COVID-19 brings Garcia’s record major streak to an end

There’s no denying Sergio Garcia has been a polarising figure but the Spaniard never fails to entertain the fans wherever he plays.

So it is with a tinge of irony that the 40-year-old has been forced to withdraw from the first ever Masters without ‘patrons’ following a positive COVID-19 result overnight.

Danny Willett presents Sergio Garcia with the 2017 Green Jacket (Credit: Golfbytourmiss)

After missing the cut at the Houston Open, Garcia fell ill on the way back home and decided to get tested and is now in quarantine for the next fortnight.

“On Saturday night after driving back from the Houston Open, I started feeling a bit of a sore throat and a cough,” tweeted Garcia.

“The symptoms stayed with me on Sunday morning so I decided to get tested for COVID-19 and so did my wife, Angela. Thankfully she tested negative, but I didn’t.”

Sadly, Garcia’s withdrawal also means the end of his record 84 majors in succession, which began at the 1999 US Open as a 19-year-old amateur. Months later he famously finished runner-up behind Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship.

Adam Scott now has the honour of holding the longest major streak with 76 should he make the first tee this Thursday. Scott has amassed 19 major top-10’s in that time including one Masters title while Garcia has finished inside the top-10 on 23 occasions along with his 2017 victory.

“After 21 years of not missing a Major Championship, I will sadly miss 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.”