By Dan Rapaport
Beginning Nov. 8, PGA Tour players and caddies who are not U.S. nationals will be required to be vaccinated for COVID-19 in order to enter the United States.

The tour alerted its membership of the CDC’s new policy in the informational “Green Sheet” it sends to players and caddies each week, a copy of which was viewed by Golf Digest. The updated regulations also require non-U.S. nationals to receive a negative COVID-19 test within three days of traveling to the U.S.

Unvaccinated Americans will still be able to enter the country but must provide a negative COVID-19 test within three days of travel.

Vaccinations became an issue at last week’s Bermuda Championship, which was not able to fill its 132-man field in part because of the island nation’s vaccine requirement. Had this week’s Worldwide Technology Championship at Mayakoba taken place one week later, every non-U.S. national player and caddie in the field would be required to be vaccinated in order to return to the United States and resume playing the PGA Tour.

The PGA Tour stopped testing fully vaccinated players in April and ceased its on-site testing program entirely in July. According to Golf Channel, 83 percent of the PGA Tour’s players, caddies and essential staff are fully vaccinated.

The post Non-American PGA Tour players, caddies will soon need COVID-19 vaccine to enter the United States appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Tod Leonard
The PGA Tour has told its players that it will discontinue required COVID-19 testing for vaccinated and non-vaccinated partipicants starting the week of the 3M Open that begins on July 22.

In a memo to the players, acquired by Golf Digest, PGA Tour Senior Vice President Tyler Dennis outlined what the future looks like for COVID-19 protocols. He said the programs being discontinued starting with the 3M in Minnesota are: weekly on-site testing, complimentary at-home testing, all pro-am testing, and the stipend program that paid players when they had to withdraw from a tournament due to a positive COVID-19 test.

“We are pleased to announce, after consultation with PGA Tour medical advisors, that due to the high rate of vaccination among all constituents on the PGA Tour, as well as other positively trending factors across the country, testing for COVID-19 will no longer be required as a condition of competition beginning with the 3M Open,” Dennis wrote.

The tour, which does not require vaccinations to compete, has not disclosed how many players or other participants have been vaccinated. A tour spokesperson declined on Monday to say what the vaccination rate is. According to the CDC, 66 percent of American adults have received at least one vaccination shot.

The memo said on-site testing will be available for those who are symptomatic and emphasized that participants should continue to fill out a daily health survey and notify the tour of any symptoms. The Korn Ferry Tour, meantime, will continue to do on-site testing.

Though unvaccinated people don’t have to undergo testing, according to the memo, there are distinctions made. Vaccinated individuals will not have to undergo contact tracing should they be around someone who has COVID-19, while those who haven’t been vaccinated must notify the tour and follow contact tracing protocols.

The memo says that those who have been vaccinated “should” upload a copy of their vaccination record to their Healthy Roster account, but the tour will require proof of vaccination should the player be involved in a contact tracing situation, a tour spokesperson said.

The decision to end testing at events comes after 14 months of protocols established by the PGA Tour, which canceled play after one round of the Players Championship in March 2020 and resumed competition on June 11, 2020, in the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

Since testing began, more than 25 tour players have tested positive for COVID-19, including some of the game’s most high-profile athletes: Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Tony Finau, Adam Scott, Gary Woodland and Padraig Harrington. No PGA Tour player has reported serious illness or hospitalization due to the coronavirus.

The post PGA Tour tells players it will end on-site COVID-19 testing in July appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Will we get vaccinated? Usually, I feel good about speaking for caddies as a whole. But this isn’t about golf. A lot of us have the same feelings and opinions about the game and our profession, but there are some gravelled roads once you get off that path.

Commissioner Jay Monahan stated as recently as March that getting vaccinated is encouraged but not mandatory—it’s a personal choice. A friend of mine who isn’t in the sport asked if that really was the case. Wouldn’t we all be lining up when the chance came? Absolutely not, I said.

People might be surprised to hear that. But on the whole—please underline “on the whole”—guys on tour aren’t spooked by the coronavirus. It’s not that they think it’s made up. A lot of them just think of it like the flu despite scientific evidence to the contrary. Before you judge, let me try to explain.

Caddie Confidential: Helen Storey takes us inside the ropes with Lee Westwood

First, we don’t have a “bubble,” at least not like what the NBA or NHL had during the playoffs last year. Players and caddies have travelled across the country for 10 months since this madness started, and we have all taken the tour’s safety protocols seriously, especially after the 2020 Travelers Championship, where several withdrawals over COVID fears almost derailed the PGA Tour’s season. Everyone’s social lives were curtailed, but we were still in public airports and hotels. The fact that only a dozen or so players have tested positive has relieved that fear for some. A few of the guys who did test positive got really sick, more than fans have been led to believe, and that certainly got our attention. But there’s also a difference between knowing about it and being sick yourself.

