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PGA Tour Statement on positive Covid-19 tests at the Travelers Championship

Jay Monahan gives an update on the state of the PGA Tour in light of several positive Covid-19 test. (Photo: Getty)
Jay Monahan gives an update on the state of the PGA Tour in light of several positive Covid-19 test. (Photo: Getty)

Commissioner Jay Monahan talked to the media on Wednesday afternoon after the news about several positive Corona-tests on the PGA Tour became known. He revealed plans to improve the measures the PGA Tour already took to prevent the spreading of the virus.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan on the state of the Tour

THE MODERATOR: We’ll go ahead and get started. We’d like to welcome our PGA TOUR Commissioner, Jay Monahan, to our virtual press conference here at the Travelers Championship on Wednesday.

Jay, appreciate you taking the time with us. We’ve got several media members on the line who are eager to hear from you.

We will open it up to questions, but would first turn it over to you for a brief statement, PGA TOUR update, if you will, from you.

COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: Thank you, Amanda, and thank you to everybody that’s on this call. I was eager to have this conversation with you.

So we have been working since March to develop a comprehensive health and safety plan that would be considered a best practice among professional sports leagues.

While we’ve been thorough in building and implementing a program that mitigates as much risk as possible, we knew it would be impossible to eliminate all risk, as evidenced by the three positive tests this week.

We need to use these developments as a stark reminder for everyone involved as we continue to learn from an operational standpoint. We’re making several adjustments to our health and safety plan as noted in the memo sent to players this morning, and we will continuously reinforce to all players, caddies, staff members and support personnel on property at PGA TOUR events to adhere to social distancing and other safety professionals that further minimize risk.

So for this week, as I said, we’ve had three positive tests: Cameron Champ, PGA TOUR player; Ken Convoy, caddie for Graeme McDowell; and Ricky Elliot, caddie for Brooks Koepka.

At the Utah Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour, we have had no positive tests.

I will also note that for positive COVID-19 tests with arrival testing complete today, we’ve had 2,757 total in market tournament tests over three weeks with seven positives.

Now just a quick overview of the withdrawals from this week’s Travelers Championship field:

Cameron Champ withdrew after testing positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.

Graeme McDowell with grew out of an abundance of caution after his caddie, Ken Convoy, tested positive for COVID-19.

Brooks Koepka withdrew out of an abundance of caution after his caddie, Ricky Elliot, tested positive for COVID-19.

Webb Simpson withdrew out of an abundance of caution. He has been tested twice and has not tested positive for COVID-19 this week.

And Chase Koepka withdrew out of abundance of caution; neither he nor his caddie, Dan Gimbel, have tested positive for COVID-19.

So that’s where we stand as of Wednesday afternoon, and I’m happy to answer any questions you might have.

Q. One of the obvious questions — and you just outlined the numbers obviously, the percentage of positives is very low, and I know I did ask you this after — after — after Colonial when you came out with nothing. As — as there’s been a slight rise, is there a number that you have in mind that you consider an outbreak, or just a range, in other words, where it becomes a concern. You know, is — is today a concern or are you still looking at this as a positive; this is such a low number? And is there a number or a range of a number that you would — you would — you would begin to elevate concern?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: Well, you’re right in that it is a low number, and it’s a low number on a percentage basis. But every number hurts.

So I think for us, as we look at where we are now, three weeks in and on the eve of our final round of the Travelers Championship, I think we all need to remind ourselves that we’re all learning to live with this virus, and we all need to learn to live with this virus, both as individuals, as family members and certainly within our businesses.

It’s pretty clear that this virus isn’t going anywhere. And so that’s why I go back to the weeks that preceded our return; the amount of work that we spend to develop our health, safety and testing protocols, to he had wait our players and constituents on them, to be here at this point in time, you know, we are excited to get into the Travelers Championship this week.

I tell you, Mark, and I addressed some of this in a memo to our players, we are just going to continue to refine and get better and better and identify ways where we can further mitigate my risk. That’s something I think I said when I was with you guys in Fort Worth, and it’s something that we continue to do.

Going back directly to your question, you know, we are playing in two markets today. We’ve had three positive tests this week. I think everybody should expect that you’re going to have more tests as we go forward and we are going to be very sensitive to the specifics of every single test. But going to be spending a ton of time making sure we reinforce the strong protocols we have.

Q. Quick follow. There was a report out there that Ricky Elliot had actually retested today and it came back negative. Are you aware of that situation, and because that was a positive, is that still considered a risk?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: Ricky and Brooks are not going to be here this week, and I can’t get into the specifics of anybody — any individual test, but I wouldn’t — I don’t think any of us should be surprised based on the nature of the virus that someone would test positive and then test negative.

Our medical advisors, our medical experts, you know, have suggested to us that based on the timing and the incubation period, you could have scenarios like that.

So I wouldn’t be surprised to hear something like that that had happened, based on what we’ve learned from our medical advisors.

Q. Do you have a position even privately whereby it would not be viable to continue with this or other tournaments on the grounds of reputation, if not health and safety?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: Listen, I think that there is — that’s something Ewan, that you’re mindful of every minute of your working life. The brand and safety of our players are — the safety of our players is our No. 1 concern, and our brand is our greatest asset.

The amount of time, Ewan, that we put into the plan that we developed; the plan we’ve executed; the dialogue we’re having with our board, our Player Advisory Counsel; the feedback we’re getting with our players; everything we are doing we are doing in concert with our membership; and based on our board call on Monday night; based on our Player Advisory Council call on Tuesday night; based on conversations that myself and our team members are having with our players, we feel a great responsibility to inspire people and to be in their living rooms on Saturday and Sunday — Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

We feel like we’re on a path that’s going to allow us to continue to sustain our return to golf, but rest assured, there won’t be many sleepless nights; there usually are. When you’re working in a world of uncertainty, these are the things you worry about. But also rest assured that the PGA TOUR will always do the right thing as it relates to our players, our fans, our constituents and make sure we create the safety environment possible.

Q. It sounds like the memo to the players, you outlined a couple of differences in the protocols. Can you tell us what’s different now going forward?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: Yeah, so we, again, and in conversation with our player directors, chair of our PAC, Charley Hoffman and ultimately on our PAC call, we together all agreed that there were a few adjustments we needed to make.

One is when you’re part of the charter protocol, you obviously get tested on Saturday; you learn the results on Sunday night; you’re on the charter on Monday.

We’re going to add additional testing upon arrival in the following week’s tournament market so that everybody that’s arriving it going to the same testing protocol.

We will move our player instructors inside of our testing bubble, and they will be subject to the same testing protocols.

We will have our fitness trailer on site next week. One of the things that we’ve identified or we want to eliminate is players going to off-site gyms, having our physio trailers here will help that. All of our players entering those physio trailers will be wearing masks.

We have developed a program, a stipend program, for players on our tours, if they were to test positive during the week or during competition, and to be able to be eligible for those protocols, we’ve just reconfirmed for our players, you must follow our protocols in order to qualify for the stipend.

So those are four of the things that we’ve talked about. But I think it really comes back to, Bob, it’s like the game itself. You’ve got to always go back and look at, you know, work with your instructor.

In our case, look at the manual; if we can properly socially distance, if everybody when they are inside is wearing a mask, and doing all of the things we’ve outlined from the outset, if we continue to stay true to what we’ve set, we feel like, again, we are going to be in a position to sustain our return.

Q. Real quick. If you find that a player or caddie is not following your guidelines like you would like, I understand there is the ability for you to sanction them or fine or whatever it might be. What are we looking at there? What are those possibilities and how would that play out?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: All of us have an extraordinary responsibility to follow those protocols. For any individual that does not, there will be serious repercussions, and I’m not going to get into the specifics of it.

But everybody knows and needs to know that our future, our ability to sustain this business and to impact the communities where we play and to create so many jobs is contingent on our ability to follow those protocols.

So when we have instances where someone hasn’t, they will be dealt with, and as I said, the consequences will be significant.

Q. I’m wondering how the national climate affects your decision-making, even if the TOUR numbers stay somewhat where they are, as you see cases are surging in various states that you’re going to be visiting or down the road, how much is too much, just within the United States as a whole, where you say, “We can’t sustain our bubble no matter how hard we try”?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: Alan, so we are sitting here in Hartford, Connecticut, and in the weeks that preceded our arrival here, one, as I said throughout every market we go to, we are an invited guest.

As we come back to Hartford in an environment of COVID-19 with all of us dealing with COVID-19, our team had to work with local and state government and health officials to get our health and safety program supported and approved and ultimately to get the permit to be able to play here. We are doing that over the course of our schedule as we go forward.

And I mean, we all have to be looking at what’s happening market to market to market. That’s what we are doing, connected to both our tournaments, and obviously if based on where we are with I think now 27 states seeing a rise, it’s a concern that we’ll continue to closely monitor.

But for us, I go back to the fact that we’re here, and we’re here with the full support of local and state officials and I know that the government — the governor just a couple hours ago reaffirmed his support and is excited to see us get the Travelers Championship underway.

Q. Is it safe to say, though, that you’re concerned about what’s happening nationally?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: Yes. I don’t think — I don’t think there’s anybody that isn’t taking a close look and has some concern.

But I’m also, as I said earlier, I think the reality is that we all have to live — you know, learn to live in an environment of COVID-19. I’m concerned but I’m also confident in the program and protocols we’ve put in place, and our ability to be able to sustain the PGA TOUR and give our players opportunities on both of these tours over the course of the year; so long as we continue to be as diligent as we intend to be.

