(Los Angeles) Former world golf number one Lee Westwood does not want to participate in upcoming tournaments in the United States because he believes the COVID-19 pandemic is insufficiently controlled there, he said on Saturday.

“I don't feel able to stay on a plane for 12 hours. […] I have mild asthma. If I am tested [positive] in Memphis, I will have to stay there for two weeks. Right now there are too many ifs, ”the 47-year-old Briton told reporters.

He would miss the Saint Jude Invitational in Memphis, from July 30 to August 2, and especially the USPGA, the first Grand Slam tournament since the interruption of the circuit due to the pandemic, from August 6 to 9.

The United States, the country most affected in the world by the new coronavirus with 4.17 million confirmed cases and more than 146,000 deaths, has repealed the mandatory quarantine for golfers given the health measures introduced by the American circuit (PGA ).