Tag: coronavirus travel

PGA Tour’s new world: What if you miss the cut? Kevin Kisner answers

Kisner said he expects players who miss the cut will stick around until after the tournament for the PGA Tour shuttle to the next event.

The bubble is being established — a multi-layered entry point for PGA Tour players, caddies, and others to enter into the Charles Schwab Invitational in June and subsequent events.

The Tour has also created a new system, using a charter plane to shuttle players and caddies from one tournament to the next.

But what happens to those who miss the cut and are done playing on Friday?

Kevin Kisner, who’s a co-chair of the Player Advisory Council, said there are no specific rules, but he expects players will be strongly encouraged to stick around until the shuttle leaves.

“Everybody’s advised us to social distance and that’s the number one goal in all of this is follow the CDC guidelines, and we should all be able to social distance,” Kisner said on the Golf Channel to host Todd Lewis. “So if you miss a cut, I would expect that either you’re going home or you’re going to wait for that charter on Monday and stay in the same town.”

Kisner, who plans on attending the opening event in Fort Worth, Texas, from June 8-14, said he expects concessions to be made for those who miss the cut.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to have access to continue to practice at the host site through the weekend,” Kisner said. “Guys miss cuts all the time and now with the coronavirus, everybody wants to know make sure how we handle it but guys are used to being able to handle that. I think they’ll stick around and stay until Monday.”

Kisner admitted he was a little uncomfortable at first with the thought of coming back as early as the Tour proposed. He says officials have put the players at ease, however, and he’s now eager to return.

“We’re all excited to return to golf. We’re excited to hopefully be the leaders of sports and doing it the healthiest and safest way,” Kisner said. “I thought as early as we started talking — about June — I thought it was aggressive.  As things have chilled out a little bit or flattened the curve, I think we have a pretty good timeframe on when we can return to work.

“The first take we did as player directors, with the new protocols, was a little bit tough to swallow at first, but as we work through it and we had a lot of experts in the field come in and help advise us, you know I felt more and more comfortable and finally we got to a place that we could present it to the guys on the PGA tour that all unanimously voted yes to get back to work.”

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Coronavirus: Pro golfers cleared to return to the U.S. by government edict

Foreign golfers on the PGA Tour and LPGA will be allowed to enter into the U.S. to compete. Now it is up to them to decide if they want to.

The United States eased the pathway for international golfers to return to the PGA Tour and LPGA.

The Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad F. Wolf on Friday signed an order that permits certain foreign professional athletes who compete in sporting events, along with their essential staff and dependents, to enter the U.S. The international athletes will be exempt from entry restrictions that were established for non-U.S. residents as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Professional sporting events provide much needed economic benefits, but equally important, they provide community pride and national unity,” Wolf said. “In today’s environment, Americans need their sports. It’s time to reopen the economy and it’s time we get our professional athletes back to work.”

The Department of Homeland Security’s announcement included both the PGA Tour and LPGA among the eight sports league whose athletes were eligible for the exemption.

The countries and regions affected by the exemption include the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe, China and Iran. Francesco Molinari (Italy), Adam Scott (Australia) and Englishmen Tommy Fleetwood, Lee Westwood and Eddie Pepperell were among the foreign players who publicly stated that they would skip tournaments or delay their return because of the restrictions and concerns for their health. The PGA Tour recently estimated that 25 players were living outside of the U.S. While the exemption makes efforts to return easier, they still face a 14-day quarantine upon arrival.

The PGA Tour is scheduled to return to action at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Ft. Worth, Texas on June 11 and the LPGA on July 23 at the Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio.

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