South African player tests positive for the coronavirus

By: The Associated Press Posted: 10:04 AM CDT Thursday, Mar. 19, 2020 Last Modified: 10:20 AM CDT Thursday, Mar. 19, 2020

Advertise with us

The first player under the PGA Tour umbrella has tested positive for the new coronavirus after returning home to South Africa from playing a developmental tour event in Mexico.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

The first player under the PGA Tour umbrella has tested positive for the new coronavirus after returning home to South Africa from playing a developmental tour event in Mexico.

Read unlimited articles for free today:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/03/2020 (2325 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The first player under the PGA Tour umbrella has tested positive for the new coronavirus after returning home to South Africa from playing a developmental tour event in Mexico.

The PGA Tour says Victor Lange made his only PGA Tour Latinoamerica start in the Estrella Del Mar Open in Mazatlan, Mexico. About a week after he returned home, Lange accompanied a friend to an unrelated doctor’s appointed and was tested as a precaution.

The tour said in statement the 26-year-old Lange received the diagnosis Tuesday night. The tour said he has no symptoms and is expected to make a full recovery while under quarantine and medical supervision at his home in Johannesburg.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan reacts to a question during a news conference at The Players Championship golf tournament, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., early Friday, March 13, 2020. The PGA Tour first said there would be no fans. Now there will be no players. In a late Thursday night decision, the PGA Tour canceled the rest of The Players Championship and said it would not play the next three weeks. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

“We appreciate Victor’s prompt disclosure of his diagnosis,” the tour said, adding it will allow officials to alert those with whom Lange might have had contact.

The Mexico event was his only start this year on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica, one of six circuits the PGA Tour runs worldwide. Lange also played two Sunshine Tour events earlier this year in South Africa.

The International Federation of PGA Tours remain shut down during the pandemic, with the European Tour cancelling and postponing two more events on its schedule — the Golfsixes, a two-day event on May 9-10 in Portugal, was cancelled; the Made in Denmark event on May 21-24 was postponed. That brings to eight tournaments on the European Tour either cancelled or postponed.

The R&A says it is sticking to its schedule for the British Open on July 16-19 at Royal St. George’s and the Women’s British Open on Aug. 20-23 at Royal Troon while monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic. Neither course has even begun building the infrastructure for those championships. though the R&A says it is studying a range of options.