The PGA Tour getting back in business hinges heavily on one thing: negative COVID-19 tests. The Tour cleared a big hurdle at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, this week as it restarted its season with the Charles Schwab Challenge and, more importantly, not a single positive test for the coronavirus.
Commissioner Jay Monahan said on Wednesday that no caddies or players tested positive at Charles Schwab and all had been tested. That equates to 487 tests of players, caddies and essential personnel – all negative, per Associated Press reporting.
The Korn Ferry Tour wasn’t so lucky. The Associated Press reported Wednesday that one player and three caddies tested positive for the coronavirus at the Korn Ferry Challenge in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
The Tour has said it will not release the names of individuals who test positive.
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According to the AP, the positive results came from saliva tests conducted at home. The Tour recommended that players and caddies take such tests before traveling to a tournament, but did not require it. Add in the reported tests conducted for the Korn Ferry Tour event, and the number of tests administered (both at home and on-site) reaches 1,559. Nearly 900 of those were done on-site.
A positive test means an individual must self-isolate for a period of at least 10 days. Two negative test results are needed (at least 24 hours apart) before that individual is allowed to return.
Since announcing it would be the first sport to fully resume action, PGA Tour officials have insisted that a series of strict protocols would be put in place, keeping stakeholders as safe as possible. That has played out at Colonial in some ways. There are no fans and no grandstands. Airport-like thermal screening has been set up and players are fulfilling media requests by video in an isolated room.
Then again, on the course, few masks have been seen at Colonial, and volunteers were mostly the ones wearing them. None of the players or caddies on-site were wearing masks and numerous members of law enforcement were also lacking PPEs.
The bubble is in place, but it’s best heavily on guidelines.
Tim Schmitt contributed reporting from Colonial.
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