American Denny McCarthy tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday at the PGA Travelers Championship, becoming the third tour player infected with the deadly virus since the tour resumed play.
PGA Tour officials confirmed to The Golf Channel that McCarthy, a 27-year-old from suburban Washington who was seeking his first PGA title, would not tee off in his scheduled second round at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.
McCarthy fired a three-under par 67 in Thursday’s opening round and told the telecaster that symptoms developed following his first round.
“I was feeling pretty sore and tired after the round,” McCarthy told Golf Channel. “Didn’t think much of it because I practised a lot Monday through Wednesday.”
But when he woke up in the night and remained sore, McCarthy said he thought it would be best to be tested before going to the course yesterday. 
“I woke up in the middle of the night and my body was really achy and sore and figured something was wrong,” he said.
The test confirmed he had joined US compatriots Nick Watney, who tested positive last week in South Carolina, and Cameron Champ, who tested positive Tuesday at River Highlands.
Caddies for Brooks Koepka and Graeme McDowell also tested positive this week in Connecticut, prompting the players to withdraw from the event after close contact with them in practice rounds.
McCarthy’s first-round playing partners were American Bud Cauley, who opened with a 69, and England’s Matt Wallace, who opened on 70.
McCarthy was quarantined until deciding where he wanted to isolate for at least 10 days under PGA Tour safety protocol installed to allow the tour to return earlier this month after a three-month coronavirus shutdown.
McCarthy was 66th at Colonial two weeks ago in the PGA comeback event and missed last week’s cut at the Heritage tournament.
World number one Rory McIlroy called the notion of shutting down the event or the season restart because of a few positive tests a “silly” idea.
“You hear one or two positive tests and people are panicking, and I saw a couple of calls to shut the tournament down, which is silly from my point of view,” he said Thursday.
“There have been almost 3,000 tests administered. The percentage of positive tests is under a quarter of a %. I think as a whole, it has been going really well.”