Spectators
still have not been allowed to return, with no indication when that would
happen
|
Atlanta(Agencies): What
started as the “Return to Golf” has yielded to “Crossing the Finish Line.”
Twelve weeks after the PGA
Tour ended its longest stoppage since World War II because of the COVID-19
pandemic, it marked progress with two slogans that brought equal measures of
satisfaction and a sigh of relief.
“I was confident that we had
the right plan,” Commissioner Jay Monahan said Wednesday.
“But I was uncertain as to
whether or not, like everybody else, you’d be able to get to this point.”
That point would be the Tour
Championship for the top 30 players who made it through two FedEx Cup
postseason events to reach East Lake and chase the USD 15 million bonus that
goes to the winner.
Monahan also brought up
another monetary figure — a projected USD 100 million over the next 10 years
for tournaments to donate to racial and social injustice causes in their
markets.
“In essence, how do we use the
platform that we’ve established over the past 80 years to make deeper and more
specific commitments around social justice efforts in our communities?” he
said.
“The work may never be
complete, but as we close out this season of change, I felt it important to
reinforce our commitment.” And what a season it has been.
The week the PGA Tour signed a
new media rights deal said to be worth more than $7 billion over nine years,
the coronavirus led to golf shutting down for three months.
Tiger Woods, who won his
record-tying 82nd tournament last fall, played only twice before the shutdown,
four times after. He did not make it to the Tour Championship.
A record five players already
have taken turns at No. 1 in the world.
Dustin Johnson is the No. 1
seed at East Lake with two victories since the return, along with runner-up
finishes in the PGA Chamionship and last week at the BMW Championship.
He starts with a two-shot lead
over Jon Rahm, who made a 65-foot bending birdie putt in a playoff to beat
Johnson last week.
No one should be surprised.
They are Nos. 1 and 2 in the world ranking. Rahm was more surprised the tour
reached its season-ending event without having to stop because of the
coronavirus.
Only seven players and three
caddies tested positive in the 13 tournaments held in 12 weeks in 11 states.
“I’m not going to lie, when I
saw ... pretty much 20% of the tests were positive countrywide, almost
worldwide, and with how many other sports were having trouble ... nobody should
be surprised if one week we show up and there’d 30 positives,” Rahm said.
“We can congratulate each
other and everybody else for the good job we’ve done, because I am surprised
we’ve been able to go on without any single problems.”
The Tour Championship is the
end of the season, but not the end of the year, or the concern.
Spectators still have not been
allowed to return, with no indication when that would happen. Monahan said the
plan was for pro-ams — a big part of a tournament’s revenue — to resume in the
Dominican Republic in three weeks. Pro-ams already are in place on the PGA Tour
Champions and the Korn Ferry Tour.
Monahan thought back to Friday
the 13th — in March — when he announced the next four tournaments had been
canceled, starting with The Players Championship.
“As gut-wrenching as that day
and the weeks to follow were, as we ultimately canceled or postponed nearly 30%
of our season, the adaptability, innovation, and collaboration that has brought
us to this week is incredibly gratifying,” he said.
That includes the charity
component, which has carried on without spectators, pro-ams or corporate
hospitality. Monahan said supporting sponsors of the Tour Championship —
Coca-Cola and the Southern Company — were enabling at least a $3.5 million
contribution to local charities this week.
Monahan also said local
tournaments and their charitable donations would be the backbone of the tour’s
pledge toward supporting diversity in a summer of intensified racial and social
unrest.
PGA Tour events have raised
more than $3 billion for charity since 1938, and that money — $200 million last
year — goes mainly to local organisations.
“All of our tournaments are
going to be identifying racial and social injustice causes in their local
markets going forward,” Monahan said.
“I think it’s a big statement
that with the number of tournaments we have they all quickly have responded and
said that they are excited for this opportunity, excited for this
challenge.”
He said the tour expects to
raise at least $10 million a year for those causes for the next decade, “and
that’s something that we’re going to hold ourselves accountable to.”
He also said the tour would
work toward attracting more minorities to golf through The First Tee, which
currently has a great emphasis on education than the game, and with support of
the Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour, created a decade ago to provide playing
opportunities to minority players.
“It’s nice to see stuff
happening,” said Cameron Champ, one of four players of Black heritage on the
PGA Tour and the only one to reach the Tour Championship.
“Anyone can talk about it, but
action is what’s need. And it’s amazing to see that. It’s definitely a huge and
amazing step in the right direction.”
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