ESPN.com Deep Dive: "How the PGA Tour is trying to help its players avoid COVID-19 and the common injury"

ESPN.com’s Stephanie Ball takes a pretty extensive look at the PGA Tour’s successful start and highlights everything that’s gone into the COVID-19 testing protocols.

While there have been hiccups, questions about the legitimacy of the traveling “bubble” and recent signs that transparency is diminishing, the program has been a remarkable success in restarting golf and along with NASCAR, setting a solid example the world of major sports. (No players tested positive this week, a minor miracle given the country around them.)

Especially as other major leagues have restarted in bumpy fashion and now face questions about whether they are gaining unfair lab testing priority. (That issue was solved by the PGA Tour having an on-site, mobile test lab.)

It’s not clear if ESPN.com’s Ball saw some of the elements in person, but the story does indicate a foregone conclusion element to at-home testing before events (we know one player did not partake and traveled a good ways just to test positive and spend 10 days in quarantine).

Anyway, one component of the story still sets off alarm bells given what we know about the virus and people exercising indoors: the Tour’s fitness van. That’s where players are now asked to workout instead of hotel or home gyms, seems like a spreader event waiting to happen.

"We decided to limit it to no more than five players in the trailer at any one time, so eight people total (including PTs and chiropractor)," said Stodelle. "Normally pre-round could have 10-12 guys. Guys might occasionally have to wait a bit, so they just need to allow a little more time.'

"There's a bench outside (waiting area), there are masks, hand sanitizer, wipes available. When a player comes to the truck, we scan their temperature, just to make sure they're under 100.4. Assuming everything else is good, then he can proceed into the trailer."

Players are to arrive dressed in workout attire as they are no longer allowed to change inside the trailer. All medical personnel are wearing masks and scrubs while working inside the trailer. The staff has marked-out quadrants using athletic tape as boundary markers so that the athletes can independently stretch or exercise while maintaining proper physical distancing.

Since the players apparently can’t wear masks inside, maybe we can think about moving those outdoors in future weeks? Maybe some yoga mats and a little tent covering? Just a thought!

Golf Channel Report: PGA Tour Events To Continue Without Fans, Pro-Ams Through Playoffs

Rex Hoggard reports on what was inevitable given the COVID-19 situation and pro golf showing it’s functional without spectators. The lack of fan energy down the Sunday stretch is a loss, especially at the upcoming PGA Championship and U.S. Open where we have seen roars through a course influence the outcome of a major.

That said, anecdotal evidence suggests television viewers are not missing the commentary of drunken idiots and enjoying some of the picturesque views through courses.

On a business side, the loss of pro-ams through September will be devastating for charities given that most tournaments use pro-am and spectator revenue to fund their donations.

With the Masters 16 weeks away, The Guardian’s Ewan Murray wondered earlier this week how and event protective of many cherished traditions—Sunday roars through the pines high up the list—can be played this November without fans.

Yes, Augusta could invest in the most advanced technology that checks the temperature – or pulse, or aftershave – of spectators upon entry, but this resource might really be better deployed elsewhere.

Next weekend, the world’s best golfers should have been lining up at Royal St George’s for the Open. Given the ongoing scale of coronavirus, the R&A unquestionably made the right call in postponing for 12 months. In the absolute best-case scenario, the Claret Jug would have been awarded to the winner of a vastly diminished event, even before needless pressure on public services is contemplated.

"Are the million-dollar PPP loans some Palm Beach County golf communities collected justified?"

That’s the headline of a thorough Mike Diamond look into the United States “PPP” loans and Florida golf. The loans were meant to maintain “ongoing” operations at small businesses that had no other funding options.

The initial list of golf facilities taking the grants included mostly small amounts for obvious candidates in a time of pandemic, with the notable exception of courses recently hosting PGA Tour events like Colonial and Muirfield Village.

