Officials will add coronavirus testing for players, caddies and support staff when the golf tour resumes in mid-June without spectators.
With the goal of resuming tournament play next month in Texas, PGA Tour officials on Wednesday outlined safety procedures they intend to implement, including layers of coronavirus testing for players, caddies and support personnel. The tour’s plan would restrict the movement of players during events, which will be conducted without spectators, and encourage golfers to isolate themselves from the public when off the golf course.
Despite the provisions, which were laid out in a conference call with reporters, tour officials, who have not hosted a tournament in two months, indicated that they were also prepared and willing to reverse course.
“Just to be perfectly clear, we’re not going to play if we can’t do it in a safe and healthy environment for all our constituencies,” Tyler Dennis, the tour’s senior vice president and chief of operations, said.
The Charles Schwab Challenge, which will begin on June 11 at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, is the first of four events on the revised schedule announced by the PGA Tour last month. Each of the events will be played without spectators. The tour has arranged for players to be shuttled to tournaments, although it conceded there might not be enough room on those flights for an entire field.
