Jack Nicklaus told Jim Nantz of CBS Sports on Sunday that he and his wife Barbara tested positive for COVID-19 in March. They isolated for a month in Florida and Jack has since tested positive for the antibody. Nicklaus said he and his wife were lucky not to suffer serious complications from the coronavirus.
“It didn’t last very long, and we were very, very fortunate, very lucky,” Nicklaus said. “Barbara and I are both of the age, both of us 80 years old, that is an at-risk age. Our hearts go out to the people who did lose their lives and their families. We were just a couple of the lucky ones.”
Nicklaus said earlier in the week that he would shake hands with the winner of his tournament, the Memorial, as has been the tradition for decades.
“I’m going to shake their hand,” said Nicklaus. “I going to walk right out there and shake your hand. If they don’t want to shake my hand, that’s fine, I’ll give them a fist bump or an elbow bump, but I’m not going to give them COVID-19. I wouldn’t put anybody in that position. I wouldn’t do that, and if I was in any danger of doing that, I wouldn’t shake their hands.”
That’s an interesting quote to look back on after Nicklaus’ comments on Sunday. He believes he would not give them COVID-19 because he couldn’t give them COVID-19. However, immunologists have not determined whether having coronavirus antibodies makes one immune from catching it again.
So a wild week got a little crazier on Sunday as the best golfer of all time (up for debate) disclosed that he tested positive for the coronavirus that has been the focus of the pandemic that the world of golf — and every other part of American society — is currently embroiled in.
