Major Blow For Masters With Garcia Positive Covid Test
Europe's Sergio Garcia celebrates winning the match on the 17th. Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Oisin Keniry
As the pandemic continues to rumble on, there has been a huge impact on our everyday lives as many of us are in lockdown restrictions at this time. But with the Masters in Augusta coming up how has this and the other changes impacted the upcoming tournament. In this article, we will be providing you with the latest surrounding the competition.
The Augusta Masters
The Master's Tournament is back for 2020 at the Augusta National racecourse and with it comes a star-studded line up of professional golfers ready and waiting to get their hands on the championship. This is the 84th annual tournament to take place and is one of the many golfing tournaments taking place this year. This is set to be a huge tournament for golf in 2020 and is set to showcase the skill of some of the worlds best as well as new up and coming talent in the world of golf.
The Career Of Sergio Garcia
The career of Sergio Garcia has been one full of major successes throughout his career with a total of 11 PGA Tour victories as well as a total of 20 international victories and a final additional four victories at this time. With many career highlights as well as career low lights, Garcia is one of the best out there when it comes to international competition wins as well as competition wins in the smaller elements. However, since testing positive for the Covid-19, Garcia has had to withdraw from the event leaving the tournament down to 92 contestants on the lineup. When asked about the positive result Garcia said:
“After 21 years of not missing a Major championship, I will sadly miss the Masters this week. The important thing is that my family and I are feeling good. We’ll come back stronger and give the green jacket a go next April.”
Lack Of Audiences As A Result Of Covid-19
With many superstars headed to the court for the masters in Augusta such as Irish golfer Shane Lowry, this is an amazing month for sport as Lowry is set to try for a victory this year. However, with the Pandemic having a huge impact on the world of sport in 2020, many changes are being made to the way the audience interacts this year. With no audiences allowed on the course, the masters will only be able to be viewed by a broadcast, the master's website (masters.com) and the master's official app.
The lack of audiences is set to have another huge impact on the sport this year as the tournament turns to a completely online tournament. As the Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on sports betting as a whole, many are wondering how this new online and virtual viewing format will impact the fans and the revenue generated. This form of online betting with virtual events has been something that has been largely trialled this year, there have been huge successes with the Virtual Grand National and other sporting events such as football and rugby. This new way of interacting with sport has led sites such as Betfred and other sites popular in Ireland seeing a huge amount of revenue being generated. This is huge for the future of the industry as it enables many betting agencies to generate revenue through virtual events when live events are not going.
The Withdrawal Of Joaquin Nieman
In addition to the positive Covid-19 for Garcia, the tournament has been met with another positive covid-19 test for Nieman. The young talent has had to withdraw from the tournament at this time leaving the line up down to a grand total of 92 people. With Covid-19 meaning there are no reserves this year, the line-up is slowly but surely decreasing. With the tournament beginning in 12th of November and ending on the 15th, there are many wondering whether or not the Covid-19 pandemic will affect any more players leading up to the 2020 tournament at this time.
Changes To The Rules For 2020
In addition to the changes in the audience this year, there are several changes to the rules out there at this time. Starting from this year, the 36-hole cut will feature the top 50 players and ties but not those players that are 10 strokes ahead. The 10-shot rule has been removed due to daylight savings as the office are starting those for round 1 and 2 from the first and the 10th holes. It is important to note, however, that the exact reason for the changes remains unclear.
With this in mind, there is plenty to consider as the tournament draws nearer. Will you be watching the tournament virtually this year and cheering on your favourite golfers?
