First Nick Watney, then Cameron Champ and now two PGA Tour caddies, Ricky Elliott and Ken Comboy.
Suddenly the health and well being of the PGA Tour, which has taken aggressive steps to return to play during the pandemic, is in question.
Tour officials had already tightened the protocols on their COVID-19 plan after Watney tested positive last week at the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island, S.C.
The subsequent positive tests – which led Graeme McDowell and Brooks Koepka to withdraw from the Travelers Championship after their caddies tested positive – raised the obvious question of whether the PGA Tour should continue playing.
Commissioner Jay Monahan, who sent players a memo Tuesday outlining enhanced protocols while calling on the players to do their part, scheduled a Wednesday afternoon press conference to address the growing situation.
I personally don’t have any concerns … just everyone needs to do their job,” Justin Thomas said Wednesday.
“I think as weeks go on, it’s easier to get a little bit lazier and maybe get a little bit more lenient on what you know you should and shouldn’t do and maybe taking advantage of maybe a certain security guard or this or that that might not be as strict – it’s holding everybody accountable.”
After Watney discovered he was showing symptoms of COVID-19 through the data generated by his Whoop fitness band, the tour arranged for every player and caddie to be given one of the bands.
Champ wasn’t on Hilton Head Island last week where more than one player commented on the wide-open atmosphere outside the tournament grounds there. Summer vacation was in full force, masks be damned.
Champ tested positive while going through the tour’s mandatory pre-event testing Tuesday after arriving for the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut. He withdrew after getting the result.
“I feel great physically and I was obviously surprised and disappointed to learn of the test result. It’s important now to take the necessary steps and measures to protect others, including my loved ones,” Champ said in a statement released by the PGA Tour.
Both Comboy and Elliott attended the funeral of a friend.
Jordan Spieth, who has been involved in the Tour’s pandemic plan as a member of the Player Advisory Council, has been on Monday calls after each of the first two events since the restart, discussing what’s happening and changes to the plan.
“It’s a plan to work on every single week. I think with Nick, the fact that there were no other positive tests was huge, clearly,” Spieth said.
“But the idea that the systems in place allowed for him to test negative on a Tuesday, somehow contract the virus by Friday but not spread it to anyone including the people he’s staying with means that there was something done right with what was in force at the golf course and how Nick was approaching it, as well.”
While the system was put in place to ensure safety within the so-called bubble, it was also designed to react to positive tests. As it is for anyone, it’s incumbent on players and others at tournaments to have themselves retested if they feel any symptoms.
If there was a glitch in the plan, it was allowing Watney to be at the course Friday while awaiting his test results. He needed to be isolated to avoid potentially passing the virus to others and if that meant missing a portion of his planned pre-round warmup, so be it.
That’s a needed change and the tour has indicated it will adjust as needed. The virus isn’t going away any time soon and the tour needs to reinforce the protocols. Watney and Champ give the issue even greater urgency.
A positive test result may have been inevitable but it was still unsettling.
If multiple positive tests happen at a tournament site, the tour could cancel an event, or more than one. One or two positive results won’t do it but the tour needs to be aggressive in testing and retesting.
“I think the idea of extra testing has come around,” Spieth said. “The idea of mandatory tests for anyone who was even within 6 feet, whether they made physical contact with somebody who had a positive test, making those kind of mandatory, because the testing is very, very easy. It goes very quickly. Sure, it’s uncomfortable for a second, but being able to mitigate the risk is the number one priority.”
Though the risk of transmitting the virus during the course of play is very low, it’s important the tour and everyone involved remain committed to social distancing. After news of Watney’s positive test it made the threat somehow more real.
“I feel like the tour has done an absolutely amazing job on it,” Patrick Reed said. “I feel like with what they have in place for us here at the golf course and when we kind of come into town, basically telling us hotels to stay at where they know have been cleaned correctly, disinfected, and same thing at the golf courses and the social distancing that we have in place while we’re out here playing and practicing. I feel like we’re really safe on the golf course.
“It’s the risks you have when you’re not on the golf course that are the parts that you just have to be careful of. That’s the hardest thing; you can have people that have the virus that don’t know they have it, and you can be right next to that person when you’re grabbing takeout food or at the grocery store or anything like that, at a gas station, that can put you in harm’s way.”
The Top Of His Game
When the inevitable discussion about the best player in the game surfaces, Webb Simpson’s name isn’t mentioned despite the fact he’s now the fifth-ranked player in the world.
No player, though, does what he does better and more efficiently than Simpson, who won himself a tartan jacket Sunday at the RBC Heritage.
In the past 12 months, Simpson has won twice, finished second four times and third once.
He doesn’t fly it 310 and has a quirky putting grip and he’s living proof that even in this power-driven era, the game still rewards persistence, precision and patience.
“Justin Rose is kind of my inspiration,” Simpson said after his victory at Harbour Town. “He seems like he’s always there every week. He works hard at his craft, and I just thought I have good weeks. I make it to the Tour Championship. I’ve won a few times. But I really have a desire to be in that top 10 or 15 guys in the world ranking all the time and have chances to win, not just twice a year, but as many times as I can.
“So that led me to just look at every part of my game, whether it’s working out or the mental approach, and see if I can get better. That was three years ago probably. So … it feels great to see the hard work pay off and see that the process I’ve put in place is working.”
“It’s very satisfying knowing like I’m not near as long as some of these guys and I’m able to kind of use my skills of distance control and shot shape to kind of pick me back up when I’m 40 yards or 30 yards behind these guys.” – Webb Simpson
Simpson has seven career wins, including a U.S. Open and a Players Championship. That’s not yet Hall of Fame material but he’s far from finished.
Better than any other player impacted by the anchoring ban, Simpson adjusted, refused to dwell on what he lost and now he’s among the tour’s best putters. He had eight putts of 10 feet or longer on Friday at Harbour Town and, needing to seize the moment, he birdied five of his last seven holes to win the Heritage.
He’s not short – Simpson averages 300 yards off the tee – but his forte is distance control. He ranks 11th in greens in regulation and 10th in strokes gained approaching the green. Simpson has gained 20 pounds in the past three years and it has allowed him to increase his clubhead speed without sacrificing his strengths.
“It’s very satisfying knowing like I’m not near as long as some of these guys and I’m able to kind of use my skills of distance control and shot shape to kind of pick me back up when I’m 40 yards or 30 yards behind these guys,” Simpson said.
“I would like to hit it further. I set out on a journey three years ago to get stronger, hit it further, but do it a lot slower than Bryson (DeChambeau), but he’s made it look easy and seamless.”
Simpson, meanwhile, looked sharp in his red jacket and holding the Heritage trophy Sunday evening.