Steve Stricker Out of Senior PGA Championship After Positive COVID-19 Test

The former Ryder Cup captain won the first major of the PGA Tour Champions season two weeks ago and called this 'a small setback.'

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — Former Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker has pulled out of the Senior PGA Championship after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Stricker revealed his positive test Tuesday on Twitter, saying he was “super bummed” and that it was “just a small setback.”

Stricker was out of competition for six months because of a virus that he says doctors never fully identified. He became ill last fall, about a month after leading the Americans to a record blowout (19-9) over Europe at Whistling Straits in his native Wisconsin.

He was hospitalized and lost some 25 pounds. Stricker has said he wonders if the illness was a reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine because he has regular health checks and annual blood work.

He was coming off a victory in the first of five majors on the PGA Tour Champions schedule, two weeks ago at the Regions Tradition. This would have been his fourth tournament in five weeks since he returned to golf.