Twenty-five days and counting until the PGA Tour is back in action.
In less than a month, Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka will be among the big names teeing it up at Colonial Country Club on June 11th for the Charles Schwab event.
This go-round, there will be no hugs from the caddie for the winner, no high-fives to celebrate birdies, no handshake for the winner. It may even be too close for comfort to have someone slip that ugly plaid jacket onto the winner.
Social distancing was on display Sunday at Seminole Golf Club in the TaylorMade COVID-19 Skins Game.
Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Matt Wolff all carried their own golf bags.
All four had been tested for the Corona Virus — all were negative.
Which brings us to June 11 and the PGA Tour re-start.
This past Sunday saw NASCAR back in action. Kevin Harvick prevailed at Darlington to take the Real Heroes 400. No fans in the stands but it still turned out to be your standard NASCAR race with wrecks, caution flags, quick pit-stops and social distancing. For Harvick it was his 50th victory.
The PGA Tour will get another look at social distancing on the course next Sunday when Tiger Woods comes out of quarantine along with Phil Mickelson. Woods will team with Peyton Manning while Mickelson has Tom Brady in another charity fundraiser in the battle against the Corona Virus.
That match, on the 24th, will be staged at The Medalist Golf Club, a short drive north of Seminole Golf Club, which successfully hosted Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Matt Wolff in a fundraiser that topped $5.5 million for the relief effort.
The PGA Tour logistics will be more difficult with as many as 800-900 people on site at Colonial Country Club to stage the first event in the tour’s re-structured season.
There will be no fans on site for at least the first three return events.
