Rahm 'can guarantee' he didn't have COVID-19 before Olympics

Jon Rahm insists he didn't have COVID-19 prior to being forced out of the Olympics with his second positive test this season.

"I can guarantee I didn't have COVID this time," Rahm said Tuesday, per Golf.com's Josh Berhow. "Not at all."

Rahm withdrew from the Memorial Tournament in June following the third round because of a positive test. He came back two weeks later, winning the U.S. Open and playing in The Open before returning another positive result in the final testing period before his scheduled flight to Tokyo.

"This was a little harder to digest than (the) Memorial because I've done everything the system tells me to do," Rahm said. "I got all my negatives. First one on Thursday, negative; Friday, negative; Saturday, I get my first positive. And then they tested me again that same day, and I apparently was positive again."

He continued: "Then I got tested the next two days. One was the saliva test, one was PCR, both negative. Got an antibody test done ... and I had the antibodies. So, I can't really explain what in the world happened. I don't know if it's false positives or just what I had leftover from when I had COVID ... There's a reason why the PGA TOUR won't test you for a while after you've had COVID."

Rahm, the world's top-ranked player, was in tremendous form leading up to the Olympics. He's upset he missed out on the unique opportunity to represent his home country.

"It really is unfortunate. ... I wanted to, hopefully, give Spain a medal," Rahm said. "I was wishing for a gold medal, but just being part of that medal count for the country would have been huge. It was more devastating in that sense."

Xander Schauffele captured the gold for the U.S., while Rory Sabbatini and C.T. Pan rounded out the podium.