Tag: coronavirus testing

LPGA to end onsite COVID-19 testing for fully vaccinated players at Kingsmill

Players still face restrictions, especially when it comes to dining out, but the LPGA has softened its testing requirements at some sites.

Beginning with next week’s Pure Silk Championship at Kingsmill, LPGA players who are fully vaccinated no longer will be tested for COVID-19 by the tour, Golfweek has learned. An LPGA spokesperson confirmed the policy change and said that requirements will vary in some markets.

The PGA Tour stopped testing fully vaccinated players last month. A USGA spokesperson confirmed that at the upcoming U.S. Women’s Open, only those who have not been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 will be tested.

The LPGA recently returned from a strict two-week tour in Asia in which players, caddies and staff were tested multiple times. One caddie tested positive in Singapore and was transported to a local hospital for further testing, and his case ultimately was traced back to antibodies from a previous bout with COVID-19. The caddie went back to work the following week in Thailand.

The spokesperson confirmed that no player has tested positive for COVID-19 at an LPGA event in 2021.

The LPGA has prohibited dining in restaurants since returning to action in July 2020. That will soften somewhat next week when players will be allowed to dine outdoors only at fast food restaurants.

Carlota Ciganda’s COVID ordeal is behind her, but her guard is still up in first LPGA start back

Carlota Ciganda decided to get tested for COVID-19 and it came back positive. She isolated in her apartment and has since recovered.

Six weeks ago Carlota Ciganda’s muscles started to ache. She also spiked a fever and battled headaches. The Spanish player decided to get tested for COVID-19 and it came back positive. She isolated in her apartment in Arizona and continued to test positive.

“I did the quarantine two weeks; came back positive,” she said. “I wait another week, positive. And I think my fourth one, so yeah, a month, came back negative.”

Ciganda’s ordeal was first reported in the Spanish media. By the time she arrived in Toledo, Ohio, she was feeling good. Understandably, Ciganda chose to keep her mask on when met with the media at Inverness after an opening 2-under 70. She’s four back of leader Danielle Kang. Ciganda, a two-time winer on the LPGA, is currently No. 16 in the world.

“After 10 days I was feeling fine,” she said. “Just a little annoyed that I couldn’t really practice much or do much, because obviously it’s a horrible feeling knowing you can spread the virus to someone else.”

Ciganda was tested twice by the LPGA before she was allowed to tee it up in Friday’s opening round. In all, a total of 466 pre-travel and onsite COVID-19 saliva tests were given to players and caddies before today’s restart. Three tests came back positive: Marina Alex, Gaby Lopez and one caddie.

“I think I should have antibodies for at least a couple months,” said Ciganda, “but to be honest, I don’t know. I didn’t even get that test done, so I don’t know if I have them. I hope I have some, so that way will be tougher to get it again.

“I’m still very careful keeping the distance. I’ve been washing my hands all the time and just not going anywhere. Just from here to the hotel, getting some food. You have to be careful, especially to keep everyone healthy and to keep playing.”

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More people on PGA Tour grounds? Report says it’s about to happen — starting in Memphis

The PGA Tour is about to loosen the number of people allowed on-site for tournaments, starting with next week’s event in Memphis.

According to a new report, the PGA Tour is about to loosen up on the number of people allowed on-site for tournaments, starting with next week’s event in Memphis — the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

Golf Digest reported that an email went to players on Wednesday saying that title sponsors and tournaments will be allowed up to 50 guests per day at the events.

Fans will not be permitted at events at least through the end of this season and into the early portion of the 2020-21 season, as the Safeway Open — the first event on that slate — announced it will not have fans.

The 2019-20 season officially ends at the conclusion of the FedEx playoffs, the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

The schedule is obviously jumbled, since the U.S. Open and Masters are both scheduled to be played in what is technically next season, although those events are not run by the PGA Tour. There is no word on whether those events will have fans.

According to the report, sponsors, guests and wives or girlfriends will not be subject to COVID testing, but will be required to undergo a temperature check and fill out a questionnaire each day upon arrival, which is similar to what media members currently go through. They also will be able to roam the grounds freely.

The additional guests will be allowed on-site for tournament days, meaning Thursday through Sunday.

“These programs will be applied on a tournament-by-tournament basis, in accordance with state and local guidelines in place and at the discretion of the tournament,” said Tyler Dennis, tour’s chief of operations.