Q. I know you’ve been reluctant to list a tipping point over the last couple of months, and even so far today, but is there a point when you get to enough positive cases within the bubble where you say, “Hey, look, we need to curtail this, we need to shut it down,” and if so, is there a specific number, or how do you determine that?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: I think that we — Jason, on that front, where I go back to where we are right now, and the system that we have in place, and there are all kinds of scenarios that could play out.

We feel like we’ve tried to contemplate all of those scenarios in creating the program and the protocols that we have such that if you are going to have positive cases, there can — they are contained or they are containable, and we are going to avoid that scenario.

But if you start to — I mean, there certainly are scenarios where if you had a significant number of positive tests, or you could play scenarios where that would come into play and you’d have to be thinking along those lines.

But for us, we’re confident with the plan we have and we are very hopeful that we are not going to be in that position.

Q. I know that you’ve been very serious and everybody on your team has been very serious about dealing with this. Do you feel like everyone that’s been inside the bubble the last 2 1/2 weeks are as serious as you are?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: Alex, I think that this has been a big adjustment for everybody and I think everybody’s intentions have been very, very, and everybody has taken their responsibility seriously. I don’t question that at all.

I think when you get into the environment of the tournament with no spectators here, with very few people here, with people that are around you having tested negative, I think over the first couple weeks, we’ve seen some instances where, let’s say we’ve gotten a little bit lax or away from protocol.

Full disclosure: I’ve done it myself, and I think that’s the kind of tightening that we need to do in order to make sure we continue to be in a good position to move forward.

Given the number of people, the number of players and caddies that we have, you know, it’s hard to generalize where we are. There are some conversations we’ve had to tighten things up, but I feel really good about the level of commitment and support.

I’ll tell you, we were — I mentioned our policy board call and our PAC call on Tuesday night, and you know, our four player directors and Charley Hoffman penned a letter to our players, I thought very — in a really direct and powerful way, just talking about both the opportunity we have and the responsibility we have, and I think we are all — like the game itself. The rules of the game, the values of the game, I think it’s being applied to the way we are handling our testing program. And that’s the standard we’re going to hold ourselves to.

Q. Just to follow up. In about three weeks for the first time since this all happened, the Memorial is going to have fans, even though it will be a reduction from what they would normally have. Are you still comfortable having 8,000-plus fans at a golf tournament knowing what you know now about COVID?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: Alex, I will tell you that our team working closely with Dan Sullivan and the Memorial Tournament have been — Dan has done an outstanding job architecting and developing a plan that is, you know, very thoughtful in the way that we would introduce fans to that venue; so thoughtful that it’s been supported by local and state officials.

We’re confident in that plan, but like every tournament going forward, we’re continuing to look at what we’re learning now and start to think forward of how we are going to plan for all the subsequent events.

But we are looking forward to reintroducing fans at the Memorial tournament, but rest assured, we are only going to do it if we think it’s a health — a healthy and safe environment for our players, our caddies, our staff, and also for those fans that would be attending, and we think we’ve considered all those factors.

Q. Two quick questions. First, are you awaiting any more test results this afternoon that could potentially impact the field of this event?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: We are not awaiting any additional test results.

Q. Secondly in conversations with health officials or experts, what does this look like exponentially, you know, X number of days or weeks from now for the TOUR in testimony of what the statistical data tells you; in other words, where, you know, within the last six days, there have been a handful of positive tests, be it caddies, players or people within their quote, unquote, bubble. I’m curious how you look at it two, three, four weeks down the road from now?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: We tend to look at it day-to-day before we get into several weeks down the road, because while we’ve completed our testing protocol so far this week, obviously we have other measures that our players, caddies and staff will take between now and the end of play on Sunday. That’s something that we will continue to be focused on executing.

And then as it relates to going forward, I think it’s important that you understand and that we convey that our team, myself, we are spending a lot of time talking about where we are.

You know, when you go through the contact tracing and when you think about individuals that tested positive, and you think about the environment, you know, what are some of the additional things we can do to mitigate risk, and you’ve heard me say that probably too many times.

But that has been our focus, because if we focus on that, we feel like we put ourselves in a position where we can have a controllable number of — we can have a controlled environment or a controlled number of cases or positive cases going forward.

We can’t wait for the number. We have to be proactive in doing everything we can to keep that positive number as small as possible, and that really is just about executing our health and safety program.

Q. Along those lines, did you anticipate further changes than what was outlined, just given the nature of all of this?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: The way we operate as a business is we are always seeking improvement and seeking ways that make everything that we do better, and you know, we have said from the outset that this plan that we developed in close concert with our medical experts was a plan that we thought was, you know, that is as safe and responsible as we can probably be.

But yeah, we will probably continue to make adjustments. That’s why we are here on site. We are talking to players. We are looking at things with our own eyes. We are talking daily as a team about what we are learning. When we complete our event, we are reconvening our board. We are talking to our PAC.

We are trying to — we are doing this together. You know, we are all in this together. And so I think I think it if it’s — correctly executed, we think it puts us in a better position. But the changes we made this week we feel are a very good step in addition to what we’ve already identified.

Q. I was just curious, Justin Thomas sort of opened the door or suggested the idea today of stricter enforcement around things like social distancing — curious if you get to a point where you will issue players warnings and penalties for players who are not adhering to these safety protocols.


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: You broke up for some of that, Luke, but I think I got gist of your question.

Justin is one of the 16 members of our Player Advisory Council, and I think that we have full support from our Player Advisory Council and our board to make certain we are doing everything we can to enforce the protocols that we have established, and I have every intention of doing exactly that.

Q. If it’s true that Ricky Elliot tested positive and a second test then came back negative, does that raise the question whether the tests themselves, the testing procedure, is good enough?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: No, it doesn’t put that into question at all. We’ve spent a lot of time with our medical advisors and experts, and as I said earlier, testing really is a factor of where you are in the incubation period.

So if that, in fact, were to have happened, that is something that we would be — we would have expected versus be surprised by.

Q. We’ve seen the players fist-pumping, high-fiving, standing next to each other on the tee box. Do you think — did I break up there?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: Yeah, you did. Sorry. You started with fist-pump.

Q. We’ve seen the players fist-pumping high-fiving, standing next to each other on tee boxes; going out to dinner, we hear, as well. Do you feel let down by the players?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: Not at all.

Q. Back when the PGA TOUR announced the restart, it was acknowledged that the optics of all this was going to be really important. You wanted to set an example and show that sport — have you felt satisfied with the optics so far that you’ve seen, and do you feel you’re presenting the example that you would want to the rest of sport?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: You know, I think you’re never satisfied, but — and I would say, David, that we’re three weeks in. Really, two and a half weeks in, and this has always been about a sustained return.

So I am very comfortable, very pleased, very confident in the health and safety program that we have, even though we’ve had positive tests. In this world, I think that that’s an expected outcome. We’ve learned a lot. We are continuing to refine, and to the point you’re making about a responsibility, anybody that’s leading a business, whether you’re in sport or any other business, any other industry, it’s all about trying to live in this world and be able to sustain your return in a world of COVID-19.

I sincerely feel like we are on the right path in that regard, and you know, there’s a tremendous level of attention and intensity to our actions, and it will continue to be so. We never said we were perfect. Some of the things that you’ve seen, you know, I thought myself — we just have to keep getting better and better and better as we go forward, but it is not from a lack of attention, a lack of communication or a lack of collaboration we have with the great players that are on the PGA TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour.

Q. Given the developments over the last five or six days with testing, what keeps you guys from testing every day?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: Well, there’s two things. Just the practical side of it is, you know, one of the things that we committed to, Doug, when we committed our testing protocol was to not take away resources from every community where we are moving to and where we are playing. And so there’s a finite number of supplies we could get at that point in time.

Secondly, when you go back to our medical advisors, as we have done, and this is something we continue to talk to them about, and you look at CDC guidelines and you look at the expectation of any businesslike ours that’s reopening, testing every other day is a sound and accepted protocol for the environment that we’re in.

Q. And secondly, should the public or anyone be surprised when there’s more tests and they come back positive next week?


COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: No, listen, I think this is the reality of what we’re all, you know, we’re all living under. For us, we are doing everything we can to make that not be the case.

But I don’t think — I don’t think anybody should be surprised. I’m certainly hopeful we won’t. But to be able to say that we’re going to not have any cases, and to be able to look you in the eye across the television screen orphan and say we’re not going to have any cases would be disingenuous because we are all learning as we’re going.

But again the team that we have around us that’s guiding us is putting us in a position to make us stronger — take a strong program and make it stronger and stronger.

THE MODERATOR: That concludes today’s press conference with the Commissioner. We would like to thank the media on the line and Commissioner Monahan, thank you so much for your time today.

COMMISSIONER JAY MONAHAN: Thank you, everybody.

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PGA Tour: Bryson DeChambeaus pre round interview prior to the Travelers Championship

Bryson DeChambeau prior to the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship. (Photo: Getty)
Bryson DeChambeau prior to the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship. (Photo: Getty)

Bryson DeChambeau talks to the media prior to the start of the Travelers Championship 2020 on the PGA Tour.

PGA Tour: Bryson DeChambeau pre-round interview

THE MODERATOR: I’d like to welcome in Bryson DeChambeau to our virtual press conference here at the Travelers Championship. You’re coming off a T8 at the RBC Heritage last week and you’re going for your sixth consecutive top-10 finish of the season. Can you talk about the confidence in your game right now and what has allowed you to play so well.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, I think my golf swing, the ability to repeat motion has increased over the past year, and even through quarantine as I gained speed, I figured out some cool little things that allowed me to repeat motion a little more consistently. It doesn’t mean it happens all the time, but it’s definitely been a lot more lately.

