Tag: Vaughn Taylor

Trip to island paradise leaves players shaken, pondering changes due to COVID-19

Social distancing? A dismissed exercise. Masks? About a ratio of 1 to 10 against. It’s as if the coronavirus never reached Sea Island.

Driving onto this island heaven in Lowcountry ahead of the RBC Heritage was a jolt to your quarantine senses.

Restaurants were teeming inside and out, bicyclists were swarming dedicated paths and side streets, hotels were running at or near capacity judging from the overflow parking lots, and Mom-and-Pop shops were bustling.

Upon further exploration, one came to see the famed Harbour Town Lighthouse casting a shadow over a populous marina and the numerous beaches packed beach towel to beach towel.

Social distancing? A dismissed exercise. Masks? About a ratio of 1 to 10 against.

It’s as if the coronavirus never reached these shores.

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Joel Dahmen said it was “wild out there,” and that was before the weekend crowds arrived. Justin Thomas said “they’re seeming to not take it very seriously. It’s an absolute zoo around here. There’s people everywhere.”

The congested landscape – it was more crowded than the top of the leaderboard as the players teed up another rousing tournament – was an eye-opener for players and all the others inside the “bubble” of safety the PGA Tour developed in consultation with infectious disease experts to reduce the risk of COVID-19.

Then Nick Watney tested positive for the virus on Friday and alarm bells went off.

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After waking that day and having a few symptoms consistent with the virus, Watney, who ventured outside his rental home only to go to the course and once to the grocery store (and he was wearing a mask), met a physician and took another COVID-19 test.

Awaiting the result, he went to the course to get ready for his 12:21 p.m. tee time, as is allowed. Shortly into his warmup, however, he got word of his positive test. He and his caddie left the course and began to self-isolate.

But Watney, who is feeling better, had come into close contact with 11 people and the PGA Tour tested each of them – including his two playing partners from the first round. All 11 tested negative on an initial test and awaiting results on a secondary test.

Eamon Lynch: PGA Tour needs luck, work to dodge coronavirus threat

Still, many players questioned why Watney was allowed on the course to await his test result despite having symptoms. As the Tour goes forward – it next heads to Connecticut for the Travelers Championship, the safety plan could be amended, which is what Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said would be the case if need be.

Other subtle changes will definitely be made. While players weren’t naïve to think they’d escape the virus when play resumed, seeing the bustling island and hearing about the first positive test since the Tour returned got their attention. And got them hoping next week’s landscape won’t be the same.

RBC Heritage
A bottle hand sanitizer at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links. Photo by Brian Spurlock/USA TODAY Sports

“It definitely got me thinking about kind of everything that I’ve done this week,” Webb Simpson said. “I’ve tried to be really careful, but I could probably be more careful. I hadn’t really gone out to dinner. I’ve gotten takeout every night. But in terms of even wearing the mask, any time I’m out of my comfort zone away from the golf course, I think it’s smart.

“And really, the six-foot rule I’ve been good about, but I probably could be better. So it definitely got me thinking.”

Added Ryan Palmer: “Everything you do, you’ve got to pay attention.”

This week, takeout and delivery were the top 2 choices for most of the players when dinner rolled around. A few players had their own chefs. Many cooked up their dishes themselves. Expect that approach to continue.

“We need to be more careful,” said Vaughn Taylor, who played with Watney in the first round. “I felt like coming in the last week everyone was super careful, and then we got here, and the vibe on the island is a little more relaxed. I feel like we might have gotten a little more relaxed too, complacent with being careful.

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“Everyone has kind of ratcheted it up a little bit. Not hanging out with too many people, hanging with too many guys, stay out of restaurants and bars and those things. I think, if we do that, we should be safe. We’ve all got to keep that in the back of our mind and just be smart.

“It would be nice if we just had the ability to get tested whenever we like. Some guys want to get tested more. Some guys are comfortable with the way it is. I think it’s still a learning curve. I feel good that the Tour is going to get everything worked out.”

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Nick Watney feeling better, caddie Tony Navarro tested negative

PGA Tour player Nick Watney tested positive for COVID-19 Friday at the RBC Heritage. His caddie has also tested negative Golfweek learned.

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HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Veteran caddie Tony Navarro was cleaning a short iron on the range at Harbour Town Golf Links late Friday morning when his boss, Nick Watney, who was getting ready for the second round of the RBC Heritage, took a phone call.

Less than a minute later, Watney was shaking his head in a negative way and taking off his golf glove.

“We have to go,” he said to Navarro.

Watney had been told he tested positive for the coronavirus.

