Sergio Garcia was left surprised by travel companion Nick Watney’s positive test for coronavirus, saying ‘a lot of other people that probably deserved it a lot more than him.’
READ: McIlroy chatted to Watney on Friday
The Spaniard confirmed that he was one of the 11 people tested in the wake of Watney’s result – all came back negative – but was still dealing with the shock.
‘My first reaction was I was surprised,’ Garcia said.
‘I felt terrible for Nick because he’s probably one of the nicest guys on Tour. Unfortunately, it had to happen to him. So there’s a lot of other people that probably deserved it a lot more than him, and he’s the one that got it.’
The pair drove together on Tuesday after landing in South Carolina and both tested negative.
“I was a little bit afraid. We were both negative [earlier in the week], so it was all good. Then I was surprised to hear that he tested positive three days later. Obviously, I got my test done yesterday, and I was negative.
‘But it was about four-and-a-half hours of waiting, very anxiously, hoping that it was negative because, after missing the cut last week by one and this week finally playing nicely in the second round and being in the middle of the pack, if I would have given positive, then I wouldn’t be able to play on the weekend and I would have been very disappointed.
‘Nick is unbelievable. He’s a good friend and he was very worried about me. He sent me several texts, I’ve talked to him, and he must have said sorry to me probably 25 times. I told him that it’s all good, whatever it is, it is. Fortunately for me, it was fine. Hopefully, his is not bad, and we can have him back as soon as possible.
‘It could be one of those false positive ones because I talked to him this morning, and he’s been telling me he’s feeling fine. He’s got no fever, he’s got no cough. So I’m hoping that he gets tested again, and it’s maybe a false positive. That would be nice because he doesn’t deserve it.’
Watney decided to get tested after his fitness tracker showed a higher than normal breathing rate.
