Looking through this week’s player/caddie pairing list for the 3M Open, something stuck out like a sore thumb.
Rather than brother Austin on the bag as his caddie — as is always the case — world No. 2 Dustin Johnson instead has Keith Sbarbaro, TaylorMade VP of Tour Operations, as his looper at TPC Twin Cities. Sbarbaro also caddied for Johnson in the 2011 Presidents Cup in Australia.
But why is he on the bag this week?
According to DiMeglio’s report, Austin was feeling sluggish upon returning from the Open Championship on Monday morning and — out of caution — took a COVID test. When it came back positive, Austin decided to drive home.
“I feel great,” Austin said in a text with Golfweek from his home in Florida, where he is in quarantine. DiMeglio reports that Austin is asymptomatic.
Dustin tested positive for COVID in October 2020 and won the Masters a few weeks later.