With a swing and silence 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-inone 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 COVID-19 relief efforts during the shutdown, was chosen to hit the first official shot on the PGA Tour in three months. Those gathered around the first tee could barely hear him announced. The starter was wearing a mask, and his voice competed with the hum of a generator behind the ninth green.
Quiet as it was, Colonial came to a standstill at 8:46 a.m. when everyone on the course honored a moment of silence for the death of George Floyd and the outrage it has sparked worldwide on racial injustice.
It was a most unusual round of golf.
But it was golf.
“I think just being out here is successful, to be honest with you, getting started,” Palmer said. “I don’t see anything holding us back moving forward. I think today was the biggest day, just getting this first day off. People are going to watch golf back home and be interested to watch it tomor
man, with a team-high 18 home runs and 63 RBIs, which also topped the squad.
His prodigious power and ability to hit for average earned him NCAA CoNational Freshman of the Year honors last season.
Sabato’s selection marked the 24th time a Tar Heel was chosen in the first round or supplemental round in program history.
“We are all very happy for Aaron,” North Carolina coach Mike Fox said on the University of North Carolina athletics website. “He is a special talent and outstanding young man. He was not only a great player for us but a very good student as well. His future is bright.”
Sabato was also named an All-American by Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America, Perfect Game and was the NCBWA National Freshman Hitter of the Year in 2019.
Last season also saw Sabato lead the Tar Heels in hits (79), doubles (25), slugging percentage (.696) and total bases (160).
The 2019 All-ACC Freshman of the Year, Sabato smashed seven home runs and drove in 18 runs in North Carolina’s 2020 season, which was cut short after 19 games, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He homered in six of his last seven games this past season and received Second Team All-America accolades by Collegiate America.
“North Carolina has been a dream school of mine since I was young and my teammates will be with me for the rest of my life,” Sabato said. “My teammates and coaches were unbelievable, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.”
Sabato, who played on the varsity team all four of his years at Brunswick, hit .560 with 14 homers in 22 games his senior year for
WITH THE TAR HEELS:
the Bruins. An infielder, Sabato helped lead the Bruins to three FAA championships and was a First Team selection on the 2018 All-Connecticut Team.
He credits his father Teddy, his mother Valerie and the entire family for the support they’ve given while he pursued his baseball
dream.
“My parents are the ones who sacrificed the most,” Sabato said. “They took time off work to take me to travel baseball games and paid for the travel baseball leagues I played in all over the country. I can’t thank them enough.” and one trainer.
The telecast began with an apology. Right when Golf Channel came on the air, Rahm chipped in for birdie on the par-3 eighth and someone — it could have been inside or outside the ropes — was heard to say, “Pretty (expletive) good, there.”
“Well, we were hoping for better audio with no fans,” CBS anchor Jim Nantz said.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan gave the opening group a thumbs-up after the players hit their drives, and he returned to the tee box alone at 8:46 a.m.
That starting time was listed on the tee sheet without any players. The tour is keeping that empty all four rounds for a moment of silence. It’s a tribute to Floyd, who was handcuffed while a white police officer pressed his knee to the back of the black man’s neck for 8 minutes, 46 seconds. Floyd died after pleading for air.