2020 PGA Tour

moretsyndrome

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Jan 24, 2006
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NASCAR also in weather delay in Talladega.

2020 gonna 2020.
I’ll say.

Was just working on the tomato plants. Sweating like Elvis. I hear a little disturbance overhead - about six birds fluttering real low. Baby bird drops out the air. On my back. Apparently they were trying to airlift it. They failed. Bounced off me and impaled on the wire fence. I felt like an extra in a White Zombie video.

Poor little guy joined the Choir Invisible. Looked like a pic that used to get posted at the beginning of a Baltimore Orioles game thread. I put down my tools, changed my shirt, and went to grab a cold one and some whiskey to shake it off and watch some damn sports.

Nope. Rain. Let’s go!
 
Slowed down greens should likely favor those still out in the course with the most holes left, no?
Yep - the wind is gone, the greens are soft, and the course is again at the mercy of the players. I rather expect the winner will get to at least -20; whether he gets there today is doubtful, though, given that the Hilton Head sunset is apparently 8:33 p.m.
 

TFP

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This is bananas.

Also this course is absolutely gorgeous at sunset with no grandstands.
 

jercra

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TFP

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GMac’s caddie tests positive so he now WDs. The PGA Tour “bubble” is flawed it people in it are taking packed commercial flights in between tournaments.

https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2020/06/23/graeme-mcdowell-withdraws-from-travelers-after-caddie-tests-positive-for-covid-19/
However, the fact that the testing is catching cases is a good thing, and hopefully the players and caddies realize it’s not a true bubble and take the social distancing seriously. I’m happy Golf is back and don’t want to see any more tournaments canceled.
 

cshea

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Seems like this was handled better than Watney’s, though it helps that GMac MC’d last week and this happened after his tournament was already over. Apparently he filled out that he had a sore throat on the daily questionnaire and was then tested Saturday. He apparently went back to Orlando and hadn’t traveled up to CT yet. GMac is heading home to quarantine, take another test, and figure out the next steps. GMac tested negative on Monday. Played a practice round with the Koepka brothers so they, and others in contact with GMac, will be getting re-tested today.

With Champ’s positive test, have to wonder what he was doing during the time between taking the test and receiving the result. There was a huge breakdown with Watney in that area.
 

cshea

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Played with McDowell this week. Not sure if his caddie was with him, but Brooks also said he was near Watney last week before Watney WD’d.

They are supposed to have fans on the course in 3 weeks.
 

TFP

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Played with McDowell this week. Not sure if his caddie was with him, but Brooks also said he was near Watney last week before Watney WD’d.

They are supposed to have fans on the course in 3 weeks.
Apparently Koepka's caddie traveled to the same funeral that McDowell's caddie did. My guess would be that they caught it there.
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
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Given the conservative leaning politics of the player base I wouldn't be shocked if there are a few players kicking around who haven't been taking this seriously at all times when off the course.

I mean, this can't be a surprise, can it? Isolate the positive tests, trace their contacts, and play on.
I thought that was the plan? If they thought they would avoid this they were delusional. This was inevitable.
 

jercra

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Given the conservative leaning politics of the player base I wouldn't be shocked if there are a few players kicking around who haven't been taking this seriously at all times when off the course.
They don't get paid if they don't play. I'd be willing to be that trumps any political stance/feeling.
 

TFP

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They don't get paid if they don't play. I'd be willing to be that trumps any political stance/feeling.
Actually they do. The players get $100k for 2 weeks and the caddies get $30k if they test positive.

Sounds like it's just the players/caddies aren't following the rules. Caddies are going out partying at bars at night, Cam Champ was apparently working out in the clubhouse while awaiting the results of his test. The rules and testing seem to be working, it's that people are just blatantly ignoring them, and this is what happens.

I'm hoping this is a wake up call to take shit seriously. No need to shut it down, but stop pretending it's an actual bubble. Stay socially distanced, stay out of public indoor spaces, or the tour is gonna get shut down again.

Edit: Looks like Monahan is taking away the stipend for those not following protocol.

Secondly, any players who test positive for the virus after not following protocols will no longer be eligible for a $100,000 stipend issued by the Tour. After withdrawing from last week’s RBC Heritage event, Nick Watney was the first to be issued such a stipend. He is currently quarantining in South Carolina.
https://golf.com/news/pga-tour-stricter-protocols-coronavirus-tests/
 
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cshea

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The traveling bubble was always going to be an impossibility to pull off. Just in players and caddies alone, it's a rotating cast of 330ish people each week to keep track of, never mind coaches, trainers and other individuals on a players team. When the tournament ends, some go on to the next stop, others disperse to their homes or wherever and then come back in future weeks. Who knows where they've been. At least based on his comments, Koepka has taken this seriously and it still wasn't enough. His team was traveling together and staying in the same rental house at each tourney. He hired a chef to travel with them so they didn't' have to go out to eat and says they've only been either in the rental house or the golf course. His caddie went out to a funeral and bam, here we are.

