Australian golfer Adam Scott has suggested a return of exhibition matches may be the way to slowly get the pros back on the course safely and re-invigorate the sport, giving it wider appeal.
The golf world, like many other sports have been rocked by the coronavirus pandemic. The PGA Tour and all other international tours were halted suddenly as the health crisis hit every corner of the globe in March.
The PGA Tour has scheduled a June 11 return with the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas, but it won't be the regular scene fans or players are accustomed to.
There will be no fans for at least the first four tournaments on the schedule, and it's possible that may continue for the foreseeable future. That naturally means there will be much less atmosphere and excitement during the tournament.
But with the success of 'The Match' between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson for $US9 million in November 2018 and the second installment for COVID-19 relief on Monday featuring Woods and Mickelson pairing up with NFL legends Peyton Manning and Tom Brady respectively, it could show there is an appetite for the return of match-play format, head-to-head events.
Sports enthusiasts around the world tuned in on Monday to watch two golf legends, Woods and Mickelson, play with two other massive US sports names in team match-play, and during the charity event they were mic'd up, exchanged banter and trash talk and put on wagers. And importantly in the coronavirus era, they each had separate electric golf carts and didn't share equipment, they didn't handshake, and they were able to maintain social distance while outdoors. It's not what golf purists would normally enjoy, but it was certainly entertaining.
Scott, who has been back on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland with his wife and two young children since the pandemic erupted in the States, suggests such exhibitions with pro golfers might be just the thing needed right now as golf tentatively restarts competition amidst the pandemic.
"With no fans in the crowd following around, that can make it more boring," he told Nine's Wide World of Sports.
"I feel for the broadcasters having to inject excitement into it.
"We used to have the Skins Game [an unofficial PGA Tour event] and Shell's Wonderful World of Golf which went from the 1960's all the way into the early 2000's and that was great.
"You look at Twenty20 for example, and what that's done to rejuvenate cricket, maybe exhibition matches, or skins events could do the same for golf with a quicker, more exciting format."
It could also be the safer option.
The PGA Tour has implemented a protocol which will see players tested before leaving to a tournament and then daily temperature screenings during the tournament. But with up to 500 staff and players in attendance at a regular PGA Tour event even without crowds, it could present a logistical nightmare.
Tour officials could not guarantee test results would be able to be returned in less than a day or two, meaning a player could be asymptomatic, get tested, play in the tournament, and only after they've exposed themselves to others might they find out they are positive for COVID-19.
Then should that happen, there might be lengthy quarantine measures affecting several players, leaving them stranded at different points on the tour, away from their families and the course.
Scott has been critical of this aspect. He's not worried that he may have an underlying condition to make COVID-19 dangerous to fit athletes like himself, but the idea of being stuck in quarantine for numerous weeks due to tour control measures that are not quite foolproof does.
"If that happened I think I would find that very annoying," he said.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_rEDklHW4q/Still, he is eyeing a return to the US in late July to hopefully play the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in the lead-up to the PGA Championship, which was rescheduled from May 14 to August 6.
He would then stay for an extended period to possibly play other tournaments and then the US Open on September 17.
For now though, Scott is enjoying his time back in Australia. He normally calls the Swiss Alps home, or the Bahamas, but for the first time in 15 years he's in his home country for winter, relishing the surf, some sun and golfing just once a week - even live-streaming a round with his mate on Instagram.
It's a rare situation for the 2013 Masters champion and professional of 20 years.
If there's one positive to take from the extraordinary situation he's in, Scott said it's the time he's been able to share with his family, something that golf sometimes takes away from him being on the tour most of the year.
"I'm not so good with the home-schooling side of things," Scott joked.
"But it's nice having my family and I spend time at the beach together and have those nice memories."
Adam Scott spoke to Wide World of Sports on behalf of UNIQLO Australia
He partnered with UNIQLO Australia to donate 150,000 masks to the Australian Royal Flying Doctors Service, assisting rural, remote and regional areas of the country that do not have easy access to hospital and healthcare services.
"Watching the news and seeing the spread of the virus, I wondered if there was anything I could do," Scott said in a video posted to social media.
"Royal Flying Doctors Service is an iconic Aussie institution, and with a global shortage of masks, this donation will help the Royal Flying Doctors team of 2000 healthcare staff continue in their role in overcoming COVID-19."
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAGrESggiZm/from WWOS http://wwos.nine.com.au/golf/coronavirus-adam-scott-suggests-exhibition-golf-matches-ahead-of-pga-tour-tentative-return/d037a583-d8e0-493b-b0af-63a929a95dbc
0 Comments