The Daily Beast’s William Bredderman published an extensive look at longtime Genesis Open host Riviera Country Club, which despite memberships costing north of $300,000, took between $2 million to $5 million, as noticed by Outside The Cut. More problematic: Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is a Riviera club member.

Anyway, back to Florida. And kudos to the Palm Beach Post for giving Diamond the space to consider a nice variety of angles to the PPP concept and golf. It’s an especially complicated subject when it comes to golf courses versus country clubs and Diamond does a fine job looking at many points of view.

Scores of other Palm Beach country clubs had applied for the PPP loans. Many were approved but decided to refuse to accept the money on both moral grounds and legal grounds after reading the fine print. Government auditors are expected to review how the money was spent and can ask for the money to be returned and penalties to be imposed if they find misrepresentations.

Fifty-seven country clubs in Florida accepted the PPP funds. According to CNBC, more than 400 country clubs and golf courses received loans throughout the country. The issue of whether it is appropriate for golf course communities to receive PPP loans has been debated.

“At the end of the day, we decided we just did not need it,” said Stephen Wolk, president of the Gleneagles Country Club west of Delray Beach. “We could see the government looking very closely at how well-to-do country clubs were using these funds. How do you justify giving it to country clubs?”

WGC FedEx St. Jude In July, In Memphis, Gets “One-Time” Field Filler Clause

Rex Hoggard’s GolfChannel.com item sarys the PGA Tour Policy Board is offering a “one-time” clause designed to fill out July 30-August 2nd’s WGC FedEx St. Jude field. What prompted it so far out, well, is pretty apparent.

In no particular order: Memphis in July/August, a date the week before the PGA Championship, or the inability or disinterest of international players to arrive and potentially have to quarantine for 14 days to play in Memphis in July/August the week before the PGA.

Hoggard writes:

Players were informed on Wednesday that the policy board has approved a one-time exemption for the event for players beyond No. 50 in the world ranking if the field is less than 78 players.

The current qualification includes players inside the top 50 in the world on March 16, when the rankings were frozen, and those inside the top 50 following next week’s Memorial.

“To maximize playing opportunities, adding an alternate list constructed from the next available players in order beyond 50th position on the Official World Golf Ranking [on July 20] . . . the alternate list would be utilized to fill the field to a limit of 78 players,” the memo read.

Optimize playing opportunities.

A spectacular euphemism for “we can’t fill the field with the current criteria and $10.5 million.”

This all was totally avoidable had this World Golf Championship gone somewhere outside the U.S. or somewhere other than FedEx’s home city in the hottest months. But they wanted a WGC and got it.

Dartmouth Ends Men's And Women's Golf Programs, To Shutter 121-Year-Old Hanover Country Club

Thanks to all who sent the dreadful news of Dartmouth College ending both of its golf programs and announcing the permanent closure of semi-private Hanover Country Club, established in 1899.

From the communications department announcement quoting Philip Hanlon, President of Dartmouth:

The changes, which will eliminate five varsity athletic teams and a number of staff positions, will give Dartmouth more flexibility in admissions, reducing the number of recruited athletes in incoming classes by 10%. The move also contributes to the steps Dartmouth is taking to address budget challenges, including a projected $150 million financial deficit brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The teams to be eliminated, effective immediately, are men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's golf, and men's lightweight rowing, dropping to 30 the number of varsity teams. A total of about 110 student-athletes participate on these five teams.

In addition, Dartmouth is permanently closing the Hanover Country Club—which is owned by Dartmouth and operated at the College-owned golf course—after years of the club's running in the red, with deficits expected to swell to $1 million a year.

Reader Peter kindly sent this extensive and excellent Rick Shefchik story from 2014 looking at the course history, it’s place with students and golfers, how the course lost some character when 500 yards was added to the scorecard, and most disconcertingly, concerns then about the possibility of the land being developed.

These Guys Are Positive: PGA Tour Announces First-Ever All-COVID-19 Grouping

There’s a headline I wouldn’t have seen coming. Last week. But the “Return to Golf” marches on with regular adjustments.

