PGA Tour gets back to business
FORT WORTH, Texas — The start was even more quiet than usual for a Thursday morning on the PGA Tour, only the silence never left over the next 12 hours as golf was back to business at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Sung Kang made a hole-in-one on the 13th hole and didn’t realize it until he was 50 yards from the green. “I’m like: ‘Wow, it’s in the hole.’ It wasn’t really crazy. Nobody was really up there, only a few people out there just clapping a little bit,” Kang said. “I still appreciated it, though.”
Phil Mickelson made a birdie and instinctively pinched the brim of his cap to acknowledge a crowd that wasn’t there.
Ryan Palmer, a Colonial member who raised money for COVID19 relief efforts during the shutdown, was chosen to hit the first official shot on the PGA Tour in three months.
Quiet as it was, Colonial came to a standstill at 8:46 a.m. when everyone on the course honoured a moment of silence for the death of George Floyd and the outrage it has sparked on racial injustice.
Justin Rose and Harold Varner shared the lead at 7-under 63, with Justin Thomas among those a stroke back. Tom Lehman, a 61year-old former champion at Colonial, got in on the act with a 65.
“It kind of feels like a competitive practice round,” said Rose, who won at Colonial two years ago. “Obviously, we miss the fans. They definitely provide a ton of energy and atmosphere.”
Golf is the second major sport in the U.S., behind motor sports, to resume a schedule shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the safety measures are coronavirus tests for every player, caddie and essential personnel. Of the 487 tests at Colonial, all results were negative.
The top three players in the world — Rory McIlroy (68), Jon Rahm (69) and Brooks Koepka (68) — played in the same group and had the largest following. There were 14 people outside the ropes behind the 10th green — six involved in radio and TV broadcasts, four writers, two photographers, one coach and one trainer.