As America Shuts Down To Stave Off A Pandemic, The PGA Tour (Eventually) Joins The Cause
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We’ve all tried to refute the charge: golf is not as elitist as you think.
No, really, it’s full of good people and a beautiful sport. With, sure, moments we’d like to forget.
So as questions remain about America’s infrastructure to handle the COVD-19 outbreak, the world of sports— minus the PGA Tour until 9:54 pm ET,—took painful, and perhaps even excessive steps to stop the spread. We can only hope to someday declare today’s actions an earnest but shrewd overreaction. Absent information to the contrary, however, every major needed to take action to prevent the spread.
So amidst everything taking place and health matters that should be the primary focus, it still must not be forgotten that the PGA Tour, in “full speed ahead” mode all week at its wonderful but overinflated home event, became the last major American sports league to pull the plug.
This, after waiting until 12:15 am earlier in the same day, to issue a statement about the status of Players Championship opening round, and only then to offer first round refunds if so desired.
There were no pleas for vulnerable seniors to stay home.
No pleas to those under-the-weather to stay away.
No, “we-got-this”, to volunteers who consume consummate news outlets and might be uncomfortable exposing themselves to large crowds.
Business-as-usual.
Market-by-market.
From Task Force to Business Unit-approved.
Yet as first round play got underway, major events continued to be cancelled, financial markets kept sending the same grim messages, and America began boarding up the windows.
Yet in marching ahead with the Players and upcoming schedule, Commissioner Monahan again teed up the vast acreage card during a midday press conference. The very same assertion that property size would keep people safe and shot down in Monday’s surreal CNBC appearance, then uttered Tuesday to reporters, and somehow schlepped out again in an answer that soured within hours.
Q. Similar to that but in layman's terms, can you explain what the difference is between the PGA TOUR which is continuing with events and, for example, the NBA, and I think I'm right in saying the MLS and other sporting bodies which have just shut down completely. Why do you feel golf is different?
JAY MONAHAN: Well, I think if you look at our venues, obviously we're an outdoor sport, we're not in a stadium, and here this week at TPC Sawgrass our players are making their way over 400 acres. And so we feel like we have, because of the nature of that and the fact that you've got 144 players here and over the course of a round our players generally do socially distance themselves, we felt like by taking this step to address the problem with our fans, we're in a position where we can continue to operate the events as of right now. And you look at there are other circumstances that led to the decisions that those leagues made that are unique to those leagues that we're not currently faced with. And that's something that we thought about and talked about, but ultimately when you break it down and you think about what's going to happen here over the course of the next three days and then going forward, we're comfortable having our players continue to play at this time.
In the meantime, players coming off the course or scheduled to go out, questioned the wisdom of going forward as other sports leagues ended major events. CT Pan pulled out of the tournament in the most significant show of wisdom. From overseas, Lee Westwood was sounding alarms as his colleagues were busy contesting the first round.
Oh, and players were subjected to random drug testing, in quite possibly the ultimate display of tone deafness as noted in this piece by Ryan Lavner.
As the round neared completion (one group did not finish), the PGA Tour stood firm with a 6:45 pm. operations update reaffirming the midday plans: players and volunteers only, with media outside the ropes. Next week’s Valspar event was on schedule. This, even though the LPGA Tour had postponed its next three events and the NCAA basketball tournament cancelled.
But the PGA Tour was set to play round two and beyond. Until someone read the room. Finally.
We will never know what light bulb went off or what information the Business Unit obtained. Maybe someone pointed out to the PGA Tour how they would be the only major sports league besides a spectator-free NASCAR pushing forward while the rest of sport shut down to help contain the potentially civilization-altering virus.
Pausing here to let you reflect: the PGA Tour was going to forge ahead with The Players while others retreated in hopes of promoting quarantining and making the pandemic less awful.
But at 9:54 pm players were texted. The Players was cancelled, as were the next three events in Tampa, Austin and San Antonio. They had “no choice,” one player told Rex Hoggard.
It took a “no choice” situation to finally shut things down. No choice, as in, we-waited-to-long-to-be-proactive and we will look foolish now playing golf while the world addresses a pandemic.
The inability to sooner recognize the absurdity of proceeding, should serve as a wakeup call when the golf can get back to addressing First World problems. In the coming weeks and months, with tournament golf halted and the future so uncertain, there will be no better time for the sport to assess who represents the game best and which organization is most intuitive. And a rough few days in Ponte Vedra exposed an unenlightened PGA Tour not quite in harmony with the world at large.