“His mind was racing,” Navarro told Golfweek on Saturday. “I just packed up and left the golf course with him and in the car he explained to me he tested positive. He was so concerned about everybody else. His concerns weren’t with him. He was thinking about where he’d been, who he had been in contact with, and he wanted to let them know.  He’s so sensitive for others. That’s just his No. 1 concern – if he infected anyone else.”

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Watney, 39, withdrew from the tournament. Navarro, 60, moved out of the house the two were sharing here and into a villa on the Sea Pines property. Both have to self-quarantine for at least 10-14 days, with follow up tests throughout.

Navarro said he spoke to Watney, who tested negative last week and earlier this week when he arrived in Hilton Head Island, on Saturday morning and that he was feeling better.

“He feels good and just hopes and prays he didn’t infect anybody,” Navarro said.

After Watney tested positive, the PGA Tour began implementing its response plan developed in consultation with medical experts, including contact tracing. Watney’s playing partners in the first round – Luke List and Vaughn Taylor – were tested Friday, as were their caddies. Sergio Garcia, who flew privately to South Carolina with Watney on Tuesday, was also tested Friday. He texted Golfweek and said his result was negative.

In all, according to the PGA Tour, 11 people were tested and all 11 tested negative including Navarro.

A few hours after Watney became the first PGA Tour player to test positive, Navarro took two COVID-19 tests – one in each nostril – and was told late Friday night the first test came back negative. He’s awaiting the results of the second test – that one takes between 24 and 48 hours to deliver results.

Navarro – and the health officials he’s in contact with – are confident the second test will come back negative. Navarro took a saliva test before he went to last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge and then took a COVID-19 test when he arrived at the tournament. When he got to the RBC Heritage, he took another COVID-19 test. All three came back negative.

“I’m fine,” said Navarro, who started caddying for Watney in 2017. He’s also looped for major champions Greg Norman, Raymond Floyd, Ben Crenshaw, Jeff Sluman, Adam Scott and Gary Woodland. “I’m very sure I don’t have it.

“I wanted to drive him home to Texas, but the Tour wouldn’t let me. We couldn’t go anywhere we can’t get to on one tank of gas.”

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Navarro, who drove alone from Texas to South Carolina after Watney missed the cut in last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge and visited his daughter, Sarah, in Woodstock, Georgia, said he and Watney cooked and ate in every night they were here in Lowcountry. The two only went to the grocery store once.

“We played very early on Thursday, so we were up since 4 a.m. We finished by 11:30 and then hit balls for an hour and a half. Then we went to the house and he wanted to take a nap,” Navarro said. “He got up about 5 o’clock and said he didn’t feel good. He wears a monitor on his wrist that tracks his heart rate and it was kind of sending him some signs that alarmed him a little bit.

“But we had dinner. Got some sleep.”

Friday morning, Navarro said Watney, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour, woke up and said he had a few symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and while he didn’t feel great he didn’t feel terrible. Still, Watney wanted to get checked out and met with a physician, who administered a COVID-19 test.

“They tested him. They told him what he could and couldn’t do. He got a call from the Tour that said it was fine for him to go hit some balls because we were supposed to play at 12:21,” Navarro said. “So about 11:15 a.m. we went to the golf course, hit a few putts, and as he started to warm up, he got the call.”

Nick Watney
Nick Watney plays a shot on the 11th hole during the first round of the RBC Heritage on June 18, 2020 at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

During his self-quarantine, Navarro can leave the villa only for necessities, like food or medicine, but must wear a mask. And Navarro is just as concerned about Watney as he is about himself.

“I’ll be around and help him with anything he needs as much as I can,” Navarro said. “Hopefully no one else tests positive and we wait this out and get back to business in a few weeks.”

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Brendon Todd wins Mayakoba Golf Classic for consecutive PGA Tour victories

Brendon Todd held on for the win at the Mayakoba Golf Classic for his second consecutive win on the PGA Tour.

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Just another manic Monday for Brendon Todd, who clinched the Mayakoba Golf Classic with a gutty par at 18 for a one-stroke victory over a trio of players and his second straight PGA Tour title.

“It’s incredible. I’m just overcome with emotion right now,” said Todd, who had to play the final four holes on Monday. “The whole final round was much more nerve-wracking than Bermuda.”

A year ago, Todd, 34, was considering hanging up his spikes. He had missed 37 of 41 cuts on the PGA Tour and sat down with his financial adviser to consider other career options. The full-swing driver yips will do that to a man.