Second, a lot of these guys, players and caddies, are 30 or younger. Regardless of what your profession is, at that age a lot of us have a tendency to think we’re invincible. Combine that with the hubris professional athletes have, and there’s a belief that it won’t happen to us. I’m not making excuses. It’s just how it is. I know I’ve been guilty of thinking, If I haven’t gotten sick by now, I must be good.

A number of players and caddies will pass on getting vaccinated—anywhere from a fourth to a third would be my estimate. However, the consequences of not getting vaccinated are much different for caddies than for players, and it has nothing to do with health.

If a player tests positive, he misses a tournament, two at max, and the tour will give him $75,000 for his trouble. Once the player tests negative or shows he is asymptomatic, he can resume play. To the tour’s credit, if a caddie tests positive, he gets $5,000. But there’s no guarantee that caddie will be back. As we’ve mentioned in this space before, caddies are always one bad tournament, round, shot or decision away from being replaced.

Undercover Caddie: Your player just won a major? Let the good times roll

Let’s say I’m out for two weeks, and my player gets hot. Or maybe he’s been slumping and sees my positive test as a chance to make a clean break. Maybe he likes the temporary loop more than he likes me. Dumping a guy for getting the virus might sound cold-blooded, but it’s business. (Heck, sometimes we deserve it: In one case, a player almost fired a caddie after the player caught him breaking protocols.) Admittedly, I have some reservations about getting vaccinated, but given that my livelihood is on the line, I’m definitely getting the shot when my number is called.

If caddies want to keep their gig, they might not have a choice. A number of players have politely, but unequivocally, told their caddies they need to get vaccinated if they want to stay on the bag. Don’t think they’re trying to tread on anyone’s personal rights or beliefs; they’re protecting their wives and families more than themselves. My guy, whom I view as a brother, told me I should get it. I was surprised because we really hadn’t discussed it until a week ago. But I know he said that because he just wants what’s best for me.

Other players are not so altruistic. One caddie, at the urging of his man, already got the first shot. After he received it, he told his player thanks. The response? “You’re welcome, but I’m not looking out for you,” the player said. “I need you healthy for me.” —WITH JOEL BEALL

The post Undercover Caddie: Why getting vaccinated is a complicated issue for us appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
The PGA Tour will no longer require fully vaccinated players to take COVID-19 tests in order to play in events.

The tour informed players of the decision in an email earlier this week, a copy of which was obtained by Golf Digest.

“As the COVID-19 vaccine is becoming more readily available, more individuals are being vaccinated,” the email reads. “PGA Tour Health and Safety protocol requires individuals to continue testing onsite until 14 full days have passed since their second dose (Moderna & Pfizer) or 14 full days since their single dose (Johnson & Johnson). Once 14 days have passed, individuals are no longer required to take a COVID-19 test when considered ‘inside the bubble’ at PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions or Korn Ferry Tour events.”

Players—and anyone else entering the bubble, including caddies, coaches, trainers and the like—will be expected to upload their vaccination cards to the Healthy Roster app, which the tour has used to facilitate health-related communications throughout the pandemic.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has stopped short of saying the tour will require players to be vaccinated in order to play—“I think vaccination is a choice,” he said in December—but said at the Players Championship that he was “hopeful” everyone in the tour ecosystem would get the vaccine.

“We’re going to do everything we can to educate all of our players on the facts behind vaccinations,” Monahan said. “I think the most important thing right now is education, and then we’re going to do everything we can to support vaccination for our players when it’s appropriate to do so.”

The tour has required a negative COVID-19 test before entering a tournament’s “bubble” since last June, when play resumed after a three-month hiatus. More than 20 players have returned positive tests at tour events and thus have been forced to withdraw and quarantine in the same city they took the test. Each player who tested positive was given a $100,000 stipend from the tour.

The post PGA Tour will no longer require vaccinated players to take COVID-19 tests at tournaments appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
What has appeared inevitable will soon become official. According to a Golf Channel report, there will be no fans or pro-ams at tournaments for the rest of the PGA Tour season.

According to the report, the formal announcement will come Monday.