Q. I just wonder, how do you characterize these two weeks because you’ve been knocking on the door for two straight weeks here. Obviously haven’t crossed the line you want to cross, but where is this on the level of positive, and I have a follow-up question after this.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, I think this golf course suits me a little bit better. I can use the length to my advantage on the front nine and there’s a couple holes on the back nine I can do the same. It was pumping into the wind today on 12, I still got it down the hill over the bunkers. 13, I hit driver, 5-iron in. And so for me — well, on 15 I hit hybrid. 17, I tried to go for the green out here. I got it over when I achieved 198-mile-an-hour ball speed, but it’s just not worth it. But it was fun trying to attempt to do things that I just never thought were possible.

Q. The first two weeks have been pretty challenging with your added length because of the fact that it’s been so tight and with doglegs and whatnot. Do you feel is it a little more liberating out here as you just played this practice round, for kind of letting it go a little bit?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, I definitely feel like I can let it go a lot more. Like I said, on 17, I just thought I’d give it a go and give it a rip, and I was able to get it over after like three or four tries. But it’s not worth it, obviously. I’d have to achieve 200- to 205-mile-an-hour ball speed every time to be able to hit it over with that wind. So I’m still going to play it normally. But it’s fun attempting to do things that I’ve never done before, and having iron shots into holes that just didn’t even make sense to me a year ago, there’s no way I could do that. So it’s a different golf course for me this year. I feel like it suits me pretty well, and hopefully I can take advantage of those holes that I can hit it really far on.

Q. What’s your level of confidence that you’re going to turn one of these into a win at some point? Obviously the last few weeks you’ve been there.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, I’m just going to keep giving myself chances. I play it as a numbers game. I keep giving myself opportunities, it’s eventually going to happen. And shoot, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I’m obviously not doing something right at that point, so I’ve got to figure out how to be more consistent in whatever it is that’s going to allow me to get over that edge. But right now I’m just playing a numbers game trying to be the casino.

Q. Everyone is asking you about your driving, rightfully so, but I’m actually curious about your putting because in the space of one off-season a few years ago you jumped from 145th on TOUR to 32nd, and you’ve kept it there in that vicinity. It’s sort of this amazing breakthrough, and I’m just curious what went into that change from your perspective? What did you begin working on? What was the shift that you underwent that you decided I need to sort of solve this problem and then you did?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, so it was a lot of understanding how to launch the ball off the green, and we used some devices that allowed me to understand how to get the ball rolling in a better way, and then going to arm lock really helped me control my starting lines a lot more consistently than any other method that I’ve ever used. So that combination. Also hitting my putts two feet past the hole, not trying to die it in, those three things just allowed me to reach this new level and gain this confidence, and I guess you could say this sensitivity to error that’s in this higher level where I just feel like I’m less sensitive to error, and it just allows me to be more consistent over the course of time. So it’s been those three things, and the SIK putter has helped a lot, the DLT technology, having a really stiff shaft, LAGP, obviously I’ve got the big shaft in it now, and we’re just still trying to improve it and make it more stable, more consistent so it comes on line every single time the way I want.

Q. I’m just asking about a lot of guys had an option and a chance to play one of their early starts as a pro or even as an amateur at the Travelers. I know it was further in for you but you are one of those young guns they’ve given a chance in the past and they continue to do so. Could you talk about in general getting those early chances and what that means to a young guy’s career?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: It’s massive. I don’t know if I’d be here without those starts. I obviously wouldn’t. I mean, getting those seven starts or however many starts I got allowed me to get to the Web.com finals immediately, and that was massive. I went and won my first Web.com event, and the rest is history from there.

But having that start, that little jump start I guess you could say, not having to qualify, not having to Monday qualify through those qualifiers was big for me to be able to have a consistent opportunity out here. It allowed me to gain more knowledge, more understanding about what to do, how the weekend feels, getting to meet my heroes and go, okay, they’re just people, let’s just play. Just getting comfortable out here was a big deal, and those seven starts were instrumental in my success.

Q. The idea of picking a potential young up-and-coming star, do you think it’s a good future thing for the TOUR itself?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Absolutely. It’s definitely a way to keep it young, first off, and I’d also say give it to kids that are willing to try and be the best. You look at their career and you look — or you look at what they’ve done, and you go, okay, these guys have succeeded in this amount of events. Let’s give this guy an exemption because he deserves it. Not because of some play on — there’s a bunch of other things that happened, obviously, that I won’t talk about, but give a kid that’s willing to work hard, willing to try and be the best that opportunity, that was me growing up, and I can’t thank everyone that gave me an exemption enough because I wouldn’t be here without them.

Q. Bryson, we’ve seen the hours you’ve put in on the golf course, and I’m guessing it’s probably just a tiny fraction of what you actually do. My question is are you — not that you’re worried, but how do you prevent burnout? I’m talking about short-term. It’s got to be tiresome.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Burnout for me is when I don’t have anything else more to learn in the game of golf, and I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon. The reason why people get burned out is because they don’t feel like they have in the hope to go forward or keep going forward or there’s no inspiration for them to keep moving forward. I still have not reached No. 1 in the world, I still have not won a major. I hope to achieve those goals soon. When those goals hit, does that mean I’m going to give up? No, not at all. There’s still a lot more room for improvement. For me, I want to try and be — that’s, again, why I went on this journey of hitting it far because it did get boring for me for a little while, and I said, you know what, I need to make it interesting; I need to spice things up for myself. I was able to do that in the off-season and then during the quarantine. That prevented me from getting tired of the game. Definitely people have talked about that to me, but for me, when I stop learning is the day I’ll obviously burn out I feel like.

Q. When people have talked about Tiger changing his swing four times after winning majors, I get a sense you can relate to that.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, I haven’t won a major yet, but —

Q. Except for that part, yeah.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: But yes, I’ve won five times. I’ve changed my golf swing somewhat dramatically from a swing speed perspective. I’ve retained most of the alignments that I have in my golf swing, so you can still see faint images of when I was younger of what I used to do. Look, it’s always a pursuit to get better, and I feel like I understand why Tiger kind of did what he did because he always wanted to be better. He just did, and that’s him. He’s such a competitive guy and wants to kick the crap out of everybody, that I think he wanted to spice things up and see if he could get even better. That’s what I’m trying to do. Whether it plays out or not, I don’t know, I’m just giving it my best.

Q. Simple question for you: What are your goals for this season?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: My goals, for sure I want to get to over 195 at least one time on TOUR. I think that would be pretty cool, for ball speed. I’d also say winning a major, winning multiple times this season, having a chance to win the FedExCup. Those are all goals that everybody aspires to, but for me, at the end of the day, I’m just going to try to do my absolute best every single day. That’s what I’ve said from day one, and I’ll stick to it, but there are long-term goals out there for sure.

Q. I know with the single length clubs you thought that might be something revolutionary, and it really — I don’t think it has achieved what you thought would happen —
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, that’s your perspective.

Q. Right. You know, you’re still the only one on TOUR using them —
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, absolutely. Well, look, here’s the reason. I personally think everybody that’s on TOUR has had great success using what they’ve done, building their game with their clubs, totally cool. I don’t think that I foresee one-length clubs changing — being consistent on the PGA TOUR for a little while. The reason I say that is it’s going to take a generational shift. You’re going to have to give these clubs to kids and they’ll experience how much easier it is to start out that way and to play the game in that manner. If you give them variable length clubs after that, they’re going to be like what am I doing, why am I playing with these different clubs. But because it’s been the social norm for so long, it’s just — this is the bleed-out on the TOUR. This is what you see. It’s a result of that.

So it’s going to take 20, 30 years before you see a lot more people having success with it that are playing on TOUR and staying on TOUR.

Q. But how about with what you’ve done with your body? Do you think a lot of players, there will be a lot of copycats who starts trying to do what you’ve done to gain speed and distance?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I’m sure there will be people trying to do it. I’m not one to speak in another person’s space. I can only speak for myself. And when I say that I’m going to keep pushing the limits, I’m going to keep doing that. I’m going to see how far, how fast I can get and how straight I can hit it. As a result of what I’ve done, I think it’ll affect some people. I still think at the end of the day, people are going to be like, I just want to play my own game, do my own thing and do my best with it. I think a result 10, 20 years down the road, 100 percent there’s going to be a lot of people that are hitting it close to 400 yards, there’s no doubt.

Q. Do you plan to play both weeks at Muirfield?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Not right now. I just plan to play the Memorial, the second week, as of right now.

Q. Just wondering your thoughts on how they could make the place look different or be a little different from week to week.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: That’s a great question. I do not know that answer. I’m sorry. I wish I could give you an answer there.

Q. I’m curious if over the years, I know you were just mentioning that you’ve changed your swing around a lot, but have you ever had one swing thought that you found yourself continuing to go back to over time, something that’s kind of worked for you? I know you talk a lot about end range of motion stuff, how it relates to that.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, and I didn’t come up with that stuff until later, until the past couple years. But one of the things that’s been consistent throughout my career has been this ulnar deviation or unhinging sort of thing. I’ve always believed in that. I just felt like I could square the face way easier that way. There’s a lot of physics that does prove that to be true. But that’s been my biggest thing in life is trying to reduce variables, and I felt like this was a big one, the ulnar deviation, being able to control the radius of the club and where it’s at in the course of the ground. So I just feel like I’ve been really good with that.