“All of us as pros who knew him felt so bad for the struggles he went through. He went down to the bottom. He wasn’t just missing cuts. He was struggling to break 80,” said Matt Kuchar, the 2018 Mayokoba champ, who shot 62 with an ace on Sunday and finished T-14. “I think most people would have packed it up and said enough is enough at some point.”

Mayakoba Golf Classic: Leaderboard | Photos | Winner’s bag

But on another Monday, nearly a year ago to the day, this one in Brunswick, Georgia, Todd torched the course in 61 at the Monday Qualifier for the RSM Classic and then posted four rounds in the 60s to make his decision easier. Plans to buy into a pizza franchise were put on hold and Todd spent the next six weeks in his basement rebuilding his golf swing following the tenets of instructor Bradley Hughes.

The Todd comeback story keeps getting better and better. After starting the year ranked No. 2006 in the world, he regained full status on the Tour at the Korn Ferry Tour Finals and then ended a five-year victory drought with his second career title at the Bermuda Championship.

At the Mayakoba Golf Classic, Todd bottled the magic to earn his third career victory after firing four rounds in the 60s at El Camaleon Golf Club for a 20-under total of 264 and a one-stroke victory over Vaughn Taylor, Carlos Ortiz and Adam Long. In doing so, Todd became the first player to win consecutive Tour events since Bryson DeChambeau, who was victorious in the first two events of the 2018 FedEx Cup Playoffs at The Northern Trust and Dell Technologies Championship.

Todd started the final round with a one-stroke lead after shooting 65 in Sunday’s third round. Todd made three birdies on the front nine and tacked on another at No. 12 to lead by two strokes. Just when it looked like he might coast to victory again, Taylor made birdie at 13 and Todd made a bogey at 14, his first of the week on the back nine, and the lead was gone. One hole later, the final threesome ran out of daylight as played was suspended at 6:11 p.m. with 12 of the 82 golfers who made the cut still on the course.

Thursday’s opening round was washed out due to heavy rain and all four rounds of the tournament were played under preferred lies. Five players were separated by just two shots when play resumed on Monday at 7:30 a.m. Todd didn’t waste time regaining the lead, drilling a 20-foot putt birdie putt at 15 to climb to 21 under. He could’ve doubled his lead one hole later after Taylor bogeyed the difficult par-4 16th, but Todd lipped out a 3-foot par putt after splashing out of a greenside bunker.

“I was literally walking around that green thinking I had a two‑shot lead and feeling pretty comfortable and that wasn’t the case,” Todd said.

The miss could’ve dented Todd’s confidence, but he found the fairway with his tee shot at 17 and made par.

“It was hard,” Todd said. “I had to dig deep.”

On the final hole, Todd missed the green left and pitched to 4 feet. Taylor, who was seeking his first win since the 2016 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, had a 15-foot birdie putt to tie Todd and left it short in the heart of the hole. He tapped in for 3-under 68 and settled for his first top-10 finish since June.

“I was a little nervous, so usually come up short when I’m nervous,” Taylor said. “Just wasn’t willing to go down there, so oh, well.”

Ortiz had to play one hole on Monday after calling it a day on the 18th hole and opting to wait to finish his round as his fellow playing competitors finished in the dark. Trying to win on home soil, he opened with a double bogey, but bounced back to make seven birdies en route to shooting 66. Ortiz received the Premio Trophy as low Mexican, and his runner-up finish was a career best.

“I was really trying to push the finish yesterday, just it was too hard to see,” said Ortiz, who was bidding for his maiden Tour title and to become the first Mexican-born Tour winner since Victor Regalado in 1978. “I thought I hit a great drive and it barely caught the rough but the wet rough was really hard. I played great. I’m pretty pleased with the way the week went.”

But not as happy as Todd, who sunk his 4-foot par putt and hoisted a trophy for the second straight Tour event. Todd takes home $1,296,000 for the win at Mayakoba, two weeks after winning $540,000 at Bermuda. He also became the first player to win twice in the fall portion of the schedule in a single season since the Tour went to a wraparound schedule in 2013-14.

“It is so surreal,” Todd said. “Harris just said to me in the scoring area, ‘It’s just amazing how fast this game can turn.’ It turned fast in the wrong direction for me in 2015, it turned fast the other direction for me, so I’m enjoying it and I’m just going to keep grinding.”