Quick recap: the PGA Tour issued 36 pages of guidelines for the “Return to Golf” in mid-May and here’s how they initially planned to handle a player testing positive for COVID-19:

After five weeks and several positives, the window has closed to 10 days of quarantine and now less if you test negative twice (the Cam Champ clause).

On the eve of the first-and-hopefully-last Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village, a forklift was called in to move the goal posts again.

The PGA Tour announced no total test results for player and caddies this week as they also did not do last Wednesday. But this “update” revealing that three of the players who tested positive are still doing so, but feel fine so therefore, we have, a historic first: a coronavirus pairing.

PGA TOUR Statement – Health & Safety Plan Updates

July 8, 2020

Protocols for positive/symptomatic cases

At the inception of the PGA TOUR Health and Safety Plan, the TOUR’s policy for all positive test results for players and caddies required a minimum 10-day self-isolation period, based on the Centers for Disease Control’s time-based protocols.

It was “up to 14” in the plan (above) but continue…

On July 1, the TOUR transitioned to a test-based model for asymptomatic cases.  Therefore, in accordance with CDC guidelines, a player or caddie who tests positive for COVID-19 but has not had any symptoms may return to competition if he returns two negative tests results, a minimum of 24 hours apart. 

Ok, testing’s not perfect, Cameron Champ got a raw deal, we’re working with you…

For clarity regarding players and caddies who tested positive for COVID-19 and were symptomatic – in accordance with CDC “Return to Work” guidelines and in consultation with the PGA TOUR Medical Advisor and infectious disease experts – cases in which a player or caddie tested positive and continues to test positive, the TOUR follows a symptom-based model, as outlined by the CDC, allowing for him to return to competition if:

• At least three days (72 hours) have passed since recovery, which is defined as resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and improvement in respiratory symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath); and,

• At least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared.

Lift that post…

The TOUR’s medical advisors and the CDC have indicated that PCR tests have shown a possibility of detecting viral RNA even after the infectious virus is no longer present. This would potentially become a persistent positive test result, despite the individual not being contagious.

Out of an abundance of caution, however, any player or caddie who meets the above criteria but continues to return a positive COVID-19 test will either compete as a single in competition or be grouped with players under the same situation, and he will also have no access to indoor facilities on site.

Face covering? Maybe? We’ll see…unless cameras are forbidden from showing…

At this week’s Workday Charity Open, Dylan Frittelli, Denny McCarthy and Nick Watney will follow the symptom-based model, as they have continued to return positive tests but meet the CDC guidelines for Return to Work. The three will play together in rounds one and two.

For more information on the CDC guidelines referenced above, visit: 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/disposition-in-home-patients.html

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/strategy-discontinue-isolation.html

The CDC guidelines, which are now being modified at President Donald Trump’s urging, make a big point on the two negative tests notion.

So the first ever all-COVID-19 positive trio will tee off together, with no word yet on their caddie situation or other precautions.

In an early evening call convened with preferred outlets, the PGA Tour’s advisor explained the basis of this shift in policy.

From Bob Harig’s ESPN.com story:

"In the beginning stage of the illness, that virus is assumed to be active virus that can cause infection, can be contagious," said Dr. Tom Hospel, the PGA Tour's medical adviser. "As time passes and as symptoms resolve and the patient or individual doesn't have any fever and 10 days have passed, at that point the thought and theory is that this virus, this particle that's being detected in the [nasal] swab is no longer active or contagious or can potentially cause ongoing infection.

"What we have learned along the way is that in some instances, individuals can continue to test positive for weeks if not months beyond when their illness started, and the thought is that those individuals are no longer contagious, but you're picking up dead virus."

The thought and theory.

Play away, gentlemen.

Several Elite Clubs And Pro Tournament Hosts Score Significant PPP Funds

Outside The Cut highlighted top clubs and resorts taking significant workforce employment funds.

