Collin Morikawa, left, and Jon Rahm exchange a fist bump Saturday morning after finishing the second round of the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio. Rahm shot a 65 in the second round, then followed with a 64 in the third round before learning of a positive coronavirus test. Darron Cummings/Associated Press
DUBLIN, Ohio — Jon Rahm walked off the 18th green at the Memorial after tying the 54-hole record and building a six-shot lead, leaving him on the cusp of joining Tiger Woods as the tournament’s only repeat winners.
Moments later, he doubled over and said in anguish, “Not again!”
Rahm was notified he tested positive for the coronavirus, knocking him out of the tournament.
A command performance that included a hole-in-one Saturday morning to complete his second round went to waste.
The PGA Tour said the Spaniard had come in close contact with a person who was COVID-19 positive, meaning he had to be tested daily. Every test came back negative except the one after his second round that was completed Saturday morning.
The positive test was confirmed, the results returned as he was playing the 18th hole, knowing nothing except no one was close to him on the leaderboard.
The tour said Rahm remained asymptomatic.
By tour policy, he was withdrawn from the tournament. That left Patrick Cantlay and Collin Morikawa tied for the lead at 12-under 204.
“It’s kind of the worst situation for something like that to happen and he played awesome today and it’s just, it’s really a shame,” Cantlay said.
It was a shocking turn of events given the timing. Rahm was close to perfect on the back nine, running off six birdies in an eight-hole stretch to turn a one-shot lead into a six-shot cushion, tying the Memorial record for largest 54-hole lead set by Woods in 2000.
His 18-under 198 tied the record set by Scott Hoch in 1987.
Now it’s erased, and the No. 3 player in the world is required to go into self-isolation for 10 days. That ends on June 15, the Tuesday of the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, where Rahm captured his first PGA Tour victory four years ago.
LPGA: Lexi Thompson shot a bogey-free 5-under 66 to take the lead into the final round of the U.S. Women’s Open in San Francisco for the first time in her career with a one-shot edge over teenager Yuka Saso.
Thompson made three birdies on the front nine and two more on the back nine to overcome a four-shot deficit heading into the day. Thompson was at 7 under overall.
Saso made back-to-back bogeys on the back nine to fall out of the lead before recovering with a birdie at the par-5 17th to get back to 7 under. She missed a 12-foot par putt on 18.
New Jersey high school junior Megha Ganne shot a 72 and was tied for third at 3 under with 2019 champion Jeongueun Lee6 of South Korea.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Thomas Detry of Belgium shot a 4-under 68 to take a one-stroke lead in the opening round of the European Open as spectators returned to the fairways in Hamburg, Germany.
A declining rate of coronavirus infections allowed fans to attend a European Tour event for the first time since 2019. Up to 2,000 were permitted at the Green Eagle Golf Courses.
The tournament had been scheduled to begin Thursday but was postponed by two days and shortened to 54 holes to allow players and tour staff from the United Kingdom extra time to get around Germany’s recently introduced travel restrictions.
Detry, looking for his first tour win in his 114th event, was one shot ahead of Sweden’s Alexander Bjork, England’s Ashley Chesters, Scotland’s David Law and China’s Wu Ashun.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Tim Herron shot a 9-under 63 to take a four-stroke lead in the Principal Charity Classic in Des Moines, Iowa.
Trying to win for the first time on the 50-and-over tour, Herron birdied the par-4 18th for a back-nine 30 and 14-under 130 total at Wakonda Club.
Shane Bertsch and Rod Pampling were second after 67s.
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