THE MODERATOR: Bryson, what are your thoughts on the PGA TOUR honoring the front-line and healthcare workers through the caddie bib program?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, it’s amazing what they’re doing. They are the people that have allowed us to play out here, and we are grateful to have them, and I’ve had a couple the past couple weeks and read through them, and last week Mrs. Keller had six years of service, and that’s certainly inspirational. I haven’t even been out here for six years. So definitely an inspiration every week, and I get to read over it and play for them. It’s pretty cool.

Q. I think it was Hogan, and you would know, who once said, Every day you don’t spend practicing, someone else is getting better.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: That’s right.

Q. So in the early stages of the pandemic, did you find yourself checking other states’ state-at-home orders to see if anyone had an edge over you?
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Well, I wasn’t checking other states, but I knew that if I could start working out my body every single day, I’d be better the next day, and other people would be behind. I knew that people — not everybody was working out every single day, and I thought that if I could do that every single day through quarantine, I’d come back a different person, and I did, and I hope that it’s given me an edge. I think it’s given me an edge. I’m going to keep continuing to work out every day and just see where it leads me. But for sure that’s one of my favorite quotes in life. Every day you aren’t practicing is another day somebody else is getting better than you.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for your time, Bryson, and good luck this week.

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PGA Tour Tour News

PGA Tour: Defending Champion Chez Reavie prior to the Travelers Championship

Chez Reavie, winner of the Travelers Championship 2019 talks to the media before his title defense at the 2020 PGA Tour event. (Photo: Getty)
Chez Reavie, winner of the Travelers Championship 2019 talks to the media before his title defense at the 2020 PGA Tour event. (Photo: Getty)

Chez Reavie, winner of the Travelers Championship 2019 talks to the media before his title defense at the 2020 PGA Tour event.

PGA Tour: Chez Reavie on the Travelers Championship

THE MODERATOR: We’re happy to be joined by the winner of the 2019 Travelers Championship, Chez Reavie. Chez, if we could just get an opening comment on your return to TPC River Highlands.

CHEZ REAVIE: Yeah, it’s great to be back. Obviously I have good memories here. The people are great here. It’s a little strange wearing a mask everywhere inside, but it is what it is, and I think we’re all embracing it.

THE MODERATOR: What did that win mean for you in terms of your career coming 11 years after your first win on the PGA TOUR? What did that mean to you?

CHEZ REAVIE: Yeah, you know, it was everything. I had been slowly building my foundation over the years and had a couple chances to win but wasn’t able to pull it off, and just kept working hard, and fortunately last year was the year I broke through and got another win.

THE MODERATOR: You’re joined in your feature grouping this week by fellow Arizona State Sun Devil Jon Rahm as well as FedExCup leader Webb Simpson. How does it feel to be a part of one of those groups this week?

CHEZ REAVIE: Yeah, you know, it’s awesome. Jon and I are good friends. We play a lot of golf back home in Arizona, so it’ll be fun to go out and play with him.

Q. You must be happy that this tournament is staying at the same time of year, like it didn’t move, and it’s the first one obviously since coming back. How much of a difference will that make?
CHEZ REAVIE: Yeah, you know, I don’t know how much of a difference that makes. I guess the weather is supposed to be good. We have a chance of rain, I think, tomorrow, but yeah, you know, it’s kind of — the first week back to normalcy I guess for us a little bit. We still have to wear masks and take all the proper precautions, but yeah, it is nice to come back here and see everybody I saw last year and left on such a good note.

Q. Obviously this place is always going to have a special place in your heart, and any course you shoot a 63 on, there’s going to be good memories there. What is it about the course and this tournament that just makes it so appealing on the schedule?
CHEZ REAVIE: You know, I think it’s a great week. It’s a great golf course. You’ve got some really tough holes and then you’ve got some scoring holes. If you get the ball in play off the tee, there are a lot of holes you can make birdies on, and then there’s a few tough holes you’re just trying to play smart and make some pars. It’s a great golf course. You’ve got to shape it both ways. If you hit the ball off line it can punish you, so it’s just a lot of fun to play.

Q. I want to talk about maybe the most grueling shot on the course, which is the 15-and-a-half hole and trying to hit that umbrella. Will you take a crack at that this year?
CHEZ REAVIE: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I take a crack every year. I haven’t hit it on the umbrella yet. I’ve come close a couple times, so hopefully this will be my year for that.

THE MODERATOR: We appreciate the time, Chez, and best of luck in your title defense.

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Tour News

RBC Heritage: Rory McIlroy after making the Cut

(Foto: Getty)

Q. Rory, what was the difference between today and yesterday?
RORY McILROY: It was a little more comfortable off the tee, put the ball in play a little more, and then once you do that around this golf course, you’re going to give yourself chances. The greens are small, and you’re not hitting very long shots into the green.

Yeah, just giving myself chances to hit iron shots within birdie range and was able to convert a few. I played the easier holes better — you know, birdied the three par 5s, birdied the 9th, picked off a couple more. So just a solid day.

When I got myself out of position, I got myself back into position and relied on my short game to bail me out a few times on the back nine when I needed to, but overall just a much better day. I think, whenever you see — going out there this afternoon, I knew I needed at least 66. So having a number in your head definitely focuses your mind, and you know what you need to do.

Q. Did you hear about Nick Watney, and your reaction?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, he texted me actually because we had a chat on the putting green before I went out to play.

Q. This morning?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, but we were at a distance. He was just saying, look, I hope I didn’t get too close to you. He feels badly that he was here today at the golf course. I said, look, it’s fine. You never know. So I said to him, if I was in your position, I probably would have been here too. Look, at this point, you just have to concentrate on getting better and getting healthy.

But, yeah, look, it sucks for him especially. You know, if you contract it, that’s fine, but then it’s the fact that who have you come into contact with, and who you might have exposed and stuff. Look, we’re still in the middle of a pandemic. Until this thing’s over, we all just have to stay vigilant and keep your distance and wear our masks if we’re going out in public and keep washing our hands.

Q. When did you get the text?
RORY McILROY: Well, as soon as I finished. Yeah, I looked at my phone, and there was a text from Nick. I think he just wanted to tell me personally instead of, obviously, having to read it through the news. So I appreciate that.

Q. Jordan was just here, and he said this was kind of a matter of when, not if.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, for sure, if you look at the statistics. I read a thing today that — look, by the end of the year, there’s going to be 200,000 deaths in the U.S. alone from COVID-19. So to think that us on the PGA TOUR, none of us were going to get it was very — I don’t think anyone thought that. I think the consensus was someone is going to get it at some point, and Nick’s the one that’s got it, and he’s self-isolating and doing what he has to do.

Yeah, it’s a shame, but the show goes on. We’ve got 36 holes to play at this tournament.

Q. Do you still have confidence in the program now?
RORY McILROY: Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, when I do the things I’m supposed to do and I’m at the tournament site, I feel very safe, yeah.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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PGA Tour Tour News

PGA Tour: Rory McIlroy interview before RBC Heritage

Rory McIlroy prior the the RBC Heritage on the PGA Tour. (Getty)
Rory McIlroy prior the the RBC Heritage on the PGA Tour. (Getty)

Rory McIlroy talks to the media prior to the start of the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage in Hilton Head Island.

Rory McIlroy talks with the media before the RBC Heritage (PGA Tour)

THE MODERATOR: We’ll go ahead and get started with Rory McIlroy at the 2020 RBC Heritage. Rory, you’re making your first start at Harbour Town since 2009. How does it feel to be back?

RORY McILROY: It feels good to be back. Yeah, it seems like a lifetime ago that I was here last, week after my first Masters in ’09.

Yeah, I’ve watched it a lot on TV over the years, and you sort of know all the signature holes, I guess, but there was a few holes — I played a few holes yesterday, and there was a couple on the front nine that I didn’t really recall, and then I’m going to go right after here and play the back nine. There’s a couple on that side that I sort of need to get familiar with again. But, yeah, it’s good to be back.

Look, it’s a different schedule. I played Colonial for the first time last week, playing here for the first time in 11 years. But, yeah, excited to just be able to play golf tournaments again and get back at it. Excited for a great week.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll take some questions from the media.

Q. Rory, I got a couple for you. What did you experience last week as far as dealing with the COVID-19 that will help you go forward this week?
RORY McILROY: I don’t know, I think the first couple days last week in Colonial felt somewhat normal. I mean, I think Thursday, Friday — you know, it felt a little different over the weekend, like when we were in contention, in materials of it was very quiet and obviously not much atmosphere out there. But in terms of like dealing with it and dealing with the daily routine of temperature checks and all that sort of stuff, it’s totally fine.

I think the plans that are in place are very, very good. I’m sure everyone’s doing their best. I certainly don’t want to expose myself and test positive and put anyone else in danger, but also, selfishly, I don’t want to test positive because I want to keep playing golf, I want to keep playing in these tournaments. So I’m trying to do everything I can to limit my exposure and obviously not catch or spread the virus.

Q. And I’ll ask another question I’ve asked of everybody. Would you gain 30 to 35 pounds to gain 20 miles per hour ball speed?
RORY McILROY: No. I actually feel my best when I’m lighter. I was probably at my lightest at the start of the season, sort of that California swing, at Torrey Pines. I remember weighing myself at Torrey on the Sunday morning before going out to the final round, and I was like 155. I think that’s half of Bryson now.

Yeah, I feel better when I’m lighter. I feel more supple. I feel like I get a little more speed. Yeah, I don’t feel great when I gain weight.

Q. The restart, obviously, has been trickier for the Europe-based players for all the logistical reasons that everyone knows. Do you appreciate their play? And what do you think of their losing World Golf Ranking points as they try to figure out how to navigate this new normal?
RORY McILROY: Look, personally, I — if I were in their shoes and I was asked to come over to the states and shelter in place or quarantine for two weeks before these tournaments, I would have done that because we’ve got — I mean, if you really care about your career and care about moving forward, you should be here, I think. Last week was 70 World Ranking points for the winner, this week 74.

