The PGA Tour continues its march toward a restart of its schedule.
We’re now at basically 44 days and counting until the first tee shot is launched at Colonial Country Club on June 11 at the Charles Schwab.
That’s not a lot of time for the tour to get its Corona Virus inspired ducks in a row, if you will.
The first piece of the puzzle for the PGA Tour’s anticipated return to action fell into place this week.
Texas Governor Greg Abbot said on Monday that he will lift his state’s “stay-at-home” order this week, on Friday to be exact.
Abbott said that his stay-at-home order “has done its job” and he’ll allow a lot of businesses to re-open on Friday with limited occupancy.
“We’re not just going to open up and hope for the best,” he said at a a news conference in Austin. “Opening Texas must occur in phases.”
The first phase of Abbott’s plan to reopen the Texas economy allows for all retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters and malls to reopen at 25 percent capacity. Museums and libraries also can reopen with the same occupancy numbers.
“This order allows all these businesses to reopen,” he said. “It does not require them to do so.”
Here’s the key portion:
Outdoor sports are allowed in Phase 1, as long as there are not more than four participants — (think golf and tennis) — and they keep their distance from one another.
Which brings us to Fort Worth, Colonial Country Club and the proposed first PGA Tour action since The Sheriff Of Nottingham (aka tour commish Jay Monahan) and his Band Of Sinister Henchmen pulled the plug on play after the first round of The Players back in March.
The tour plans for no fans for at least its first four events. It has to be that way. Although some states will open for business, large gatherings will still be on the prohibited list.
The tour knows it has to make some on-course changes as well but those are currently under discussion.
No one knows what it will look like at The Colonial and truth be known, it’s still up for debate if it is actually going to happen on June 11. There are no guarantees and 44 days isn’t a lot of time to contemplate and conquer the complexities of putting 144 players and 144 caddies on a golf course along with some bare-bones support staff as well.
There are still states, about a dozen or so, that still don’t allow golf courses to open.
The majority have deemed golf a healthy form of outdoor exercise with certain restrictions — one player to a cart, don’t touch flagsticks, cups on greens that have been changed to avoid contact, no coolers or ball washers in use.
Many places have adopted “walking only” to avoid the cart sanitizing issue.
But it’s not that simple for the PGA Tour.
If-and-when things get going in Fort Worth, golf will most likely be the first professional sport back in action.
There will be a lot of eyeballs on the tour.
There will also be a lot of critics saying it’s too soon.
Perhaps it is, perhaps it is not.
Whatever it is, the countdown is on.
Forty-four short days and counting.
