PGA EVENT PLANS DAILY MINUTE OF SILENCE
When the PGA Tour returns this week, it will observe a minute of silence during every round of the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Tex. to recognize and support the ongoing fight against racial injustice.
The 8:46 a.m. tee time will feature no players and be set aside to “amplify the voices and efforts underway to end systemic issues of racial and social injustices.”
The number 8:46 has become a symbol for the movement because it’s the amount of time U.S. prosecutors say George Floyd was pinned down by police with a knee on his neck when he was killed last month in Minneapolis.
Harold Varner III, who recently shared a poignant must-read letter on social media calling for justice, social change, and unity, was asked on Wednesday what golf’s biggest problem is when it comes to providing opportunities for Black kids to get into the sport.
“I’ve talked about this a hundred times, a million times. It’s access,” Varner said. “I mean, any time that someone wants to be great at something, they have to have the opportunity to experience it, learn how to get better. It’s just so expensive to play golf, and that’s the problem, to be honest with you.”
Varner is one of a small number of Black players on the PGA Tour. Growing up poor, he played on North Carolina municipal courses and says he was pushed to succeed by “old white men and old Black men,” and “every type of race possible.”
Varner is one of the most affable and approachable players on the PGA Tour and says that as a Black man in America, he understands discrimination, but that his journey in golf has been a positive one.
“I’ve never had any trouble fitting in with anyone,” he said. “If you have trouble being around me, it’s not my problem, you have a problem.”
World No. 2 Jon Rahm is another player who recently offered a very public message to his followers on social media in support of equality for Black Americans. The Spaniard said in his time in America he has never been racially profiled for the colour of his skin, but he’s had some bad experiences because of his language and ethnicity.
“We’re all human beings, and we should all be treated the same way,” Rahm said. “To me, it’s as simple as that. And when this whole thing broke out, I’ve tried to reach out to understand more profoundly what’s going on because if I’ve somehow experienced a little bit of what racism can be like, I can’t imagine what some people have experienced throughout their whole life.”
Varner doesn’t like that just because he’s Black it’s sometimes expected he should have all the answers to racism. But when it comes to helping inclusivity in golf, he says his father has the right idea, even if he wasn’t crazy about it growing up.
“I used to hate it,” Varner said. “If it was just me and him, if there were two people or one person on the putting green, he would always ask them to play. Some of these people I met, I still talk to to this day.”
Hey, want to join us?
Golfers, pay attention. It can’t get much simpler than that.
MIC’D UP? NOT SO FAST
Putting microphones on golfers during tournaments seemed like a slam dunk idea after the success of Tiger and Manning vs. Phil and Brady, but not so fast.
With no fans at these first few PGA Tour events, there was hope that some creative broadcast ideas might be borne out of necessity, possibly including mic’d up players. While it sounds great to us, it might not be as popular with the players.
Rahm, whose on-course meltdowns often don’t need any words, was a little surprised that anyone might think he’d be on board with being mic’d up.
“You’re asking me?” he said. “Honestly, I see the point, and I think people expect us to talk about much more interesting things than what we really do. So I don’t think it would be as entertaining as people think. Now, selfishly, because of who I am and I know how I am on the golf course, I wouldn’t support it.”
Rahm said they would need a 20- 30-second delay on his rounds, and that he’s not the only one.
“A lot of people swear or something comes up where you can hear it,” he said. “I don’t know, it would be something that needs to be tested, and if people like it, it might be something we could get used to. Right now, I don’t see it really happening or being as interesting as people think.”
Justin Thomas, who was exceptional as analyst during The Match II, is with Rahm on this.
“I would not wear a mic, no,” Thomas said. “That’s not me.”