And I get there’s different variables and families and stuff involved, but we all have the means to rent a very nice house in a gated community in Florida and — you know, it’s not a hardship for two weeks to come over and quarantine. I mean, it’s fine. My caddie Harry came over and did it. He stayed in our guest house. The two weeks flew by.

Yeah, I honestly don’t understand the guys complaining because there is a solution to it. You can come over here and do what needs to be done.

Q. A quick follow. One of your Ryder Cup teammates said the problem is a three week — if you come over for three weeks, it amounts to a nine-week block because you have to quarantine two weeks, then if you were to go home, it’s two weeks, then when you come back, it’s two weeks. So if you have young children or whatever, that’s the trick, I guess. Do you appreciate that dilemma?
RORY McILROY: I do appreciate that, but it’s not as if — you know, most kids, it’s sort of the end of the school year. I know a few kids that went back to school. Again, you can bring your family with you. We all have the means to do that.

Look I don’t quite — it might seem a little harsh, but I don’t get that mindset, especially if you care about your career and you want to advance.

Q. I was going to ask you, what’s sort of been the practice arrangements and accommodation arrangements this week between you and Harry? I guess you and Harry, as you mentioned last week, shared a house in Fort Worth, and you had a downstairs basement with his sort of golf driving simulator. What’s the arrangement this week, and who are you sort of practicing with this week?
RORY McILROY: Same thing. So Harry and I are sharing a house. We’ve obviously spent the last, whatever it is, 3 1/2 weeks together. So, obviously, we’re — we get tested, and we’re both negative. I feel like it’s a safe option. So just Harry and I sharing a house again this week.

Then practice-wise, I haven’t really — I played nine holes yesterday, and I joined Jhonattan Vegas and Emiliano Grillo and Branden Grace, but I’m going to go play nine holes later today, but I haven’t arranged anything. It’s sometimes nice just to get out there on your own, especially if you want to see a new golf course that you haven’t seen in a while, just to sort of go about your business with your caddie and learn a few things about the course.

Q. Hi, Rory. Obviously, you’ve been in a position to win a few times this year and have had a disappointing Sunday. At what point do you sort of dismiss — like last Sunday, for example — as just one of those days, and at what point does it sort of become a thing in the back of your head that you’re aware of?
RORY McILROY: I wouldn’t say that Sundays this year have been disappointing. I mean, I played — maybe Bay Hill, I would say was disappointing, and obviously last week, but that was just more annoying, like I played crap. That was really it. Like it wasn’t as if it was anything to do with the position I was in or I got off to a really bad start and got into the rough on the front nine and hit decent shots that ended up in a bunker or a bad lie or whatever and just sort of — it’s one of those things where the momentum just started going the other way.

No, look, it’s fine. I played okay last week. It was a good gauge to see where I was at and what I needed to practice and what I needed to do going into the next few weeks. Obviously disappointing not to shoot a good one on Sunday, but it was fine. I learnt quite a bit from it, and hopefully those lessons I can put into practice this week.

Q. Nick Faldo said in the commentary that it doesn’t look like you’ve got a plan when things are going wrong. Were you made aware of that comment afterwards, and do you think that’s an unfair comment?
RORY McILROY: I didn’t hear that, no. Look, commentators are put in positions where, look, they have to say something. They’re not just going to sit there and be silent. I respect Nick a lot. Nick’s been really good to me growing up, as a junior golfer and even into the professional level. Look, I get the position he’s put in with commentary where you just have to say something, you have to make a comment. I’ve learned very quickly out here that you don’t take anything personally and you just move on.

Q. Rory, you’ve had kind of two weeks now to get used to this new normal at tournament sites, but you guys are creatures of habit. What’s been the one thing that you’ve had to switch up that’s maybe been the most different for you?
RORY McILROY: Honestly, there hasn’t been that much. I mean, there hasn’t really been anything that has been that different. I sort of like it. It’s quiet. You can get from A to B and not get stopped 20 times. It’s sort of — look, we all miss the fans, and the fans make the atmosphere, but at the same time, it’s sort of nice to be able to just go about your business and not have to worry about something that should take five minutes, having to give yourself 15 or 20 minutes to do just because of just getting from A to B. You know what it’s like at tournaments and stuff.

I haven’t really switched up that much. There hasn’t been anything that I would say that I would change. It’s sort of been nice.

Q. I just wanted to ask about Bryson. You played with him on Sunday. What was that like? Were you expecting that? Did you expect to see that transformation? Was it much different to what you saw from him before?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, obviously, at the start of the year, he came out, and he was a bit bigger. You could see he was getting a bit of speed and stuff, and he was hitting it a long way. But he hit a couple drives on Sunday that Harry and I just looked at each other, and we’re like, holy shit, that was unbelievable.

He hit one into the wind on 11. I hit a really good one and probably hit it like 315, 320. He must have flew my ball by 40 yards. He hit it like 370, 375 into the wind. It was crazy. It was nuts. It’s unbelievable.

I mean, it’s impressive what he’s doing. There’s going to be courses where it works, and there’s going to be courses where it won’t. I can’t see him hitting that many drivers this week, for example. But, look, he nearly won on Colonial, but Colonial you can always miss it on one side. It’s not as if — I feel like Colonial, there’s maybe only trouble on one side of the hole a lot of times, where obviously somewhere like here, Hilton Head, you’ve got trouble on both sides. So there’s not really a bailout anywhere, where it felt like last week you could sort of — even though Colonial is a traditional golf course, there is always one side you could miss it if you wanted to hit driver.

Look, it’s impressive. He’s big. He’s sort of gone down a path, and he’s obviously very — he’s got a conviction, and he’s following it. That’s what he’s done. He’s always thought outside the box and thought a little differently to most people. He’s really put his mind at wanting to get longer, and he’s definitely done that.

Q. Is there no doubt that he’s the longest now, do you think?
RORY McILROY: I’d still say Cameron Champ. It seems with Cameron, it’s a lot more — it’s smoother speed. It’s not quite as much of an effort as Bryson’s putting into it. But he’s getting there.

Q. Just kind of curious, back to the Sunday thing for you. When you are in contention on Sunday, which you put yourself there so often, what’s different for you that day? Is the adrenaline running a little bit more? I don’t know how much you analyze that kind of thing, but I’m just curious, what is different for you on that Sunday for those final 18 holes?
RORY McILROY: Nothing, I don’t think. There shouldn’t be anything different, I guess. Yeah, no, I — geez, you’re going out there trying to shoot a good score, and that’s about it. That’s what you try to do every day. Some days you play better than others. Geez, I remember going into the — like everyone kept asking me about Fridays six years ago in 2014 when I had bad Fridays. Geez, a few Fridays in a row where I didn’t play well. I don’t think it’s this thing.

So, no, I try to go out there every day and shoot the best score I can, and the best score I could shoot on Sunday was 74. Hopefully, tomorrow I go out and try my best and shoot something a bit lower than that. Just each day, just try to go out there and do your best.

Q. Does it become more disappointing when the one bad round is on a Sunday? Or could you make the argument, if you had that bad round, if you shoot the 74 on Friday, maybe you’re not in position for Sunday, right?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, not really. Like every day’s the same. Again, I always say winning is — there’s a lot of randomness to winning golf tournament as. It’s not just about — like there’s other things that happen, and you looked at what happened on Sunday. There’s so many guys in contention. Putts slip out. Putts slip in. Like there’s so much stuff that happens. You just have to go out there and focus on yourself and, again, try to shoot good scores.

It’s not like I’ve necessarily shot bad scores on Sundays. I got off to a couple of bad starts in some final groups, but I still was able to come back and shoot scores in the 60s. So, no, I’m not worried about anything.

Q. Just one quick unrelated thing, with a little bit of a weird silver lining to these last — these first four tournaments, to some degree, is the fact that all of you guys are obviously jonesing for the competition, and the fields have become so strong to some of these tournaments that normally don’t draw the kinds of fields they’re drawing right now. How much do you think that helps you even — you and everybody else, particularly the top guys — when most of the big guys are there? It has a little bit of a — at least in terms of the feel, the Major Championship feel?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it does. It feels great to look down the range and see all of the top players in the world here, or most of the top players in the world here. That is, it’s a good feeling. That’s what we all want. We all want to play against the best fields week in, week out. I guess, as you said, it’s silver lining to all this is that it seems like all the top guys are going to play a little more often going forward, and that’s a good thing for the TOUR and for us and for the people at home that are watching.

Q. Rory, no positive tests last week. Apparently, that’s going to be the case again this week. What do you make of that? What were your expectations? Any worries about complacency going forward?
RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think, as the lockdowns start to lift — people have called it like this coronavirus fatigue or whatever, where people could become a little more complacent or sloppy, but, again, I think — you know, most guys out here, their careers really matter to them, and they’re going to do everything they can to make sure that they’re safe and the people that they’re coming in contact with are safe.

Again, it doesn’t surprise me because I feel like the plan has put in place here has been very good. So, yeah, it’s great to hear that two weeks in a row there’s no positive tests. That’s what we just have to keep doing, but like as I said, just because things are starting to lift and it’s getting a little more normal doesn’t mean that we just stop doing what we’ve been doing over the last 12 weeks. We still need to stay pretty vigilant.

