With numerous medical and government entities suggesting that widespread testing for the coronavirus is necessary as the country attempts to open again, PGA Tour officials acknowledged Thursday that they are keen to study and see ramped-up testing as a revised schedule was announced.
The tour has plans to resume its halted schedule on June 11 at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, announcing that the first four events would be played without spectators.
As part of that, it expects to have some sort of testing protocols in place.
“We see changes and developments being made in the world of testing, available tests,” said Andy Pazder, the PGA Tour’s chief tournament and competitions officer. “We’re following very closely through the assistance of our expert medical advisers the development of more large-scale testing capabilities, more rapid-response type tests, whether it’s through finger pricks, testing for antibodies.
“We obviously are aware that the FDA recently approved use of a saliva-based test. It gives us confidence that we will be able to develop a strong testing protocol that will mitigate risk as much as we possibly can. We know that there will also be further developments over the next eight weeks before we were to resume play.”
Tyler Dennis, the PGA Tour’s senior vice president and chief of operations, said all aspects as it relates to those people on-site are being studied.
“As it relates to players, we’re thinking of it as one would work through a normal week, and it probably starts with some kind of testing before you leave home in an effort to be as safe as possible,” Dennis said. “And then proper hygiene and travel protocols as you travel toward the venue, possibly then testing that would go on in a safe and as clean an environment as we can make, both in terms of what you’re doing in your daily routine at the golf course but also at the host hotel and dinners and all that.”
Dennis could not say what would happen if a player, caddie or official were to test positive for the virus once at an event. He also said the tour is studying how to properly social distance at events, including how caddies will do it.
“That’s another part of our analysis that we’ve been working on, from a health and safety point of view, but even with the rules officials, for example,” Dennis said. “So if you think about how a player and a caddie travel throughout their daily competition routine, we’ve looked at — we’ve mapped out and are still in the process of finalizing what that day looks like, because we know that golf can be played in a safe way that abides by social distancing guidelines.
“From the driving range to the first tee, all kinds of little details, scorecards and bunker rakes and flagsticks and how we can make sure all that is done in a socially distanced way and make sure that things stay safe and clean and sanitized. So there’s a big project going on to think about those details, and as we get closer, we’ll certainly share with how that day would look.”
Dennis also made clear that the testing process needs to evolve further.
“First and foremost, the situation at the moment with testing is that it’s most critical across the health care world and in our communities, and so at this juncture, we are merely evaluating it in the sports world and certainly at the PGA Tour.
“Our understanding is that as it becomes more widely available, it would be appropriate to be able to use that to help us return. We think that that’s critical for a lot of different reasons but certainly for the communities we play in and the 3,000-plus charities that we support. So we’re in an evaluation mode learning about the testing, building out what we think could work from a testing protocol.”
PGA Tour veteran Pat Perez said he has no problem with testing everyone involved and expects it.
“I don’t mind having testing each week,” he said. “And if you get it, sit down for two weeks. I’m absolutely fine with that.”