Harig says he gets the sense they aren't canceling, so Monahan is probably just going to announce stricter protocols and reinforce existing protocols.
 

cshea

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WD’s this week, so far

Champ
McDowell
Koepka
Koepka
Simpson

Webb and Chase Koepka tested negative but are WDinf out of an abundance of caution. Isn’t clear weather Brooks and Gmac tested positive. Sucks for Chase Koepka who had gotten into the field through Monday qualifying. Hopefully the tour gives him an exemption into an event down the road.

Travelers going on as planned. Tour is making changes to the protocols.
 

jercra

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Actually they do. The players get $100k for 2 weeks and the caddies get $30k if they test positive.
Sorry, I meant they don't get paid if the Tour has to cancel all of the events because they are too "conservative" to think the virus is real and take the proper precautions. No Tour=No money is what I was trying to convey.
 

cshea

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Trainers and coaches now in the testing bubble, need to follow the same protocols as the players and caddies. They are adding testing for players who are on the Tour’s charter flights. Monahan says there will be serious repercussions for those in the bubble who don’t adhere to the social distancing protocols
 

Doug Beerabelli

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Given the conservative leaning politics of the player base I wouldn't be shocked if there are a few players kicking around who haven't been taking this seriously at all times when off the course.



I thought that was the plan? If they thought they would avoid this they were delusional. This was inevitable.
COVID precaution stupidity is not the exclusive province of those with conservative politics.
 

Average Reds

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COVID precaution stupidity is not the exclusive province of those with conservative politics.
The tour is full of a bunch of privileged young men who are in shape and outside for most of the time they are playing. It is not at all surprising that they don't take the virus protocol as seriously as others.

The tour is also, as a group, much more politically conservative than the general public. And the leader of the political party that the overwhelming majority identify with is insisting that the virus will vanish on it's own and we don't have to worry about it.

So while precaution stupidity may not be the exclusive provenance of those with conservative politics, it sure is highly correlated.
 
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johnmd20

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The tour is full of a bunch of privileged young men who are in shape and outside for most of the time they are playing. It is not at all surprising that they don't take the virus protocol as seriously as others.

The tour is also, as a group, much more politically conservative than the general public. And the leader of the political party that the overwhelming majority identify with is insisting that the virus will vanish on it's own and we don't have to worry about it.

So while precaution stupidity may not be the exclusive provenance of those with conservative politics, it sure is highly correlated.
But that wasn't his point.
 

TFP

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I'm enjoying that contrasted with the diversity in ability and playing style of the group of Rahm/Reavie/McCumber too. Reavie hitting driver 260 yards carry while watching an alternate level player going up against a top 10 in the world has been illuminating.
 

cshea

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I don't like Bryson but I have to begrudgingly admit I'm impressed by the transformation. He looks like a bozo but he said he was going to hit it farther and go all in on bomb and gauge and he's done just that and every week he's at the top of the leaderboard. He's done it at contrasting golf courses too.
 

cshea

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Nope, Furyk’s 58 was at this joint.

Hughes has 40 feet for a 59.

Edit: Left if 5 feet short! Obviously a long shot to go in, but how do you leave a putt for a 59 that short!
 

Doug Beerabelli

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The tour is full of a bunch of privileged young men who are in shape and outside for most of the time they are playing. It is not at all surprising that they don't take the virus protocol as seriously as others.

The tour is also, as a group, much more politically conservative than the general public. And the leader of the political party that the overwhelming majority identify with is insisting that the virus will vanish on it's own and we don't have to worry about it.

So while precaution stupidity may not be the exclusive provenance of those with conservative politics, it sure is highly correlated.
Correlation - sure. The young and invincible part I'll buy for sure. IMO you give these players too little credit if you think this political party leader has that much influence on their actions, or too much credit to that political leader's influence on this particular group of people. YMMV on that.

Do we have any evidence that there's been a lot players not taking the protocols seriously? 4 of them (the Koepkas, Simpson and McDowell) withdrew out of precaution because their caddies tested positive (one of which subsequently tested negative), even though they tested negative and likely still could have played. That's pretty responsible of those 4, voluntarily giving up a chance for a much bigger pay day for most of them than with a virus WD payment (not case for Chase K), and not indicative they believe the virus will vanish on its own and they don't have to worry about it.

Per the Golf Channel website, " (Tour Commisioner) Monahan shared the Tour's COVID-19 test results, which include seven positive tests among 2,757 administered to players, caddies and other essential personnel across three weeks of action on the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour."

To get back to golf, there's a PGA tournament being held 25 minutes from where I sit typing, one with one of its best fields in years, but we can't go. Disappointing for sure, but understandable. It's great that the Travelers apparently gave Chase Koepka an invite to the 2021 tournament to make up for him deciding to WD voluntarily.