In recent days there has been national scrutiny over who received what, including some potential conflicts of interest as noted here by CNBC. In the golf sector, Outside the Cut Tweeted a list of the top golf operations securing SBA loans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Besides several hosts of recent PGA Tour events (Colonial, Harbour Town) or upcoming events (Muirfield Village Golf Club), there is Riviera Country Club securing funds between $2-5 million earmarked to help “businesses keep their workforce employed during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.”

The club is home to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who disclosed his membership there and at Sebonack on Long Island as part of his Senate confirmation process.

The full PPP list can be accessed here.

Over 1500 golf related businesses applied and received funds over $150,000, with just over half receiving less than $350,000. (Businesses receiving less than $150,000 were not disclosed).

However, at the top end’s $2-5 million level, several names stand out given their small workforces. In California there is Bighorn, Steele Canyon and Riviera, Bay Hill (TBHC) and Grey Oaks CC in Florida, New Jersey’s Fiddler’s Elbow, Nevada’s Edgewood Tahoe and Horshoe Bay in Texas.

Muirfield Village, home to the next two weeks of PGA Tour golf, was part of a Columbus Dispatch story on the loans.

That Escalated Quickly, Files: Brooks Tweets At Bryson, Layers To Peel

Obviously, there is a reference here to Bryson DeChambeau’s annoyance that a cameraman trained a CBS lens on him as he was contending for the Rocket Mortgage.

The second inference takes things up a notch. Or four hundred given Brooks is only a mildly passive-aggressive based on past social media feuds.

pic.twitter.com/DTjuc48hFp

— Brooks Koepka (@BKoepka) July 7, 2020

Women's British Open At Royal Troon A Go, Will Include A "Bio Secure Zone"

The R&A has confirmed plans to move ahead with the Women’s British Open in Scotland (now under their control but curiously still not subjected to The Open branding). From this wire story, it sounds like a very strict zone is being created to make this happen in late August, including all staying in one hotel.

As part of COVID-19 safety protocols, the Championship will create a "bio secure zone," and allow a reduced number of people who are essential to the operation including: players, caddies, officials, and staging staff.

To be allowed on-site, a negative COVID-19 test from an authorised testing centre must be returned, and in addition to limited movements between the golf course and the hotel, all players and staff will be subject to further tests and temperature checks "to maintain the integrity of the zone and the health of those within it."

The preceding week’s Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open is also forging ahead at the Renaissance Club in East Lothian. Players have have been briefed are already bracing for very limited movements beyond playing the tournament.

I sure will be at @LadiesScottish! Love LOVE golf in the UK! So excited! Just a bit gutted we will be quarantined so won’t have time to play North Berwick, Elie, Archerfield, or others. https://t.co/OPnCU1D6N2

— Christina Kim (@TheChristinaKim) July 7, 2020

"Of the many positive things he’s accomplished for the good of Scottish golf over the years, Paul Lawrie’s latest venture has to be the best of the lot. "

Move Paul Lawrie high up the list of pros who have stepped up during the COVID-19 pandemic to help out the sport’s aspiring players.

As Martin Dempster writes, the 1999 Open Champion may be doing his best work yet for Scotland’s up and coming players, with some tremendous courses stepping in to assist as well: Royal Dornoch, Carnoustie and St Andrews where the New and Jubilee courses will be used. As will Devenick Course at Lawrie’s golf center (for a Par 3 Championship).

Six 36-hole events on the Tartan Pro Tour will offer a place for male and female pros to compete while travel restrictions and cancelled events reduce opportunities in the Home of Golf.

Dempster writes:

Scottish golf owes another debt to one of its favourite sons.

Of the many positive things he’s accomplished for the good of Scottish golf over the years, Paul Lawrie’s latest venture has to be the best of the lot.

Put it this way, the new Tartan Pro Tour, a series of six 36-hole events around the country in August and September, could make the difference between a Scottish-based pro going on to blossom in the game as opposed to being lost to the sport forever.

