Five Withdrawals from Travelers Championship in a Week

Five Withdrawals from the Travelers Championship in a Week is really discouraging. Webb Simpson & Brooks Koepka opt-out to play from the Travelers Championship because of the increasing cases of coronavirus. It’s been only a few weeks that the PGA has been back to play, but there are already speculations going around about the disruptions that are being caused because of the increasing coronavirus cases. Out of the coronavirus fears, already five of the golfers have opted out from the 2020 Travelers Championship, which had restarted at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut. Two of these top players opting-out of the Travelers Championship are Webb Simpson & Brooks Koepka.

What led to Koepka & Simpson’s withdrawal.

While Cameron Champ himself tested positive for COVID-19, Simpson chose to opt-out from the game after his family member got affected by the coronavirus pandemic. On the other hand, Koepka announced withdrawal from the Travelers Championship after Ricky Elliott, his caddie got tested positive for coronavirus. Upon this decision coming from Brooks Koepka, his brother Chase Koepka also withdrew from the championship. Among the players withdrawing from the championship, Graeme McDowell was also there, who opted out after his caddie was tested positive for COVID-19.

Koepka was not tested positive, but he was particularly concerned about the health of his fellow players which led him to opt-out of the championship. For him, it was important not to jeopardize the health of others. According to Koepka, as of the situation, it is important to take decisions as quickly as possible to support other players and everyone associated with the championship.

Simpson announced his withdrawal from the championship — he got the news of one of his family members getting tested positive for coronavirus. Although he was not tested positive, yet, he chose to withdraw to consider this a necessary step. He withdrew from the Travelers championship & stated it as his responsibility to protect his fellow teammates & his family. Simpson said that he would be returning to his home in Charlotte and quarantine himself for 14 days as per the CDC guideline.

Five withdrawals in a week.

It’s good news for everyone that Simpson, Koepka & other golfers were not tested positive. But on the other hand, having five withdrawals coming up in a week is obviously not good news for the PGA. A few positive cases were inevitable, and everyone was prepared for that, but five players opting-out in a week’s time is surely not a positive sign. These withdrawals are discouraging for the Championship — when it is all gearing up to make up for the loss that has been caused due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This is a reminder that the tour must reconsider its guidelines and replace it with a stricter one so that this number goes down. It is very discouraging for the team not to have Koepka & Simpson on board from next week’s event, especially given the pace that they have already picked up and their stupendous innings they are known for playing in the past tours.

We hope there are more stringent guidelines in place so that this number of players opting out drops.