Harrington skipping PGA Championship due to COVID-19 concerns

Padraig Harrington cited concerns about COVID-19 as the reason he will not travel to the U.S. to play in next week's PGA Championship.

"As COVID-19 currently looks to be under control in Ireland, I am taking the prudent approach by following the guidelines and reducing the risk as much as possible by staying at home. ... hopefully I'll have many more years to play in the PGA Championship," the Irishman wrote Friday on Twitter.

Harrington was eligible to play in the event as a past champion after he won the major in 2008.

He joins Lee Westwood as European players who will skip the season's first major because of coronavirus concerns.

"I still don't feel comfortable and I don't feel like it is right to jump on a plane for 12 hours," Westwood recently said, according to Golf.com's Jessica Marksbury.

Francesco Molinari has also pulled out of the tournament, though he didn't provide a reason for his withdrawal.

The PGA Championship begins on Aug. 6 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.