Varner has no fears about getting back on the PGA Tour bus

TEXAS: Harold Varner III is getting impatient to play professional golf again, and has no qualms about jumping straight back into the water when the PGA Tour resumes next month amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

While some players have expressed reticence to commit to competing again until they know details of the tour’s plan to test for the novel coronavirus, Varner is not among them. The PGA Tour is scheduled to restart without spectators with the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas from June 11-14. It will be among the first professional sporting bodies in the United States to resume after shutting down on March 12.

“Someone’s got to start somewhere or we’re going to put ourselves in a hole we can’t get out of,” Varner said in a telephone interview with Reuters, referring to the general economy rather than golf specifically.

“The economy and everything, if we stop for six months it’s going to be hard to get going. “Pros will be fine but there’s going to be a trickle-down effect. You’re seeing businesses that aren’t making it for two months that we’ve been gone. If we did this for six months it’s going to get everybody.”

The tour has said it wants to test all players for coronavirus when it resumes, but has not been specific about its exact plans. In a recent Golf Digest survey of 35 players, slightly more than half said they would be prepared to compete only if a comprehensive testing plan is in place at every tournament.

HOME DRIVING RANGE Varner has been keeping busy since the tour suspended its season. The North Carolina native moved into a new house in Charlotte late last year and he has also bought a 16-acre (sixhectare) property nearby for his parents, with a driving range to boot.

“I’ve been hanging out there a lot over this break,” he said. “Have got a bundle of toys like tractors, plenty of things to do, an indoor place to hit, everything you can think of.

“I’ve been practicing a decent amount.”

He’s also found time for turkey hunting and exchanging the occasional text with North Carolina’s most famous son, basketball great Michael Jordan.

Varner is contracted to wear Jordan Brand shoes and apparel.

Now he is ready to get back onto the road, even if has to pull his own clubs if the tour bans caddies from handing them to players, which it has been speculated it will do to reduce the chances of anyone contracting coronavirus.

“I don’t really care. It wouldn’t be the first time,” said the 29-year-old, who won the 2016 Australian PGA Championship.

Still seeking his first PGA Tour victory, he has knocked on the door a few times, most recently at the Genesis Open in Los Angeles, where he was one stroke from the lead starting the final round before finishing 13th.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to get back to playing,” Varner said. “I’ll play everything until the new year. That’s what I do. What am I going to do, sit at home? I’ve been sitting home the last six weeks.” —Reuters

LOS ANGELES: After calling for an indefinite ban on combat sports events in April, the Association of Ringside Physicians (ARP) wants coronavirus precautions to be developed with an eye to staging events.

In a weekend statement on the group’s website, the doctors who train and certify ringside boxing and mixed martial arts doctors worldwide updated their stance based on the relaxing of stay-at-home requirements.

“Although it is impossible to eliminate all risk associated with COVID-19, precautions can be made to reduce the risk of viral transmission,” the statement said. “Many athletic commissions, organizations and promotors are developing new guidelines to limit exposure to all involved at events, including athletes, their teams, commission personnel and support staff.”

Sports worldwide have been shut down by the coronavirus pandemic. But three Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) cards have been scheduled in Jacksonville, Florida, the first on Saturday with others on May 13 and May 16 — all to be staged in an arena with television broadcast personnel but without spectators.

“Combat sports event procedures regarding COVID-19 precautions should be actively developed, regularly reviewed and modified based on the evolving knowledge and scientific evidence put forth by public health authorities,” the ARP said.

“These guidelines should also involve local and regional public health officials as well as infectious disease experts and epidemiologists.” An executive order last month from Florida governor Ron DeSantis opened the door to hosting UFC events by giving essential services status to “employees at a professional sports and media production with a national audience... if the location is closed to the general public.” —AFP

Ringside doctors back off call for combat sports ban