Return of golf's galleries stirs up `major' excitement

The Players Championship might not be a major, but it's sure going to feel like one this week.

For the first time since golf's return to play last summer, one of the sport's flagship events will be contested in front of a significant number of fans.

“This week will mark our largest footprint to date and our players are excited that we're getting back to entertaining and inspiring our fans in person,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said on Tuesday from TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. “But we remain conservative, administering tickets at only 20 per cent of our normal capacity, so that we can continue to learn and adjust as we go, again with safety as our absolute top priority.”

The Players hasn't released attendance figures since 2013, but it's estimated there will be between 9,000-10,000 fans a day.

There have been smaller numbers of fans in attendance in recent weeks — including last week at Bay Hill in Orlando — but Thursday's opening round at a marquee event will mark the first time in a long while many sports fans will see pro golf with crowds, noise and atmosphere.

The U.S. Open in September and the one-off November Masters both were played at empty courses.

“Having fans and having the energy is something that I've missed so much,” Justin Thomas said. “The pressure, the nerves, everything that goes into it. It just really makes it different. It makes it better. It gives the tournament the atmosphere, the buzz, the adrenalin.”

It was during this tournament last year that the massive significance of COVID-19 began to be understood across North America.

That week, in quick succession, all the major sports leagues shut down, with golf, for a very short while, trying to keep its lights on. After Hideki Matsuyama opened Thursday with a TPC Sawgrass record-tying 63, it was announced the tournament would continue through the weekend but without spectators.

The PGA Tour would remain dark for three months.

A year later, here we are. The Players' $15 million purse is the largest in golf, with $2.7 million going to the winner. Forty-eight of the top 50 players in the world are in the field.

Canada's hopes rest on Corey Conners, Adam Hadwin, Mackenzie Hughes and Nick Taylor.

Play begins Thursday.