Players (Mostly) Laud PGA Tour's Efforts To Return From Pandemic To "Help The World With Something To Watch"
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Steve DiMeglio talks to several players who laud the PGA Tour’s efforts to return to action and the efforts to set an example for the United States to return to a form of normalcy.
From Kevin Kisner:
“So, we’re going to go about with the safest, healthiest way to get back to work and have a quality product for our fans, have a presentable product for TV and help the world with something to watch.”
Zach Johnson feels the COVID-19 virus isn’t going away, so move forward.
“This thing is not going away. You can’t mitigate the entire risk. At some point you have to open up this country. You have to start thinking about some semblance of normalcy. We are just golf. But the beauty of golf is we are outside, we can take social distancing to the extremes, and within our bubble we can create as much safety as we can. I don’t think it’s too soon.”
Add Harold Varner to the list saying we can’t live in fear.
“I have to live,” Varner said. “I have to get my life back to normal as much as possible. I’ll do whatever they say, I’ll follow all the rules. We can’t live in fear.
“We have to start to get back up from off the floor.”
Brian Harman also took the view the PGA Tour will help get the country moving again.
“It’s important that we make the effort to get started again,” Brian Harman said. “It’s important for the country that we all start easing back into work because at some point or another, we have to get over this thing, as awful as it’s been and is. In some way, shape or form, we have to get things moving again.”
And then there is Nate Lashley, playing in the Scottsdale Open, with this reported by Alan Shipnuck:
Lashley was similarly relaxed about the virus, saying, “It’s not something I’m overly worried about right now. If you get it, you get it; you get through it and move on with your life. At this point, here in Arizona I don’t personally know anybody who has been affected by it, so for us to come out and be extremely precautious feels like it’s a little overblown.”
Those final remarks by Lashley, if heard on a national scale when the limelight is on the PGA Tour, could be devastating in the optics department.
One player who is planning to play at Colonial also thinks “it’s not time to go yet.” That’s Pat Perez, quoted by Mark Cannizzaro in this New York Post story today:
“It’ll be ready when its ready. You can’t rush this kind of thing. You can’t rush getting people back together in this sort of deal.’’
The PGA Tour’s new safety regulations include COVID-19 testing for all players and caddies before they arrive at the tournament and when they get there, along with thermal testing every day before entry to the golf course, social distancing and a number of other stringent guidelines that will make the tournaments feel very different than usual.
“If I can’t go back to work normal, then there’s no reason to do it,’’ Perez said. “Get it right, get everybody safe. People act like it’s been five years without sports. It’s only been about five or six weeks [actually nine].’’
