Tour Players/Caddies Testing Positive for COVID-19

[Wally Fairway]

1 hour ago, dennyjones said:

They could come play in the Mitten and just allow me and @bkuehn1952 to watch!   I'd be good with that!  

I do believe we'll see more players and caddies go into quarantine.  

They are coming to the Mitten, next week.
I'm afraid maybe the just pack up and decide to go to Columbus/Muirfield for a month

[No Mulligans]

1 hour ago, Vinsk said:

If we’re gonna call the activity we’ve seen from the last two tournaments as ‘high risk behavior’ then you better shut down your city completely unless you plan to wear full PPE everywhere other than home.

I didn't say that.  Don't imply I said something that I didn't.

Another study:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31142-9/fulltext

Edited June 24, 2020 by No Mulligans

[Vinsk]

1 hour ago, No Mulligans said:

I didn't say that.  Don't imply I said something that I didn't.

Another study:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31142-9/fulltext

That’s why I said ‘If.’ I never said you said that. Read more clearly before you get in a tizzy.  Golfers don’t need to wear masks on the course. Period. 

Edited June 24, 2020 by Vinsk

[boogielicious]

25 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

  Golfers don’t need to wear masks on the course. Period. 

Ian Poulter would definitely look better with a full face mask, at least to me!

[No Mulligans]

1 hour ago, Vinsk said:

That’s why I said ‘If.’ I never said you said that. Read more clearly before you get in a tizzy.  Golfers don’t need to wear masks on the course. Period. 

Don't say I'm in a tizzy. I'm not.

[iacas]

7 hours ago, No Mulligans said:

Pretty easy to find studies that support that and contradict that.  We can all cherry pick to support our personal narrative.

Your cited examples don't really address it, though. Neither study addresses the likelihood of getting COVID-19 outdoors, while occasionally being inside 6' of someone.

Your second article doesn't even really mention masks, it just says "six feet is a good thing to aim for." So, really, if these are the best you've got…

7 hours ago, No Mulligans said:

I'm not going to be critical of someone wearing a mask as prescribed by the CDC, and yes on the tee box and elsewhere on the course people get closer than 6 feet even if it's an unintentional lapse of awareness.

My point is only that we don't need to keep pointing out that "I saw people on a tee box within six feet of one another" for two reasons:

• Often, you're at a bad angle, and they might be 6'+ away from one another.
• The chances of getting COVID-19 while outdoors and inside 6' for moments at a time are exceedingly low.

I too am not going to fault someone or be critical if they're wearing a mask. But I also gave some lessons today outdoors, and felt completely fine doing so, as did my students.

[Vinsk]

3 hours ago, No Mulligans said:

Don't say I'm in a tizzy. I'm not.

Excellent. My point is I’ve spent a minimum of 400 hours studying, treating, testing, conference calls with the CDC, local health departments, infectious disease doctors, positive Covid patients both asymptomatic and symptomatic ( vast, vast majority asymptomatic) and CME Covid updates.

You did a Google search. 

[Bonvivant]

7 hours ago, boogielicious said:

Ian Poulter would definitely look better with a full face mask, at least to me!

He needs one of those bubble suits. 

[Zippo]

On 6/23/2020 at 7:56 PM, DeadMan said:

This week is not off to a good start:

 

 

Brooks Koepka withdraws from The Travelers after his caddie tests positive:

 

[DeadMan]

I think this is a good article about the situation:

If players don’t take safety protocols seriously, we could lose the Tour again

---

As news of more positive Covid-19 tests has surfaced on the PGA Tour, it's time for the players to step up and change their behavior.

The underlying issue with this is that the PGA Tour needs to keep the players as being independent contractors. If they start enforcing too many requirements like these, they may get sued and forced to treat the players as employees. It's a really fine balancing act. 

[Wally Fairway]

4 hours ago, DeadMan said:

I think this is a good article about the situation:

If players don’t take safety protocols seriously, we could lose the Tour again

---

As news of more positive Covid-19 tests has surfaced on the PGA Tour, it's time for the players to step up and change their behavior.

The underlying issue with this is that the PGA Tour needs to keep the players as being independent contractors. If they start enforcing too many requirements like these, they may get sued and forced to treat the players as employees. It's a really fine balancing act. 

