PGA warns coronavirus lapses may threaten Tour
»US circuit rocked by positive tests and protocol breaches » Travelers Championship carries on today regardless
The PGA Tour has warned players and caddies they could put the circuit in jeopardy if they fail to follow coronavirus protocols. Brooks Koepka’s caddie, Ricky Elliott, and Graeme Mcdowell’s bagman, Ken Comboy, have contracted the virus ahead of the Tour’s third restart event in Connecticut.
The PGA Tour’s coronavirus “issue” has become so stark, with five players withdrawing from this week’s field, that the players and caddies have been warned that if they keep failing to follow protocols there will be “severe repercussions” and the future of the circuit itself could be threatened.
After world No4 Brooks Koepka, last week’s winner Webb Simpson, former US Open champion Graeme Mcdowell and crack American youngster Cameron Champ withdrew on the eve of the Tour’s third restart tournament, many expected the commissioner, Jay Monahan, to announce a cancellation of the event in Hartford, especially as Connecticut had just announced a 14-day quarantine for visitors arriving from the many American states where cases are rising.
But Monahan insisted that the show had to go on, waxing about “the game’s values”. There was at least a glimpse of candour when he spoke of the memo sent out to the players and caddies at lunchtime, instructing them to get in line after repeated flouting of social-distancing regulations. “All of us have an extraordinary responsibility to follow those protocols,” Monahan said. “For any individual that does not, there will be serious repercussions.”
There have been three positive tests in all, with Koepka’s caddie, Northern Irishman Ricky Elliott,
and Mcdowell’s bagman, Ken Comboy, discovered to be infected as well as Champ.
They happen to be close friends and Chase Koepka, who is staying with elder brother Brooks, felt obliged to withdraw, despite only earning his place in a play-off in Monday qualifying. Elliott asked to be retested and it came back negative. He had to withdraw anyway, but the test system is plainly erratic – which Monahan put down to the “nature of the virus”.
The elephant in the virtual interview room was Simpson’s premature departure. Monahan was never asked for confirmation but it is understood that the daughter of Simpson, a father of five, had tested positive. Sources say other members of the entourages of the pros have also been struck down.
“Everybody needs to know that our future, our ability to sustain this business and to impact the communities where we play and to create so many jobs is contingent on our ability to follow these protocols,” Monahan said. “So when we have instances where someone hasn’t, they will be dealt with.”
Between the inevitable corporate speak, Monahan acknowledged that at least a degree of complacency had set in within an environment which, apart from the sport’s vast rule book, is ludicrously pampered and clearly not used to being ordered around. “I think when you get into the environment of the tournament with no spectators here, with people that are around you having tested negative … well, I think over the first couple weeks we’ve seen some instances where, let’s say, we’ve got a little bit lax or away from protocol,” he said.
Monahan announced “several adjustments” to “a comprehensive health and safety plan that would be developed to be considered a best practice among professional sports leagues”. These amount to another day of testing for those taking the charter flight from event to event, as well as tests for the coaches, a bizarre omission in the first place. The Tour also does not want players going to outside gyms, instead using the on-site facilities.
No mention was made of local eateries, or the need for the multimillionaires to remain in the “bubble” by staying at designated hotels.
In contrast, when the European Tour resumes in four weeks, each player, caddie, media member and support staff will be required to base themselves at the designated
‘Over the first couple of weeks we’ve seen instances where we have got a bit lax’
hotels and will not be allowed to leave other than to go to the course.
As it stands, the £6million Travelers Championship will begin today, with seven of the world’s top 10. Rory Mcilroy is favourite, along with Americans Bryson Dechambeau and Justin Thomas.
The circus rolls on and Monahan is adamant it can pull into the Memorial in Ohio in three weeks with 8,000 fans present each day.