C.T. Pan made headlines in March when he withdrew from the Players Championship on the morning of the first round.
The coronavirus pandemic had just started roiling across the U.S. and Pan simply wasn’t comfortable competing with all the uncertainty.
Before the day was out, PGA Tour officials announced the tournament would go on but without fans. Then hours later, the rest of the tournament was canceled altogether.
“It was a really tough decision. In my whole career, including junior golf, I’ve never withdrawn from a tournament,” Pan said Tuesday at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina, where he is the defending champion. “So back in March, that was a really tough decision for me, but for the safety of my family and myself, my wife and I, we think that’s the right call to pull myself out early.”
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This week, Pan is back at Harbour Town with his wife Yingchun Lin, who will do more than just root on her husband on the course where he earned his first PGA Tour win.
“It’s my first victory, and it’s probably the one I will always remember. Actually, this morning I played the back nine, and my wife is on the bag this week,” Pan said. “She wasn’t here last year when I won. So I kind of told her how I played each hole and even each shot. I even showed her where the hole locations are and like the birdie putt on 16, the par save on 17 from the top bunker, and 18 I hit a great shot, the approach shot to 15 feet. So that was really fun to go through that again and having her in the ropes and caddying for me because she wasn’t here last year. So it’s great to be back.”
Travel accommodations back to Harbour Town were made with safety in mind, too.
“We’re still trying to be careful. My wife and I, we recently purchased an RV, so we don’t need to fly,” Pan said.
“When they announced the new schedule, it was quite a surprise to me that RBC is the second event on the schedule, so I was really happy to see that. My wife and I, we love this place. We love coming back here.”
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