Golf is making a return this week after being on break for three months. The last professional event that was played was The Players Championship, back in March, and it was only the first round that was completed before the rest of the event had to be cancelled due to scares of the pandemic.
The first event on the schedule is the Charles Schwab Cup which would start on Thursday, 9th of June, which is exactly 90 days after golf was cancelled on the 12th of March.
In the original calendar for 2020, the Charles Schwab Cup was supposed to hold three weeks ago, and instead, this week would have been the RBC Canadian Open. A series of tournaments and championships have been cancelled these past weeks, causing the calendar to be revised. The US Open was supposed to start next week but has now been moved to September.
One can tell that golf is returning at a time that is marked by so much tension. There is the health crisis on the one hand and protest against racial injustice and police brutality at the other.
The social unrest, which has garnered the attention and support of the PGA, was caused by the death of George Floyd, an African American, who died after being knelt on by a policeman in the state of Minneapolis.
As a mark of respect and support for the struggle, there would be a minute of silence at 8:46 am every day of the event. The time is symbolic as it is the policeman knelt on Floyd for a total of 8 minutes 46 seconds. The tournament would be held at the Colonial Country Club, Fort Worth, Texas, not too far from where Floyd was buried on Tuesday.
Commissioner of the PGA, Jay Monahan has made it clear that the PGA is ready to take a stance regarding such issues. He said, “We might not know exactly what to do right now but we shouldn’t be deterred.” This is very rich coming from a sport that did not highlight such issues in the past. But it shows that things would not proceed as before.
The tournament would be held without fans but would instead be televised. The court would also feature less personnel than usual as they try to maintain social distancing and practice safe measures to keep everyone safe.
Written by: Leon Osamor