As Feared, Yale Golf Course Has Fallen Into Disrepair

With purported campus-wide restrictions on work hours and staff leaving several university courses closed, there certainly are greater problems facing America’s institutions of higher learning. That said, as feared last month when word surfaced that arguably the finest university course in the land was not open and losing key staff members, it seemed Yale’s tortured relationship with his C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor gem would not be helped by the pandemic.

Sure enough, things have deteriorated quickly based on these images posted by Daryl Brereton:

Good bye Yale golf course. @gil_hanse @fried_egg_golf @golfersjournal @golficity @insidetheleatherpodcast @nolayingup @csgalinks #golfheadz #yalegolf #charlesblairmacdonald #sethraynorsociety #sethraynor

The university intends to host students and faculty this fall on campus. The ones who like golf will not have a functioning, maintained course to return to.

Dolch: "Our failure to wear a mask is costing my son dearly"

Longtime golf writer Craig Dolch returns in the Palm Beach Post pages to share with anti-mask-wearing world just one more sad and profound consequence of COVID-19’s horrifying spread among Americans: some in group homes no longer can receive visits. Including his son Eric, now 29, who was struck with a bacterial infection at age 14 and requires group home care. In Florida, visitors are prohibited in such facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eric’s situation is no different than thousands of elderly and sick individuals throughout Florida who have been left isolated because of the pandemic. Families have been unable to say goodbye to their parents or grandparents, not to mention how difficult it is for those who have become prisoners in their facilities. More than 1,500 people have died in long-term care facilities in Florida due to COVID-19.

So excuse me when someone says it’s their right not to wear a mask. What about my son’s rights and others who have no control over how the public reacts to the greatest medical crisis of our lifetime?
Without a mask, they are the silent face of this pandemic. They have no say.

For weeks, I was counting down the days to July 1 – the date we expected the governor to allow visitors into these homes again. I stopped doing that two weeks ago when the number of positive tests in Florida started to spike.

Mostly because people won’t wear masks.

Feinstein: "Charlie Rymer’s battle with COVID-19: ‘I was absolutely scared’"

GolfDigest.com’s John Feinstein follows up with Charlie Rymer about the longtime player and commentator’s COVID-19 battle. He’s back home in Myrtle Beach gradually recuperating. The story includes several noteworthy details beyond Rymer’s Tweets earlier this week, including his hospitalization, wife Carol’s role in his care and the comments from the lunatic he wasn’t expecting.

As always please hit the link, but just one part that stood out:

Country singer Vince Gill, a very good golfer Rymer has played with often, sent a video that was entertaining and funny. Former Acushnet CEO Wally Uihlein sent a text, and so did Pete Bevacqua, the president of the NBC Sports Group. Quite a few players also got in touch, including Harris English, who recently tested positive for COVID-19.

“I still can’t do a whole lot, so it’s been nice to sit here and read some of the notes and then take some time to respond and say thank you,” Rymer said. “I’d never say this is something I’d want to go through or would want to see anyone to go through, but I think in the end it can be a blessing.”

The Champ Rule Provides Hope For The World's Asymptomatic PGA Tour Pros (If They Subsequently Test Negative Twice)

No one knows anything, or so the saying goes. Especially in a time of pandemic where the unknowns and mysteries keep even experts guessing, so you can’t blame the PGA Tour for altering their guidelines almost daily. The latest adjustment comes in the case of Cameron Champ, who arrived last week from Houston, tested positive for COVID-19, withdrew but subsequently tested negative twice.

And now, he gets a rule in his honor.

For Immediate Release.

PGA TOUR Statement – Health & Safety Plan Updates

July 1, 2020

NEW – Change to policy re: players who test positive but are asymptomatic 

Since the inception of the PGA TOUR Health and Safety Plan, the TOUR’s policy for all positive test results for players and caddies requires a minimum 10-day self-isolation period, based on the Centers for Disease Control’s time-based protocols.