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PGA Tour Tour News

PGA Tour: Jay Monahan talks to the media about the Tour’s return

Jay Monahan about the Charles Schwab Challenge of the PGA Tour. (Getty)
Jay Monahan about the Charles Schwab Challenge of the PGA Tour. (Getty)

PGA Tour Comissioner Jay Monahan talks to the media about the PGA Tour’s restart at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Colonial Country Club in Texas and what his conclusions are about the first week back.

Jay Monahan about the return of the PGA Tour

Q. Jay, if you’re being really honest with yourself, what was your biggest concern as everyone started showing up in Fort Worth for the week?
JAY MONAHAN: Biggest concern? I think the biggest concern given the amount of time that we put into our testing and safety protocols was that even though we felt really good about the plan we had in place, if we saw the number of tests that were positive or we got into a situation where we were dealing with a number of positive tests, that’s something, candidly, that I lost a lot of sleep over in the weeks that preceded coming in there.

A lot of challenges, but I would say that would probably have been the biggest concern because it’s the one that we’ve all been dealing with, wrestling with, trying to understand and trying to prepare for.

Q. I just was wondering, obviously we don’t have a winner yet, but where we stand right now, is there a favorite moment you’ve had this week and what is it? Even if it was just what you just talked about, having those tests cleared right off the bat, that first tee on Thursday?
JAY MONAHAN: Yeah, I think — I would say it’s hard to pick a favorite moment because there’s so many along the way. I think just everybody being back together and being on property on Thursday, recognizing that the PGA TOUR was returning, and to see our players, to see all of you, to be back together in the environment of a PGA TOUR event, knowing the incredible amount of teamwork that went into getting there, and I think seeing players interact with each other, players and caddies interact with each other. It’s almost like when you went away for school for the summer and then you come back in the fall, those first couple days, seeing people that you haven’t seen in a while, it’s that good feeling you have as a result of that. I think that was the thing that was to me really, really powerful and meaningful.

And then when you add on top of it the 8:46 moment, and I look at the caddie bibs and I see the respect that we as an organization were paying to the front line healthcare workers — I mean, just a lot of things that roll up into it. But I think that Thursday morning was really, really a meaningful moment.

Q. If I could just ask you, is there anything that maybe you learned this week that you adjusted going forward as far as the plan, the things that you probably didn’t know about a month ago when you came up with the plan?
JAY MONAHAN: I’m sure there are, and we’re going to be on the phone later today and further tomorrow to talk about some of those things, but yeah, I’m sure there are adjustments that we’ll make. That’s a commitment that we made going into it. But I wouldn’t say — I would characterize any change that we’re making as probably slight adjustments to a plan that we feel has worked very well thus far.

Q. I was wondering, is the feeling as you play out this week a sense of relief or a sense of excitement that everything is back and now you go forward?
JAY MONAHAN: I think it’s a sense of excitement. You know, you can’t have one without the other, I guess, in this environment. But we’ve got five or six holes left to go here and a great championship, and players have really played exceedingly well and handled this environment so, so well. So I’m excited to see how this concludes.

Our work, there’s more work to be done. As I said to you guys earlier this week, this is about a sustained return, but I think as we sit here late in the day on Sunday, there’s no question that this has been an exceptional week.

Q. I know you told us earlier this week that you heard from some of your peers in other sports wishing you good luck. I wondered if you’d heard from any of them this weekend or today, and I wondered also if they’ve expressed a desire for you guys to share notes from what you’ve learned during the lead-up and this week?
JAY MONAHAN: You know, I’ve heard from some of my peers, and I think as I mentioned as we go forward, we will share — we’ll share everything that we’ve learned and how we’re applying our protocols, and I would imagine some of those calls will happen over the next several days. But I know there are a lot of people that when you’re in an industry and you’re in an important time like this where we’re all trying to take our own respective sports and make sure that we’re doing — we are prioritizing the health and safety of our athletes and all of our constituents, really that each sport is different, I think that there is — I know there’s a lot of people that are watching us, and hopefully they’re proud of what’s been done here.

Q. I just wanted to get your take on what you thought of Colonial and Fort Worth and coming back here, and especially when you look two years ago this tournament was kind of in jeopardy without a title sponsor.
JAY MONAHAN: Well, I think the club has always been exceptional. I mentioned to you that right away the club and Charles Schwab raised their hand and said, when you reset the schedule, not only do we want to be back, but we’d like to be considered to be the first event. You saw Mayor Price was out here earlier in the week. We’ve had her support throughout. That has been very, very meaningful.

When you play at a venue like Colonial every year consecutively since 1946 and you have the rich history and tradition we have, and it’s such a great golf course, to me it’s the perfect course to come back to when you’ve been out 91 days. You know, I think we’re really thankful for the partnership that we have with Colonial.

It’s very different for them. Not only do they get to host this event every single year, but in that town and over the course of the week, it’s an opportunity to showcase the beauty of their club and to be around their fellow members and friends, and a lot of that didn’t happen, but it did not in any way take away from the energy, the commitment and the enthusiasm from the leadership of the club.

Q. I’m guessing you’re watching the telecast right now; what’s your take watching it without any fans? Is it different to you or does it seem the same?
JAY MONAHAN: Well, I’m not watching it now because I’m talking to you guys and I can’t do two things at once, but I would say it’s — listen, it’s different. It really is different, but I look at the work that Golf Channel and CBS have done, and again, I think what they’ve been able to produce and present to our fans is remarkable. It’s different.

I also don’t think — to me what I really have focused on is the intensity of the competition and the intensity that you see and experience from the players, and whether it’s those opening tee shots the last couple days, the close of the round yesterday, throughout the course of the day here, I get the same level, I get the same feeling in my stomach as I’m watching these players compete for a PGA TOUR win on Sunday.

But to not have the fan roars, to see the way players are responding when they’re making birdies and there’s not noise, I mean, that’s just all of our — that’s a new reality for all of us. But I still as an obvious fan, I feel the intensity, and I think that’s what fans are experiencing, as well.

Q. Given all the challenges that we’ve spoken about all week, is this everything you could have possibly asked for this week? Is there anything that could have gone better for you other than obviously not having fans here?
JAY MONAHAN: Listen, there is more work to be done, but this is a phenomenal start to our return. There’s no question about it. A lot of people that deserve a lot of credit for that, our players certainly at the top of that list for all of their involvement in the weeks leading into this, and the way that they’ve come back and adapted to these new protocols, again, going back at that our partners at Colonial, our partners at Fort Worth, our partners at CBS, our partners at Golf Channel. A lot of us came together to be able to put the PGA TOUR and Korn Ferry TOUR back in play, and I think as we leave here with the first — concluding the first week of a new safety and testing protocol, to not have had any issues, and for players to adapt to that system so well, and for us as a collective to be focused on what’s actually happening inside the field of play, watching competition, I think it’s gone — yeah, to answer your question in a long way, I think it’s gone about as well as we could have hoped for. I’m proud of our team for that.

Q. When we talk about a successful week, which it seems like on our end, as well, is the real measure not until next week when everyone turns up at Hilton Head? And kind of on that note, have you gotten any test results back from the boys who had to do it yesterday getting on the charter?
JAY MONAHAN: Yeah. You know, I think that’s right. I was asked what’s a successful week look like. It means us getting to the RBC Heritage and having another successful week next week. I was on the phone with our team earlier today up at the RBC Heritage, and I feel very good about the setup there, and we’re ready to go again.

As it relates to testing from yesterday and the charter flight tomorrow, I don’t have those results back. That flight leaves tomorrow. But all indications are that we should be in a good spot for that.

Q. One more thing on fans that was brought up because it was kind of cool to see people erect tents behind like 15, 16, 3, people sticking their nose through the fence, which is probably good optics. What about next week? Is there any concern security-wise of all the homes that line the fairway and how many people will try and spill out on to the course, or on the perimeter anyway?
JAY MONAHAN: You know, I think that — listen, I do think that next week — we’ve all experienced Harbour Town and seen the houses that line those fairways, and I suspect that you’ll see, as we’ve seen in the past, a number of people in the back yards that are rooting on our players. I was out watching the final group today on the back nine of the Korn Ferry challenge and saw a lot of people out in their back yards rooting on the players today. I think we’ll see a lot of that tomorrow, and obviously as a partner in that community and working with Steve there, I know they’re going to be communicating the importance of social distancing even on the perimeters.

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Tour News

PGA Tour: Official Statement Released Regarding Cancelation of Additional Events

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL - MAY 14: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been converted to black and white.) A PGA TOUR logo is seen after play was suspended due to severe storms during the third round of THE PLAYERS Championship held at THE PLAYERS Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass on May 14, 2011 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

PGA Tour: TOUR officials released a statement Tuesday evening announcing the cancelation of additional tournaments in the wake of the recent Coronavirus outbreak. The TOUR has announced cancelations across all of it’s tours through May 10, 2020. The official statement provided by PGA Tour communications is as follows:

PGA Tour: Additional events canceled among Coronavirus outbreak

“The health and safety of everyone associated with the PGA TOUR and the global community is and will continue to be our No. 1 priority as we navigate the ongoing health crisis related to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

On March 12, the PGA TOUR made the announcement to cancel or postpone four weeks of events on all six Tours through the week of the Valero Texas Open (March 30-April 5). Augusta National Golf Club also announced the postponement of the Masters Tournament (April 6-12).

With the most recent recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization and the Office of the President of the United States, the PGA TOUR will now cancel four additional events: RBC Heritage (April 13-19); Zurich Classic of New Orleans (April 20-26); Wells Fargo Championship (April 27-May 3); and AT&T Byron Nelson (May 4-10).

