Ryder Cup captain Harrington tests positive for COVID-19

Padraig Harrington has tested positive for COVID-19 and withdrawn from this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Padraig Harrington. - REUTERS (FILE)

Padraig Harrington, who will captain Team Europe at the Ryder Cup in September, has tested positive for COVID-19 and withdrawn from this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the PGA Tour said on Tuesday.

The 49-year-old Harrington, who missed the cut at last week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open after carding rounds of 71 and 73, must self-isolate before he can return to competition, the PGA Tour said in a statement. The Irishman, who won back-to-back British Opens from 2007 before winning his third major at the 2008 PGA Championship, was appointed Europe’s Ryder Cup captain in 2019.

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His debut as captain in the hotly-contested biennial team competition between the United States and Europe, was originally scheduled to be last September but the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2021 Ryder Cup will take place from September 25-27 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.