For the second time in his last five events, Jon Rahm is having to withdraw because of a positive COVID-19 test. Rahm tested positive in the final round of testing protocols for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and will not compete in his first Olympic Games for Spain.
Rahm tested positive during the Memorial Tournament in June, where he held a six-stroke lead after Round 3 and had to withdraw before the event was over. He went onto win his next event at the U.S. Open and recently finished T3 at the Open Championship. He is the No. 1 player in the world.
“I’ve been fortunate to represent my country and win a championship for Spain around the world as an amateur. Playing in Tokyo would have given me a chance to win an Olympic gold medal for my country,” Rahm said Sunday in a statement. “I would have loved to have been the first Spanish Olympic gold medalist in golf, but unfortunately destiny had other plans. This is a great reminder for all of us that we’re still in a pandemic, things are not over, and we still need to fight together to get through this the best we can.”
Rahm has lost to eight golfers in his last four events and was the favorite to win the men’s golf competition at Kasumigaseki Country Club just outside of Tokyo.
When he was interviewed in June, Rahm said he was vaccinated but not out of the two-week window following vaccination when he tested positive at the Memorial. He was being tested constantly that week because of contact tracing protocol.
“Well, truth is I was vaccinated,” said Rahm at the U.S. Open. “I just wasn’t out of that 14-day period. I had started the process, and unfortunately, that’s how timing ended up being. Yeah, I was vaccinated. It’s just I was still within those 14 days when I started COVID tracing protocol, and I had to stay in it.”
Rahm is not the only top player to test out of these Olympics. Bryson DeChambeau received a positive test this week as well and will not compete in Tokyo. DeChambeau has been replaced by Patrick Reed, but according to the Spanish Olympic Committee, there is not enough time to get a replacement for Rahm. Adri Arnaus is the other Spanish team member, and now the field in Tokyo will be 59.
Open Championship winner Collin Morikawa is now the favorite to win the Olympics followed by Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas. Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama and Viktor Hovland are just beyond those top three on the odds board.