Including this week’s Workday Charity Open, there are 10 events left on the 2019-20 schedule, which runs through the Tour Championship (Sept. 4-7). Each of the three FedEx Cup playoff events—the Northern Trust (Aug. 20-23 at TPC Boston), the BMW Championship (Aug. 27-30 at Olympia Fields) and the season-finale Tour Championship (Sept. 4-7 at East Lake)—will be played without fans, as will the revamped season’s only major, the PGA Championship, slated for Aug. 6-9 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

The remaining two majors of the year, the U.S. Open (Sept. 17-20 at Winged Foot) and the Masters (Nov. 12-15 at Augusta National) fall outside of the current season. Neither the USGA nor Augusta National has announced a decision about allowing fans.

After his round on Saturday in the Workday Charity Open, Rickie Fowler said he previously had not heard about having no fans moving forward, but said he supported the idea.

“I think that we’re seeing that there’s been some more spikes and nothing has necessarily calmed down,” Fowler said. “In a way, it could have been inevitatble at some point where things are starting to go.”

The PGA Tour is in the midst of its fifth tournament since a three-plus month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Next week’s event, the Memorial Tournament, was scheduled to be the first event to welcome a limited number of fans—8,000 per day—but the PGA Tour reversed course and announced that, too, will be fanless, amid rising COVID-19 infection numbers across a number of states.

Having no pro-ams for the rest of the season is a significant financial loss for the tour and each individual event, as the money raised supports local charities in the area.

It is unclear when or where fans will return to the PGA Tour. In announcing the no-fan policy at the Memorial last week, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said fans would be welcomed back “when the time is right.”

The wraparound 2020-’21 season begins with the Safeway Open in Napa, Calif., Sept. 10-13.

The post Report: No fans, pro-ams for rest of PGA Tour season appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Four more players have tested COVID-19 positive at PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour tournament sites this week.

On Tuesday, the PGA Tour announced Chad Campbell has been withdrawn from the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit. Campbell, 46, was not yet in the field as he was listed as the tournament’s first alternate. Alex Cjeka now takes his place.

In a statement, Campbell said that while the positive test is “unnerving” he feels physically fine and is asymptomatic. “I support the tour’s protocol during this time and will be quarantining myself to protect others until I am well,” Campbell said.

Campbell is the third player attempting to play in the Rocket Mortgage Classic to test positive for COVID-19, joining Harris English and Dylan Frittelli. Seven players dropped out of last week’s Travelers Championship, although only two (Cameron Champ and Denny McCarthy) were the result of a player’s positive COVID-19 test. Campbell is the sixth PGA Tour player to be diagnosed with coronavirus in the past 12 days.

At the Korn Ferry Tour’s TPC Colorado Championship, Brandon Wu, Taylor Montgomery and Jonathan Hodge have withdrawn due to testing COVID-19 positive during the on-site screening process.

“These positive test results serve as a distinct reminder that we all need to continue to be vigilant in this ever-changing climate,” said Korn Ferry Tour president Alex Baldwin. “We will further reinforce the elements of our health and safety plan to all constituents, and deliver our full support to those who test positive for COVID-19.”

Wu, Montgomery, and Hodge are the only players to test positive through the Korn Ferry’s on-site testing protocol.

The post Four more players test COVID-19 positive at PGA Tour, Korn Ferry Tour events appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Tod Leonard
The field for next week’s RBC Heritage didn’t just attract a star-studded field unseen at Harbour Town. It rivals nearly anything seen for a regular PGA Tour event in a couple of decades.

The participants for next week were finalized on Friday, and of the 154 players currently listed, 114 have won at least one PGA Tour event. According to the Tour, which has field data going back to 2000, that is the most champions in any single tournament.

The notable absence, of course, is Tiger Woods and his 81 career Tour victories.

For the second straight week, the top five in the Official World Golf Rankings are entered: Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson.

Among those joining them are Bryson DeChambeau, Jason Day, Tony Finau, Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele, Sungjae Im, Jordan Spieth, and defending champion C.T. Pan.

The top-ranked McIlroy—in contention yet again at Colonial this week—hasn’t played in the RBC Heritage since he was 19. Koepka and Rahm have never competed at Harbour Town. In any other year, they’d likely be absent again. But regular schedules have been shredded after the Tour’s three-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There’s one player in the field who has won the Heritage twice since 2000—Stewart Cink. Boo Weekly notched back-to-back victories in 2007-’08, but he’s not entered. The last five winners at Harbor Town are: Pan, Satoshi Kodaira, Wesley Bryan, Branden Grace and Jim Furyk. All but Kodaira are playing next week.

The post You’ll never guess the crazy number of PGA Tour winners in next week’s Heritage field appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.