Furious PGA Tour star Matt Wallace hits out at fellow pros for dirty looks after playing despite coronavirus scare
MATT WALLACE reacted furiously to suggestions he should have pulled out of the Travelers Championship after playing partner Denny McCarthy tested positive for coronavirus.
The third member of the group, Bud Cauley, also withdrew saying he felt slightly unwell - although like Wallace, who was re-tested along with caddie Dave McNeilly, he did not have the virus.
That meant four-time European Tour winner Wallace had to play the second round on his own, and he missed the cut after a second round 72 left him on two over par.
The Londoner's mood was not helped when he was asked why he did not join Cauley in stepping down.
Wallace, 30, replied: “I don't think I should be in any way a negative here. I don't think I should be put in that spotlight at all.
“I've done everything else that any other player has done and I've tested negative. I'm in the same boat that they are.
“It's up to me, so clearly it's my decision. I mean, it's black and white in my situation. I stayed well clear of them yesterday, no fist bumps, none of that. And I've done everything at home that I have done the last three weeks while testing negative.
'WE'RE ALL CLEAN'
“I just got some food, stayed in the hotel room, came up here, got tested, tested negative, Dave tested negative, we're all clean, we went out and played, that's pretty much it for me.
“Bud said that he didn't feel good, that he didn't feel well, so I can understand why he wouldn't play. I haven't felt better myself. I'm playing with a chance to change my career if I win, so why wouldn't I play?
“But I said to Dave on the first hole, it's just nice to know that we're okay and we're just playing golf. I mean, there's much worse things than missing the cut, isn't there, at the moment? It isn’t the end of the world
“I tested negative and I can go play. Just a bit frustrated thinking would someone like Dustin Johnson or Rory McIlroy play on his own? I doubt it.
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“So they could have dropped one of the players back from in front or maybe from behind to go ahead and play with me. Just don't think it was a great move to leave someone out on their own in the middle of the pack.”
Wallace had a point as he was forced to wait over every shot.
But if the PGA Tour had persuaded another player to go out alongside the Englishman – and either had tested positive – it would have caused uproar.