Currently, over 1,000 people are on various tournament sites between players, caddies, media, volunteers and officials. The new rules would add about 500 more bodies to that mix.

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Michigan State announces no new positives after latest round of COVID-19 testing

Michigan State administered 74 tests on Monday, July 6.

Michigan State University has announced another clean round of COVID-19 testing among its student-athletes and staff. It is the second time in ten days that MSU has reported zero new positive cases.

According a release from the university, 74 athletes and staff members were tested on July 6. This batch of players included incoming freshmen taking their second round of testing and the MSU hockey team.

Athletes who have tested negative twice have been cleared to resume football activities. Monday is the start of organized team activities for football. These activities were originally scheduled to be mandatory, but have been classified as voluntary by the Big Ten Conference. That announcement came last week under the umbrella of the conference moving fall sports to a conference-only schedule.

In total five Michigan State student-athletes have tested positive for the virus. The school gave no specifics to sport or gender of any of the positive results. Three of the positives came from tests administered on campus. It is not known whether those athletes who previously tested positive have recovered fully. Last week it was announced that athletes with positive cases stemming back to the original testing on June 15 had yet to test negative.

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PGA Tour tweaks COVID rules; Cameron Champ can play at Rocket Mortgage

The Tour will be transitioning to the CDC’s test-based model for those who are not showing symptoms of COVID-19.

DETROIT — It’s been a whirlwind eight days for Cameron Champ, who was the first of a handful of players to withdraw from the Travelers Championship after he tested positive for the coronavirus.

Champ followed with three tests in a 72-hour span that all came back negative, and now, under a tweak of the PGA Tour’s Health and Safety Plan, he’ll be eligible to play at this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic.

The Tour had based its self-isolation period of 10 days on the Centers for Disease Control’s protocols, but according to a release late Wednesday, the Tour will be transitioning to the CDC’s test-based model for those who are not showing COVID symptoms.

Players and caddies will need to follow any positive test with two negative tests a minimum of 24 hours apart.

Since Champ, a two-time winner on Tour, has done such, he’ll be eligible for play when the event starts on Thursday morning under the new guidelines.

“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,” Champ said in a release. “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!”

Champ will be added to the field and has been assigned a 2:10 p.m. tee time off the back nine.

He’s not the only one impacted by the new protocols. Harris English and Chad Campbell will be able to return to next week’s Tour event in Columbus, Ohio, while Brandon Wu and Jonathan Hodge will be eligible for the Korn Ferry Tour’s tournament in San Antonio, Texas — if all four show no signs of the virus and come back with two negative test results. All four had previously tested positive.

“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,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement. “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.”

The Tour also announced that the stipend program, which previously offered players who tested positive $100,000 according to a report, has also been updated.

According to the Tour:

  • 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.

All COVID-19 tests come up negative at RBC Heritage

There were no positive coronavirus test results for PGA Tour players and personnel at the RBC Heritage as the Tour season restarts.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – The PGA Tour remains clean.

For the second consecutive week, no player, caddie or essential personnel tested positive for the coronavirus. The Tour administered 369 on-site tests ahead of this week’s RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links and all were negative, the PGA Tour announced Wednesday.

The Tour also oversaw 98 tests last weekend of players and caddies who took the charter flights from Texas to South Carolina.

At last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge – the first PGA Tour tournament in 13 weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic – 487 tests were conducted and zero negative results came up.

While this is terrific news, players at the RBC Heritage insist it’s no time to get complacent and everyone must continue to adhere to the protocols the PGA Tour developed in consultation with infectious disease experts intended to create a safety “bubble” to limit the risk of the coronavirus.

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“They have strict protocols while we’re onsite, but offsite it’s kind of up to us to be smart,” Webb Simpson said. “I think we’re seeing, with numbers spiking in various states, that people took this very seriously the first couple months, and I think the spike is probably because people are relaxing.

“I think I’m speaking for all the players, that if I miss a week, it’s detrimental to my FedExCup number, it’s detrimental to my contracts. There’s a lot riding on just us being eligible to play. I get nervous when I get the test result on my phone. When I have a notification and I’m opening the document up, I’m nervous because I know, if I get positive, I can’t play for a couple weeks, and that’s a big deal at this point in the season.

“I’m trying to be as careful as I can be. Hopefully, (no positives) will keep up. Guys need to make sure they’re not doing anything dumb.”

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