Nick Watney still doesn’t have his full sense of smell but is feeling better since becoming the first PGA Tour player to test positive for COVID-19 since the season restart.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Watney said he didn’t have the virus’s most common symptoms — fever, shortness of breath or a cough — but is still suffering from fatigue and loss of smell.
As of Tuesday, the 39-year-old is on his 11th day in self-isolation in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, after testing positive on June 19 at the RBC Heritage.
As of Tuesday morning, five players and two caddies have tested positive for COVID-19. This week’s event, the fourth event back on the Tour’s revised schedule, is in Detroit, Michigan. Dylan Frittelli and Harris English are the most recent players to withdraw from the Rocket Mortgage Classic after testing positive for COVID-19 in pre-tournament testing.
“I will say, it’s not the greatest feeling being the first to get it,” Watney said, according to the AP. “Some things are so vague around this thing. 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.”
Watney’s biggest concern was spreading the virus to other players. While awaiting his quick test ahead of his second round at Harbour Town Golf Links, Watney was seen in the parking lot and on the range by other players.
The tour identified and tested 11 people with whom Watney had contact during the event including his caddie and Sergio Garcia. They tested negative.
“I was very, very nervous about giving it to other people,” Watney said to the AP. “I don’t know how I got it. I don’t feel as though I was reckless. That part is scary. It’s like this invisible, silent thing.”
Watney told the AP he visited a grocery store once during the week of the RBC Heritage. Since the positive test though, Watney has not left his room. Instead, he said fellow Tour pro Bill Haas’ wife, Julie, visited the grocery store for him.
Watney said he’s feeling better physically as he nears the end of self-isolation, but is quite bored. The AP reports he plans to drive 17 hours back home to Austin, Texas, on Wednesday. His wife, Amber, and their four children, have all tested negative for the virus.
“I don’t want to fly at this point,” he said. “I just think all this could be a waste of time if I left early and got someone else sick. I’d feel terrible.”
Watney told the AP he will feel safe again after three straight days of no symptoms.
