PGA Tour players, caddies can avoid future COVID-19 testing by completing vaccinations
PGA Tour players and caddies will have an incentive to get the COVID-19 vaccination — the Tour told them in an internal memo this week that was obtained by Golf Digest that they will no longer require weekly testing to play in events if they are vaccinated.
In the memo, players and caddies who receive their second shot from Moderna or Pfizer, or the single Johnson & Johnson shot (if that becomes obtainable again after a pause this week due to six instances of blood clots in women) can wait 14 more days, then begin to skip testing protocols.
The same will apply for players on the PGA Tour Champions and the Korn Ferry Tour.
News of the modified policy for players came during the week of the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island, S.C., which begins on Thursday. The RBC was the second tournament to be played last June when the Tour returned after a three-month break and an exhaustive list of protocols for players, caddies and staff to follow.
It also was the week that Nick Watney became the first Tour player to test positive for the virus at an “inmarket” test. Since then, less than two dozen players have been posi-
tive, out of more than 6,000 who have played at 44 tournaments — a positivity rate of .004%.
“Once 14 days have passed [since the vaccinations] individuals are no longer required to take a COVID-19 test when considered `inside the bubble' at PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions or Korn Ferry Tour events,” the memo stated.
Others within the PGA Tour “bubble” such as coaches, trainers and staff will be required to send a vaccination card or other confirmation to the Tour's Healthy Roster app.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has said in the past he will not require vaccinations for players and caddies, saying it was a “choice.”
But if they don't, weekly testing will still be required.