FORT WORTH, Texas – There were plenty of hand waves Tuesday as PGA TOUR pros said hello to fellow competitors that they had not seen for three months. Handshakes, of course, are not acceptable in the COVID-19 environment, so a friendly gesture from social distance must suffice.
That’s not to say, however, that fist and elbow bumps also completely disappeared. Playing partners finishing their practice rounds at Colonial just couldn’t help themselves. It felt so good to return to work, to prepare once again for a tournament, that 6-foot rules were occasionally violated.
“People need to realize that some mistakes will happen because we’re so used to a routine that it’s going to be hard to just be constantly aware of the situation we’re living in,” said Jon Rahm. “At some point somebody is going to slip. Somebody is going to fist bump.”
For the golf world, the Charles Schwab Challenge marks the first time TOUR pros have gathered en masse since March 12, the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship. After the rest of the TOUR’s signature event was canceled as the coronavirus pandemic took hold, the 2019-20 season also was suspended … until this week.
Excited to get back into action, many players arrived at Colonial on Monday to go through the on-site protocols and get in some practice time. Rahm was not one of them.
One hour into his flight on a private plane, Rahm realized his golf bag and suitcases had not been loaded. So the pilot turned the plane around and headed back to Arizona. Load the bags, refuel the jet, and take off again. It threw off Rahm’s entire schedule. But he just shrugged. Even in the new normal, old nuisances can still happen.
“It’s not the first time that a suitcase gets forgotten,” he said. “Travel inconveniences are extremely common. It’s kind of like, welcome to life again, right? Where things can go wrong. You can do nothing but laugh about it.”
Rahm wasn’t laughing, though, early Tuesday morning when he underwent the mandatory testing for players. The 6-inch cotton nasopharyngeal swab hurt more than expected. “I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I think it was pretty far up your nose.”
Despite the COVID-19 fears and the uncomfortable tests (as of Tuesday morning, no players or caddies had tested positive) and the underlying nervousness that permeates our daily lives now, seeing players laugh and smile and just enjoy being back inside the ropes should lift the spirts of all golf fans watching from afar this week.
There was Jim Furyk, who just turned 50, sharing a story with Bud Cauley, 20 years his junior, while the two were practicing their chipping. Furyk’s longtime caddie, Fluff Cowan, kept his hands in his pockets, his way of curtailing the urge to toss golf balls to his man. There was Billy Horschel and Danny Willett, trying to decide who was going to putt on a particular hole on the practice green. “Are you going to use this right now?” Horschel asked.
There was Jordan Spieth with his longtime friend Kramer Hickok against Colonial members Ryan Palmer and Franklin Corpening in a friendly nine-hole match. Spieth won the Charles Schwab Challenge in 2016, but the local knowledge paid off for the members, who “won a little bit,” said Palmer.