Now that the TOUR is in week four of its Return to Golf and following several asymptomatic positive tests followed by negative tests – and after direct consultation with the CDC – we are transitioning to the CDC’s test-based model, with their support.  Going forward, in accordance with CDC guidelines, a player or caddie who tests positive for COVID-19 but has not had any symptoms may return to competition if he returns two negative tests results, a minimum of 24 hours apart. 

 The policy change will go into effect immediately.  Cameron Champ – who tested positive June 23 and had three subsequent negative tests in the 72 hours that immediately followed that positive result (24 hours apart) – has been medically cleared to play in the Rocket Mortgage Classic. As with all players, Champ will remain subject to arrival testing once on site in Detroit. He will be an addition to the field and assigned a 2:10 p.m. tee time (off of No. 10).

A single going out after the full field of 156 go off split tees. That’s quite a reward.

Ok, let’s boilerplate this candle:

“I am extremely grateful for the tireless efforts and conversations between the TOUR, my team and all of the experts who were consulted in order to deliver this best possible outcome,” said Champ.

That could have been him.

“It is a great example of everyone being committed to working together to adapt and evolve in this constantly changing environment. I would especially like to thank my fellow players for their support and cannot wait to tee it up with them in Detroit tomorrow!”

!!!!

PGA TOUR players Harris English and Chad Campbell, and Korn Ferry Tour players Brandon Wu and Jonathan Hodge – who tested positive earlier this week but were asymptomatic – will be eligible for next week’s events, if they choose to enter a testing regime and pending they each return two negative tests results, a minimum of 24 hours apart. 

NEW – Adjustment to Stipend Program and At-Home Testing Protocols

In an effort to further encourage players and caddies to utilize at-home test kits,

Buried(ish) lede alert…that free at-home option has not been a hit.

Because why do that when you can travel all the way to the venue before getting the bad news?

Of course, in many cities across the country folks are waiting hours and hours to get tested, if they’re lucky enough to get one. The system is strained. Wait times and availability have become an issue and labs are struggling to keep up.

So guys, take the free at-home test. Continue…

two significant changes are being made to the Stipend Program, after consultation with the Player Directors and PGA TOUR Player Advisory Council Chairman. 

• To be eligible for the applicable stipend following an on-site positive test, a player or caddie returning from an off week must have completed an at-home test the week prior to returning to play.  

• The stipend amounts have been adjusted to make them equal for an on-site positive or an at-home positive test result. 

Translation: on site positive tests have to be made public, while home positives stay private.

The stipend program for an at-home positive test is applicable only to players who were eligible for the following week’s event (including the top 10 alternates), and a player or caddie will not receive a stipend if he does not follow the protocols set forth in the Participant Resource Guide / PGA TOUR Health & Safety Plan or otherwise acts in a reckless manner with respect to the protocols, including any local health department regulations that may be in effect.  

Uh, so, like in cities where masks and distancing is required outdoors won’t this cause problems for most of the field?

The TOUR will be providing players and caddies with additional complimentary at-home test kits.   

Comment from PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan

“As we all learn more about how to navigate this complicated COVID-19 environment, we appreciate the continued dialogue with medical experts and with the Centers for Disease Control directly as we fine-tune our Health & Safety Plan accordingly.  Today’s changes – and those announced over the past week – illustrate our commitment to preserving the health and well-being of our athletes, constituents and our impact on the communities in which we play, as well as a willingness to make medically-sound adjustments that allow our players to compete, safely.  The continued success of our Return to Golf depends on that approach.”

Hall of Fame worthy, some say. 

Four More Players Test COVID-19 Positive And Continue To Thank Tour Protocols But Not Sanford Health

Four more players—one on the PGA Tour and three on the Korn Ferry Tour—tested positive for COVID-19 and have withdrawn from this week’s stops in Michigan and Colorado.

Here is the PGA Tour Communications statement issued:

PGA TOUR, Korn Ferry Tour statement – COVID-19 update – June 30, 2020

As part of the PGA TOUR’s pre-tournament screening process this week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, TOUR player Chad Campbell tested positive for COVID-19 and has been withdrawn from the event (he was the first alternate).

