Nick Watney finds self-isolation ‘very, very boring’

First PGA Tour player to test positive for Covid-19 ready to return to Texas

Nick Watney was the first player on the PGA Tour to test positive for coronavirus. Picture: Kevin E Schmidt/Quad-City Times via ZUMA Wire/Shutterstock.

Monday marked the tenth day of self-isolation for Nick Watney, the minimum required for PGA Tour players who test positive for coronavirus, writes Doug 
Ferguson.

He said he is feeling good except for some minor fatigue, perhaps brought on by a major case of boredom, and except for the distinction of becoming the first of five players and two caddies who have so far tested positive since the PGA Tour returned amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I will say, it’s not the greatest feeling being the first to get it,” Watney, pictured, said in his first interview since he was notified on 19 June at the the RBC Heritage of his positive test.“Some things are so vague around this thing,” he said. “The symptoms... some people get this, some get that. I haven’t had a fever or cough the whole time, no shortness of breath. Maybe that’s the reason it’s so scary. I still don’t know how or where I got it.”

He lost his sense of smell, a sensation he described as “gnarly,” but said that is coming back. And perhaps the strangest sensation is being at a golf resort without playing golf. He remains in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, as the PGA Tour has moved on to Connecticut, and now Detroit this week. “Very, very boring,” he said. “Being on the road and not playing golf is a weird feeling.”

Three more players tested positive during the Travelers Championship – Cameron Champ before it started, Denny McCarthy after his first round and Dylan Frittelli after he missed the cut. Two caddies also tested positive, which caused a chain reaction of withdrawals. Harris English tested positive on Monday at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

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