I don't think it is that fine of a balancing act at all - I work in the construction industry, if you want to work on one of our jobs, as a sub contractor, then you have to follow the rules set up for the jobsite. Safety rules have been around for a long time, and they now include Covid questionnaires and taking your temperature daily, social distancing, and on some sites it includes wearing a mask as part of your required PPE. And if you test positive you are not allowed back on the site until you test negative (some sites require you test negative twice)

[DeadMan]

2 hours ago, Wally Fairway said:

I don't think it is that fine of a balancing act at all - I work in the construction industry, if you want to work on one of our jobs, as a sub contractor, then you have to follow the rules set up for the jobsite. Safety rules have been around for a long time, and they now include Covid questionnaires and taking your temperature daily, social distancing, and on some sites it includes wearing a mask as part of your required PPE. And if you test positive you are not allowed back on the site until you test negative (some sites require you test negative twice)

A valid point, but the ideal set up for the PGA Tour to have a true bubble would go way beyond just on site safety protocols. For example, having the players take the same flight, stay in the same hotel, or regulate activities off the course. 

You're right, though, they could easily make more of an effort to enforce the guidelines on the course. It's also likely that the cases are from off the course activity.

[DeadMan]

 

[Chris223]

4 hours ago, DeadMan said:

 

What a complete mess this situation is.  Player is Denny McCarthy, he WD and Bud Cauley who played with him first round WD.  The third member played alone today.  12 or so people he was near have been tested again, which is stupid, if he infected anyone yesterday they aren’t going to test positive the next day

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Chris223 said:

What a complete mess this situation is.  Player is Denny McCarthy, he WD and Bud Cauley who played with him first round WD.  The third member played alone today.  12 or so people he was near have been tested again, which is stupid, if he infected anyone yesterday they aren’t going to test positive the next day

Why?

Look, millions are going to get it. If you can catch it early and quarantine, that’s a good thing IMO. They’re not going to have no positive tests.

By “catch” I mean catch the fact that you have it, not “catch” the bug itself. Though I don’t think that’s all that bad either.

[Yukari]

All those who think outdoor activities without social distancing is safe are delusional.  Clearly with all these rising cases, even in outdoors you must maintain social distancing and wear a mask.  I will say it again, I see too many people not maintaining social distance on the tee boxes and greens.  

[iacas]

2 hours ago, Yukari said:

All those who think outdoor activities without social distancing is safe are delusional.

Nah.

You don't have to be 6' apart 100% of the time indoors, let alone outdoors. You can pass by someone — hell, people do this in grocery stores, etc. when they pass someone in an aisle — or even stand facing the same direction as someone (especially depending on the wind direction) five feet apart and be pretty much fine.

You're simply not gonna reach the needed viral load outdoors in a matter of seconds.

2 hours ago, Yukari said:

Clearly with all these rising cases

What "rising cases" are you referring to here, exactly?

Most of these cases on the PGA Tour aren't even necessarily occurring outdoors or at the PGA Tour site.

2 hours ago, Yukari said:

Clearly with all these rising cases, even in outdoors you must maintain social distancing and wear a mask.

Nah. Look, by all means, if you want to wear a mask playing golf, please feel free. It's unnecessary, however, and I'm not going to do it. I'll have a mask with me if I need to go into the clubhouse or whatever, but I'm not going to feel bad about passing within 3' of someone as we fix ball marks or take our ball out of the cup or whatever. I'm not infecting anyone doing that now and then, and they are not infecting me.

2 hours ago, Yukari said:

I will say it again, I see too many people not maintaining social distance on the tee boxes and greens.  

See above, and honestly, stop saying it. This topic is also about the PGA Tour, not the people you see playing golf on your golf courses. So, it's off topic for this thread. And still not all that unsafe to be within 6' of someone momentarily.

Especially if you're not 70 years old. The whole point was to flatten the curve. We've done that.

[Vinsk]

2 hours ago, Yukari said:

even in outdoors you must maintain social distancing and wear a mask.

No. You don’t. @iacas said it well. You’re more than welcome to believe that and practice that. Please don’t push that narrative here.