In the most optimistic of outlooks, a journey which begins with Ryan Palmer cracking a tee shot at the Colonial Country Club in Forth Worth, Texas, will conclude with the crowning of a Masters champion in front of adoring galleries at Augusta on 15 November.
So much in between – including the Ryder Cup – remains unclear as golf steps forward for its new beginning. To its credit the PGA Tour has already confounded widespread scepticism by reaching this point. Golf is back.
Ninety-one days will have passed between the sport’s suspension (after just one round of the Players Championship) and Palmer getting the Charles Schwab Challenge under way on Thursday. That the leading lights have been anxious to get back to action and are content with Covid-19 protocols is illustrated by the strength of the field.
Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka – the three top-ranked players in the world – have been grouped together. One in six of the 148-man field is a major champion and 70% have had a Tour victory. A previously humdrum Tour stop has been afforded huge significance.
That applies in a sense beyond birdies, bogeys and a $7.5m prize pot. The validity of competition without spectators – this is one of four PGA Tour events behind closed doors – will be a source of intrigue. As other mainstream sports in the US plot their returns, the procedures adopted by golf will be scrutinised.
Texas is making coronavirus headlines for the wrong reasons. Yet the early indications are that players and caddies are perfectly at ease. Some will wear microphones to enhance the broadcast.
“I think that the PGA Tour has done a great job with putting a lot of things in place to make sure we stay as safe as possible,” said Dustin Johnson, the world No 5. “Playing golf, being outside, it’s pretty easy to social distance and stay away from people. A lot of the guys, we’ve kind of all been around each other a little bit, especially the ones that live in Jupiter.
“We’ve played a lot of golf together. My brother is my caddie, so I’ve been around him the whole time. The Tour has done a great job, so I feel about as safe as I can be out here.”
The sense that golf is under pressure to make this work was emphasised by Jordan Spieth. “As players have a responsibility for it to go off very smoothly,” the Texan said. “I guess Nascar started but otherwise it’s the first sport that’s starting and other ones will have an eye on how things are going. If we can get up and running smoothly for the first month or so, I think it does a lot of good.”
The global protests after the killing of George Floyd is another significant backdrop. A minute’s silence will be observed at 8.46am and a tee-time will be left vacant simultaneously – the time reflects the eight minutes 46 seconds that Floyd was pinned to the ground by a Minneapolis policeman’s knee – on each of the four tournament days.
Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner, said this represents “an effort to amplify the voices and efforts under way to end systemic issues of racial and social injustices impacting our country”. Monahan, in what remains a sport dominated by white males, has been impressively front of house in recent days. “We should demand better,” he added.
The Ryder Cup in September looked certain to be postponed a fortnight ago but hopes have been raised that the event at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin could go ahead as a result of attitudes towards mass gatherings easing. A decision will be made this month.
Steve Stricker, the USA captain, showed he is planning to face Padraig Harrington’s European team by announcing alterations to his selection criteria. He will now select six wildcards, an increase of two.
“These changes were sparked by circumstance but conceived with integrity in mind,” Stricker said. “We believe they will allow us to put our best team together to compete in September.” Suddenly, golf is reading from an upbeat script.