Furthermore, the PGA of America has postponed the PGA Championship (May 14-17) for a date later this year, to be announced. Also announced today, the USGA is currently holding the dates for the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club as scheduled (June 18-21) but will, as all of us are, continue to monitor the developing situation and follow recommendations by government authorities.

As we receive more clarity in the coming weeks, the TOUR will be working with our tournament organizations and title sponsors, in collaboration with golf’s governing bodies, to build a PGA TOUR schedule for 2020 that ensures the health and safety for all associated with our sport and a meaningful conclusion to the season. We will provide further updates when those plans come into focus.

Today’s cancellation of PGA TOUR events through May 10 applies to all six Tours, although PGA TOUR Champions has rescheduled The Regions Tradition. Originally slated for May 7-10, the event will now be played September 24-27. PGA TOUR Champions previously announced on March 16 that the Mastercard Japan Championship (June 12-14) will not be contested due to the current travel advisories in place from the CDC, the WHO and the U.S. Department of State.

We will continue to work with the tournaments and partners affected by the schedule changes to make a positive impact in their respective communities and allow those events to come back at full strength in 2021. To give our fans respite from this ongoing situation, the PGA TOUR is working with its partners to make available archives of past PGA TOUR competitions and additional programming for fans. More details will be made available soon.”

March 17, 2020

PGA Tour Communications

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

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PGA Tour Tour News

PGA Tour: Officials Release Statement Relating To The Cancelation of All TOUR Events For The Coming Weeks

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 12: PGA TOUR Commissioner, Jay Monahan speaks to the media in a press conference addressing the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during the first round of The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 12, 2020 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

PGA Tour officials released a statement yesterday regarding the cancelation of The Players Championship as well as tournaments across all Tours through the Valero Texas Open.

PGA Tour: Official statement on coronavirus and the cancelation of upcoming events:

“It is with regret that we are announcing the cancellation of THE PLAYERS Championship.

We have also decided to cancel all PGA TOUR events – across all of our Tours – in the coming weeks, through the Valero Texas Open. 

We have pledged from the start to be responsible, thoughtful and transparent with our decision process. We did everything possible to create a safe environment for our players in order to continue the event throughout the weekend, and we were endeavoring to give our fans a much-needed respite from the current climate.  But at this point – and as the situation continues to rapidly change – the right thing to do for our players and our fans is to pause.

We will be prepared to answer additional questions on Friday at 8 a.m.”

PGA Tour Communications

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

March 12, 2020

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Tour News

PGA Tour: 2015 Players Champion Rickie Fowler Speaks to Media Prior to 2020 Edition

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 12: Rickie Fowler of the United States reacts to his putt on the 11th green during the first round of The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 12, 2020 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

2015 Players Champion Rickie Fowler answers questions from the media prior to making start his 11th start at the 2020 Players Championship.

PGA Tour: Rickie Fowler speaks with the media ahead of 2020 Players Championship

DOUG MILNE: We would like to welcome Rickie Fowler, 2015 PLAYERS champion to the interview room here. Thanks for joining us for a few minutes, making your 11th start in THE PLAYERS Championship this week, obviously with some success, so with that said, just some thoughts on being back here at TPC Sawgrass this week.

RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, it’s obviously always great to be back here at TPC. It’s a special place being that I’ve had a win here in 2015 and some other good finishes, but this is the arguably the strongest field that we play against, it’s our tournament, and it’s been interesting to get to see the course in March versus May. So it’s quite a bit different, but looking forward to the week as all the other players, and this is definitely one that we always look forward to being here.

DOUG MILNE: You’ve obviously enjoyed the success on the course. Diabolical is a word that’s used often to describe the course. How have you been able to kind of tame that to where it kind of caters to your game somewhat?

RICKIE FOWLER: The golf course, if you look at it properly, it’s fairly straightforward; hit it in the fairway, hit it on the green, wear out the fairways and greens. But there’s a lot of other things that come into play: Plenty of water, a lot of bunkers, a lot of funky little ones. And honestly, I’m not happy unless there’s sand in my pants.

DOUG MILNE: Okay. Open it up to questions.

Q. How did you celebrate Sunday night after you won? And secondly, no one’s ever defended here; why do you think it’s so difficult to win here as a defending champion?
RICKIE FOWLER: So Sunday after we won, as you guys know, obviously there’s some media stops and I think we went and did the post-tournament show with the Golf Channel or Golf Central. By that time it was — we had probably been a couple hours in, I think there was a stop in the clubhouse and the staff had tacos waiting for us in the locker room, so that was a nice way to kind of round it out. Had a drink and then we hung out there for maybe an hour and hopped in the car, headed south, and I was on set at a shoot at 6:30 the next morning. So not a whole lot of celebrating, a couple hours of sleep and a long day the next day. But all worth it.

To me, why it’s tough to defend here, it’s a golf course that doesn’t necessarily fit any one style of player. I saw something that was posted not long ago of kind of the recent past champions here and what guys did well from whether it was driving the ball, approach, putting, scrambling, and there was nothing really that stood out as one thing between all players. Some guys hit more irons off tee, some guys hit a lot of drivers, some guys putted well, but there’s not one particular thing that was necessarily common between all of them. This golf course isn’t necessarily long so it doesn’t necessarily benefit a bomber of the golf ball, and to me at the end of the day it’s whoever has the most control and kind of keeps it simple, fairways and greens. Like I said, there’s not really one thing that stands out, so I think everyone in the field, it doesn’t really weed anyone out.

The Players Championship Full Leaderboard

Q. You started working with John Tillery, so what led a California kid to land on the Georgia boy, John Tillery, over all the other coaches out there, and how quickly did he put you on the metronome?
RICKIE FOWLER: The metronome was definitely brought up the first time I saw him, and I’m someone that’s terrible with any sort of timing, whether how it’s related to music and dancing. That’s not something I put in my — it’s very low on my list of what I’m good at. So bringing timing and a metronome into the swing and being, trying to be somewhat symmetrical on both sides of the ball has been a little bit of an adjustment, something that’s been very beneficial. And now it’s just the kind of connection really through Kiz and spending a lot of time around him over the last few years and had been around JT a bit with him being around Kiz obviously. So he’s just someone that’s easy to be around, love his outlook on the game, the swing. I mean he’s — as all of us are, we’re golf nerds, but he’s a big golf nerd and a big swing nerd, so we have had a lot of fun together and he’s someone that’s just fun and easy to be around and hang out with.

Q. There seems to be a lot of growing abundance of caution regarding the coronavirus and all that with cancellations and postponements of events all over the country. But it’s largely business as usual out here this week. As a player, do you have more concern maybe about signing autographs, about interacting with the galleries this week other than maybe you normally have, and are you conscious of that more so than usual?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I would say probably taking a little bit more precaution than normal. But over the years I think I’ve gone — I’ve become more and more kind of cautious of how I’ve interacted as far as high-fives or maybe any kind of — yeah high five to fist bump, anything that goes on throughout the round. Early in my career I felt like there was a lot more of that, which led to — not saying it was a direct reflection of it, but sick more often. So for me, usually try not to do anything really on course at all, and then with the autograph area setup, it’s really where I’ll kind of direct all signing to and that way I am really in control of how it’s done and I can kind of hang in one spot, and I mean, I’ve always signed with my own pens and stuff like that, so it’s not necessarily a change, but you’re still having contact, whether you use people’s Sharpies or pens, you’re still getting their stuff.

But if I can do it after the round or when I’m done with my practice or whatever it may be, I can go ahead and sign and then if there’s hand sanitizer to be able to go to the restroom and wash up afterwards. Nothing really more than normal, but just maybe a little bit more precautious (sic).

Q. This is an Olympic year. You are obviously a proud Olympian with the tattoo and everything, but describe just preparing your game for having six marquee tests of golf from THE PLAYERS all the way through the Olympics. And with this being the first test, how are you going to approach those six the rest of the year?
RICKIE FOWLER: Well, with how the new season’s laid out, I mean, you used to look at Augusta obviously the start of it and then May to August kind of from PLAYERS through our playoffs, that was really the main chunk of the season. But now it almost seems like it doesn’t really stop, so through the fall is kind of the time that you look to maybe take some time off or work on the game, however that is, whether that’s away from tournament golf or playing some events.

Then you start with THE PLAYERS and now it’s a little bit longer of an extended — big events that are a little bit more spread out. So I wouldn’t say necessarily that you’re trying to peak in the summer or anything like that, you got to be on top of your game a lot more often for an extended period of time. So it hasn’t necessarily changed it. Obviously every time you’re teeing it up you’re going out there to play your best and you’re playing tournaments to go win.

I think the biggest change was THE PLAYERS being switched from May to March. It plays differently here with that two-month difference, and then with the PGA going to May, with some of the tournaments being further north we could get some interesting weather or potential cold weather, but for me you still look at the majors and THE PLAYERS as those are the ones that you’re setting your schedule around.

There’s only a handful of guys that get to go to the Olympics. I’m still on the outside looking in. I got to take care of business to have a chance to be there, but it’s something I highly recommend for guys to go do and girls on the women’s side. It’s a special experience and hopefully with everything going on that it’s still going to be able to go on in Tokyo this summer.

Q. Regarding your grouping yesterday JT talked about the fine line between getting serious, and as he said, yukking it up when you’re with friends. How do you look at it playing in a group; is it more fun with close friends?
RICKIE FOWLER: It is for me. I mean, there’s definitely going to be more interaction with the guys that you’re closer to or closer with. Maybe a little bit of trash talk, just between us for fun and what we would normally do. But within reason. And to me, I mean, playing with your buddies, your close friends, it’s always kind of pushed me to play my best. Not that that comes out every time that you play against your buddies, but your close friends are the ones that you want to lose to the least amount, so you want to go beat them up, and it would be nice to have bragging rights over them each day and it would be fun to kind of push each other through the weekend as well.

