in the last week. Champ had been committed to Detroit, and had to pull out.
Caddies for Brooks Koepka and Graeme McDowell also tested positive in the last week.
Webb Simpson, No. 5 in the world, also pulled out of the Travelers last week because a family member had been exposed to COVID-19, but Simpson tested negative multiple times and headlines this week's field at Detroit Golf Club.
The PGA Tour is issuing more than 400 tests per week, to players, caddies and essential on-grounds tournament staff. All players and caddies were to be tested Monday upon arrival at Detroit Golf Club.
In other tweaks to the Rocket Mortgage Classic field, Ricky Barnes — who won the U.S. Amateur at Oakland Hills in 2002 — and Jonathan Byrd received sponsors' exemptions, and Johnson Wagner replaced Frittelli. Those three had been scheduled to compete in Monday's qualifier at Oakland University's Katke course.
Rocket Mortgage Classic
When: July 2-5
Where: Detroit Golf Club
Defending champion: Nate Lashley
Notable players: Webb Simpson, Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton, Tony Finau, Sungjae Im, Hideki Matsuyama, Rickie Fowler, Kevin Na, Danny Willett, Kevin Kisner, Erik van Rooyen, Christian Bezuidenhout, Bubba Watson, Matt Wallace, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Brandt Snedeker, Jason Day, Steve Stricker, Padraig Harrington, Vijay Singh
TV: Thursday, Friday — Golf Channel, 3-6 p.m; Saturday-Sunday — CBS, 3-6 p.m.
Tickets: None; the event will be held without fans because of COVID-19.
Merchandise: RocketMortgageClassic.com
tpaul@detroitnews.com
tpaul@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tonypaul1984