The LPGA Tour Has Not Had A COVID-19 Case Since Early March

The Jon Rahm situation Saturday offered a stark reminder that COVID-19 can still happen and how golfers traveling the country face an increased risk of exposure.

The LPGA Tour has been traveling the globe with most of its players flying commercially. But the Tour also instituted a strict no-public dining policy through the the Asian events, a policy that was part of original PGA Tour “Return to Golf” protocols last year.

Upon my request, the LPGA Tour provided this update through last week’s U.S. Women’s Open conducted by the USGA. The numbers are impressive.

• The tour has had four confirmed COVID-19 positives through LPGA Tour testing since the start of the 2021 season.

• Just one confirmed positive since early March.

• As of the return from Asia, they have re-opened to outdoor dining at all establishments, with groups limited to four.

• More than 60% of players/caddies/staff are fully vaccinated, “with many more at various steps in the vaccination process.”

For context, the PGA Tour program and protocols have been widely viewed as a success. Yet they’ve still announced ten players as testing positive since early March. And for 2021, a total of sixteen were detected by the Tour testing system. Last Sunday, the PGA Tour’s Andy Levinson characterized the player vaccination rate as “north of 50%”.

The European Tour’s testing program has registered six positive cases in 2021, all since early March.