Campbell, who last competed at the Charles Schwab Challenge, will have the PGA TOUR’s full support throughout his self-isolation period under CDC guidelines.

“While the positive test result is unnerving, I am incredibly grateful to be asymptomatic and feel physically well and my thoughts are with anyone dealing with COVID, directly or indirectly. I support the TOUR’s protocol during this time and will be quarantining myself to protect others until I am well. I am looking forward to competing again once it is deemed safe for me to make my return.”

At the conclusion of the Korn Ferry Tour’s on-site testing process, Tour members Brandon Wu, Taylor Montgomery and Jonathan Hodge have withdrawn from the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes prior to Wednesday’s first round after testing positive for COVID-19. 

A total of 247 players have undergone on-site testing since the Korn Ferry Tour’s Return to Golf on June 11, and to date, Wu, Montgomery and Hodge are the only Tour players to test positive for COVID-19 via on-site testing. They will have the Tour’s full support throughout their respective self-isolations under CDC guidelines.

“These positive test results serve as a distinct reminder that we all need to continue to be vigilant in this ever-changing climate. We will further reinforce the elements of our health and safety plan to all constituents, and deliver our full support to those who test positive for COVID-19,” said Korn Ferry Tour President Alex Baldwin.

A trend has developed with the last three positive tests and announcements. The players have issued statements thanking the PGA Tour’s “protocol” and in a couple of cases, have explicitly thanked their Whoop strap for notifying them of possible symptoms.

Yet the people doing the testing, Sanford Health have not been acknowledged in any of these “updates”. These are people are putting themselves at risk, undoubtedly working intense hours trying to test (excessively large) fields in the “Return to Golf” and possibly saving lives by identifying those who might not know they have the virus.

Sanford was even announced as Official COVID-19 on-Site Testing Provider Of The PGA Tour on June 2nd.

Look, these players who test positive undoubtedly have a million thoughts racing around upon getting this news, owe us no apologies and understandablyy have little desire to issue a statement. Which is why we get the boilerplate vibe in their remarks. So if we are going to get boilerplate staments, why not give some love to the people doing the most important work: testing and tracing.

This is from Chad Campbell today after testing positive as the Rocket Mortgage Classic’s first alternate (full quote above):

“I support the TOUR’s protocol during this time and will be quarantining myself to protect others until I am well. I am looking forward to competing again once it is deemed safe for me to make my return.”

Dylan Fritteli from Sunday:

“I’m thankful for the WHOOP strap notification of a minor increase [0.3] in my respiratory rate overnight. However, I’m most thankful for the TOUR’s assistance, procedures and protocols, which I will continue to follow during my self-isolation, so as to keep everyone safe. I look forward to getting back on TOUR once it’s safe to do so.”

Harris English on Monday this week:

“I fully supported the TOUR’s new rule of not allowing anyone on the tournament grounds until testing negative, as protecting others in the field and everyone affiliated with the tournament and the community should be the No. 1 priority as a result of a positive test. I appreciate the TOUR’s support and I look forward to competing again after I’m fully recovered.”

Denny McCarthy, who tested positive with symptoms last week, did not address the Tour protocols in the press release describing his symptoms, but Commissioner Jay Monahan did offer more praise for his players and protocols. No Sanford Health though:

“What Denny, Bud and others are demonstrating is exactly what we asked of everyone – continue to do your part in taking this virus seriously and keeping not only your own health as a priority, but also that of your fellow competitors and those you may come in contact with.  Today’s update again demonstrates our rigorous and quick testing, contact tracing capabilities and overall healthy and safety protocols.  We will continue to liaise directly with local and state government and health officials this week and throughout our Return to Golf.”

No one knows how exactly to handle this awful pandemic and there are no rules, it’s all a dreadful mess.

But the vibe of needing to thank the “TOUR” instead of the folks actually doing the most important work comes across as odd. At best.