PGA set to hold tribute for Floyd

Minute of silence planned for each day at Colonial

The PGA Tour is leaving the 8:46 a.m. tee time vacant this week at Colonial as part of a tribute to George Floyd and to support efforts to end racial and social injustice.

In a memo to players Tuesday, Commissioner Jay Monahan said there would be a moment of silence in each of the four rounds at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, that will coincide with the 8:46 a.m. tee time.

The time reflects how long — 8 minutes, 46 seconds — authorities say Floyd was pinned to the ground under a white Minneapolis police officer’s knee before the handcuffed black man died.

The PGA Tour has been shut down the last three months because of the coronavirus pandemic, and it returns at Colonial with attention shared among the health and safety concerns of running a tournament and the civil unrest sparked by Floyd’s death across the country.

Monahan and Harold Varner III, one of three PGA Tour members of black heritage, had a 10-minute conversation last week that the tour posted to its website to try to figure out ways golf could do its part.

“I think there will be discussion. I think some will forget about it. I think so many people will move on,” Varner said Tuesday after arriving at Colonial. “But the conversation I had with Jay when we weren’t being recorded, I think this week won’t be the last week.

“I’m just super fortunate to be able to say something and it matter, but also be a part of the change,” Varner said. “Everyone in this society right now is going to be a part of that.”

The memo said the vacant 8:46 a.m. tee time for the 148-man field was “an effort to amplify the voices and efforts underway to end systemic issues of racial and social injustices impacting our country.”

The LPGA Tour lost its first major because of the COVID-19 pandemic when the Evian Championship in France was canceled. The LPGA Tour cited ongoing travel and border restrictions, along with government quarantine requirements for not holding the tournament on Aug. 6-9. It will return to the schedule next year in Evian-les-Bains. The LPGA Tour is set to resume in Ohio with the Marathon Classic on July 23-26. For now, it has majors scheduled in August, September, October and December.

NBA: Pau Gasol wants to return to the NBA next season but hasn’t ruled out finishing his career in Europe. Gasol, 39, said he needs to be playing next season to give himself “a chance” of making it to the Olympics one last time. The Spaniard said he is keeping his options open but going back to the Lakers would be an “attractive” option, as would be returning to a club like Barcelona in Spain. He said a decision on his future will likely have to be made in September or October. Gasol, a three-time Olympic medalist with Spain, has been out of action for more than a year because of a foot injury. He said the coronavirus pandemic has slowed his recovery process, but that was not necessarily a bad thing.

NFL: The Pro Football Hall of Fame will reopen Wednesday after nearly a threemonth closure caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The hall closed on March 16, but permission has been granted by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine for museums, science centers and zoos to open. “Since its grand opening in September 1963, the Pro Football Hall of Fame had never been closed more than two days in a row,” said David Baker, the hall’s president and CEO. “So after nearly three months, you can imagine our excitement at being able to open our doors again to fans of this great game.” There will be several health and safety guidelines in place for visitors and workers at the shrine.

NHL: Kings F Jeff Carter underwent surgery last week to repair a core muscle injury. . He is expected to be fully healthy for next season. Carter was injured in a game at Winnipeg on Feb. 18, and he missed the final 10 games of the Kings’ season. Carter, 35, had 17 goals and 10 assists with a minus-21 rating in 60 games this season. ... Sabres D Lawrence Pilut is forgoing a chance to continue his NHL career by signing a two-year contract with Russia’s Chelyabinsk Traktor of the Kontinental Hockey League team.

Tennis: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic is thinking of skipping the U.S. Open — if it is played — and instead returning to competition on clay ahead of the rescheduled French Open in September. Speaking to Serbia’s state broadcaster RTS, Djokovic said the restrictions that would be in place for the Grand Slam tournament in New York because of the coronavirus pandemic would be “extreme” and not “sustainable.”