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With four holes to go at Mayakoba, Brendon Todd bidding for back-to-back PGA Tour titles

Brendon Todd is seeking back-to-back PGA Tour events. He and Vaughn Taylor share the lead at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

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On a marathon Sunday of golf at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, Brendon Todd and Vaughn Taylor are running stride for stride and share the lead at 20 under. But a champion won’t be crowned until Monday as play was suspended due to darkness at 6:11 p.m., with the leaders on the 15th hole, their 33rd hole of the day.

What’s one more night to wait for Taylor, who last won in 2016, and his pursuers, Harris English, who hasn’t won since the 2013 Mayakoba Golf Classic, and Carlos Ortiz, who is seeking his first Tour title?

Todd, meanwhile, ended a five-year victory drought at the Tour’s last event, the Bermuda Championship, two weeks ago (there was no Tour event scheduled last week).

The 34-year-old Todd is positioned to win in back-to-back events on the PGA Tour after posting his eighth consecutive score in the 60s. When asked earlier this week to name his goals for the rest of the season, Todd said he needed to recalibrate before adding, “I guess I’d like to win again and make it to the Tour Championship.”

Mayakoba: Leaderboard | Photos | Tournament updates | TV info

He could check off the first part and take a huge step toward the latter with a victory on Monday. The last player to win consecutive Tour events was Bryson DeChambeau, who was victorious in the first two events of the 2018 FedEx Cup Playoffs at The Northern Trust and Dell Technologies Championship.

Vaughn Taylor waves to fans after a birdie on the 17th green during the third round of the 2019 Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

It’s a remarkable comeback for Todd, who missed 37 of 41 cuts from 2016-18 while struggling with the full-swing yips. After regaining his Tour privileges this season, Todd set an initial goal to get back into contention and see how he’d perform under the pressure.

He’s handled it with aplomb, shooting a final-round 62 to win in Bermuda and was 3 under through 14 holes in his final round at El Camaleon Golf Club. Todd made three birdies on the front nine and tacked on another at No. 12 to lead by two strokes. But Taylor made birdie at 13 and Todd made a bogey at 14, his first of the week on the back nine, and the lead was gone.

The final group called it a day after reaching the 15th green. Todd could have waited until Monday to hit his tee shot but opted to play on after the horn blew, planting his ball 10 feet from the hole at the par-3 15th while Taylor will face a testy 5-foot par putt after coming up short with his tee shot and leaving himself work to do with his chip.

“I wanted to hit the shot because I’m loose and there’s no wind,” Todd told the Golf Channel. “I thought I could get it in there close and come back and make birdie.”

Ortiz, on the other hand, was on the 18th hole and opted to wait to finish his round on Monday as his fellow playing competitors finished in the dark. The Mexico native opened with a double bogey, but bounced back to make seven birdies to get to 19 under. He’s tied with Harris English, the 36-hole leader who closed the gap with birdies at Nos. 13 and 14. Adam Long is two back at 18 under and marked his ball on the 16th green after play was suspended. Twelve golfers were remaining on the course. When asked what it would mean to win on home soil, Ortiz said, “Winning anywhere, it’s pretty special, and winning in front of my family would probably be like a dream come true.”

All four rounds of the Mayakoba Golf Classic have been played under preferred lies due to heavy rain earlier in the week that prevented play on Thursday. The field has been playing catch-up ever since. Todd fired 6-under 65 in Sunday morning’s third round to grab a one-stroke lead over Taylor and English at 17-under 196.

Todd vaulted into the lead with a chip-in at 16, one of seven birdies in his third round. His string of eight rounds in the 60s is his longest since carding eight straight in 2014, the year of his maiden victory at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Carlos Ortiz of Mexico watches his drive on the 17th hole during the final round of the 2019 Mayakoba Golf Classic. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

Taylor, 43, is seeking his fourth victory and first since the 2016 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He stormed out of the gate on Sunday with birdies on four of his first five holes en route to shooting 4-under 67 and a 54-hole total of 16 under. In the final round, Taylor hit 10 of 11 fairways and 11 of 14 greens in regulation before play was suspended for the day.

English, 30, endured a roller-coaster round of 3-under 68 to improve to 16 under and extend a streak of shooting par or better in all 19 rounds he’s played in the 2019-20 season. El Camaleon is a course he’s always enjoyed and he is bidding to make his own slice of tournament history. No player in the 12-year run of the tournament has won it twice. But to do so, he’ll have to catch and pass Taylor and Todd, his fellow Georgia Bulldog alum, over the final four holes. Play is scheduled to resume at 7:30 on Monday morning.

“I feel great about my game,” Todd told Golf Channel. “I feel real happy to have a chance to win this tournament coming off a win in Bermuda and I’m excited to tee it up tomorrow and see if we can get another W.”

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