Q. This is a question from a fan in China. You’ve had some great moments on the 17th, and what’s your strategy and mindset on the island green here this week?
RICKIE FOWLER: Island green, yeah, I’ve been fortunate, I’ve made a lot of good swings there and had a lot of success on 17. But trying to keep it as simple as possible there. Obviously my caddie Joe and I, we pick a line and a specific target of exactly where we’re trying to land the ball. Really getting committed to that, making sure we go through our normal process, setup, and when we’re over the ball it’s just focusing on making a good swing and hitting that number. Easier said than done, but no, it’s a fun hole. Luckily it’s not very long, but when it does play back into the wind, which is possible this time of year but I don’t think we’re going to get much of that this week, it’s a fairly simple shot. It’s just when you get out of your routine or you kind of have like a little mental hiccup, that’s when the problems happen. But the more that you can kind of stay with what you normally do and stay precise on where you’re trying to hit your shot, usually good things happen.

Q. A little off topic here, but just looking at the last three or four years of Masters, guys who have almost won it or finished second, it’s a real who’s-who list of guys on TOUR. I’m wondering how you process 2018 between being proud of the close that you had to have there to get that close and then maybe recounting I let a shot get away here or there. Just how did you process finishing second that year?
RICKIE FOWLER: I thought it was great week, especially coming off of some of the Sundays I had there prior to that, being around or having a chance and not necessarily playing a good front nine or just having a bad Sunday as a whole. I did a really good job of just managing my way through the front nine, not necessarily playing my best golf, making sure I was still in the tournament and not taking myself completely out of it. And then I did a really good job on the back nine, had a few missed opportunities, but executed the shots and drove the ball well and put myself in a position where I had a chance. So I was happy with it. Yeah, one shot short and something you can go back on, and there’s a number of tournaments where you’re a shot or a few shots back of who ends up winning on Sunday, and you can always, well, what if this went in or if I just made this putt, but there’s nothing you can do to change that. You can only learn from it and try and limit those mistakes, if they were mistakes. Sometimes you hit a good putt and they just don’t go in, it might have been a misread.

But for me it was more just how I handled everything that day and through the back nine, like I said, executed, and like you can learn from the little mistakes that were made, but to me I didn’t make mistakes. I missed some opportunities on the greens. 17 I thought I hit it in there close and I missed my landing spot by about two yards to that right pin, and no, that’s where you want to be on Sundays, and we put ourselves in that position and had a chance to do it, and Patrick played well.

Q. I also have Masters question. Tiger’s win last year was one of the biggest moments in sports in 2019. Will the spectre of that victory still sort of hang over this year’s Masters, at least at the beginning when people are arriving? I mean, does it have that kind of permanence that even a year later it will still be in people’s minds?
RICKIE FOWLER: That’s going to be in people’s minds forever. Tiger’s had the biggest impact on our sport with that stage kind of set by guys like Jack, Arnie, Greg Norman, and some others that came before him. But for him to do what he did, to come back after being away from the game for a few years and potentially in a spot where he may not be able to play competitively again, to come back and win at East Lake and to go win the Masters, like I said, from a position where people thought he may not even play competitive rounds again, it’s very impressive. So that’s going to be around forever.

Once the tournament gets going, it’s about 2020, but 2019 is definitely part of history.

Q. When you won in 2015 you gained three strokes off the tee. In the last three years you’ve lost strokes off the tee every year. Do you have an idea of why, and has your strategy changed at all off the tee for this year?
RICKIE FOWLER: I didn’t drive it as well the last couple years here. Yeah, when I won in 2015 I was, I mean any club I was hitting off the tee, because you’re not always hitting driver here, I was hitting everything very tight lines, knew where it was going, I was very much in control. I mean, definitely shows when I was able to pull driver on 18 multiple times and I was swinging very freely. So it wasn’t like I was guiding it or trying to control, it was just kind of letting things happen, and it was point and shoot and just commit to it.

So that’s a lot more of where I feel like I am this year coming in. I know it hasn’t been the greatest start to the season for me, but definitely been heading the right way and trending. So with working on a lot of the new stuff with JT, I love where we’re at and where we’re heading, so we’re heading the right direction. Like I said, I feel like I’m much more in a spot where I know where it’s going, and that’s something that can be very beneficial around this place.

Q. I’m curious, a lot of players we’re now hearing battling injuries, Brooks, Justin, wrist injuries, knee injuries. What do you feel is contributing to that, and how do you balance that between working out, practicing, your schedule, and is there anything in particular fitness-wise that you do just to protect the long term of your game?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, ultimately you want to be out here playing healthy when you do play. I mean, I think a lot of injuries can come from almost playing too much. Doing anything at a high level and high speed, you’re putting a lot of stress on your body, so the time management of that, of playing the right amount, not playing too much, but also not playing too little where you’re not ready to play when you do play. I think there’s almost — there’s too many playing opportunities. There’s not really an off season where guys either get to go work on the game, rest if they may be in a spot where they need to work on a part of the body or an injury. For me, off weeks when I’m at home is when I do most of my working out. I’ll be in the gym lifting weights probably five days a week, doing therapy every day, and on the road it’s therapy every day and I’ll try and get in a workout or two early in the week, if I can, if time permits, but I’m also not wanting to push the body and be fatigued come Thursday.

So this afternoon I’ll probably do some sort of movement, just to make sure the body’s firing and good to go and then get some more therapy after that. But, yeah, like I mentioned the first part, it’s the time management side of it and making sure that you’re playing the right amount to where you’re also able to recover and then work out to make sure you’re staying in a consistent spot with your body strength-wise and movement, so that you’re not seeing the body kind of taper the wrong direction through the season.

So it’s personal, kind of a personal balance for everyone. Everyone’s going to be different, whether it’s how hard they push in the gym or maybe not at all. Yeah, you’ve got to find out what works best for you.

Q. You go way back with Kevin Dougherty who’s been so close the last couple years. Can you kind of reflect on how you met him and growing up with him and what qualities in Kevin that stand out to you?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I’ve known Kevin for a long time. We both grew up in Murrieta back home, played a lot of golf with him. When we were both juniors, I believe he was four or five years behind me. So at one point he was a lot shorter and smaller than me. Now he’s 6’2″ and he’s spent a lot of time in the gym and is very strong and hits the ball a lot further than me now, where I used to be able to hit a 4-iron past him. So it’s been really fun to see him grow and be somewhat of a big brother to him.

He’s someone that has basically turned himself into a real professional golfer. As a junior he wasn’t necessarily someone that was looked at as one of the great juniors or anything like that, but he kept working really hard to get himself to the next level and he’s continued to do that. He worked hard through high school, gave himself a chance to go to Oklahoma State and get to play there and kept working there and just kept getting better and better. So which is, I think, somewhat — it’s not something you see all the time. A lot of times you see the guys that are talented and towards the top of each level, those are the ones that move on, and some don’t make it, some do, but it’s rare to see someone just go out and outwork and put the time in.

It’s been fun to watch, and very proud of what he’s been able to do, and we stay in touch quite a bit, and if we’re not talking I’m always watching and seeing what he’s doing. So it’s been nice to see him be close early this year and to start to play a little bit better and, yeah, I feel like he’s someone that he’s a fighter, and like I said, he’s going to outwork his way and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s out here with us soon.

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

March 11, 2020

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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Tour News

PGA Tour: Last Week’s Winner Tyrell Hatton Speaks With The Media Prior to Making Fourth Start at The Players Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 11: Tyrrell Hatton of England smiles during a practice round prior to The PLAYERS Championship on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 11, 2020 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

PGA Tour professional and last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational winner Tyrrell Hatton speaks with the media before the 2020 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

PGA Tour: Tyrell Hatton recaps maiden tour victory celebration and previews The Players Championship

JOHN BUSH: We would like to welcome Tyrrell Hatton into the interview room. He is making his fourth career start at THE PLAYERS Championship, and he’s coming off his first PGA TOUR victory last week at Arnold Palmer Invitational. Tyrrell, first of all, if we can get some comments on being back here at PLAYERS.

TYRELL HATTON: Yeah, it’s obviously good to be back. Unfortunately it’s a tournament that I haven’t done too well at in the past, but I’m hoping that changes this week. Obviously nice week last week and a few days to recover before we get going tomorrow.

JOHN BUSH: Talk a little bit about getting the win last week, extremely tough conditions there at Bay Hill. Just talk about finally stepping into the winner’s circle on the TOUR.

TYRELL HATTON: Yeah, obviously extremely tough week. You know what they say about the rough, that’s where the four-leaf clovers are. So I was in there a lot and it was kind to me.

JOHN BUSH: Let’s go right into questions.

Q. You said that you weren’t sure you would be right until Wednesday with the celebrating that was planned. Was it all that you had hoped for, and what did you do exactly?
TYRELL HATTON: Yeah, I’m still feeling — I’m still quite tired, to be honest. But I was cuddling the toilet by 5:00 in the morning, so it was a good night.

Q. And then just real quickly, I don’t know how I can follow that, but so obviously that was extremely difficult golf. This place is known for being pretty difficult golf. What do you think a 12-handicapper would shoot in tournament conditions on this course?
TYRELL HATTON: 12-handicapper. I don’t think that they — they wouldn’t break 90. I think they would probably — I would like to think they might break 100, but if the crowds are out there, there’s a different type of pressure that they wouldn’t normally be used to, so it would be a long day.

Q. What was the celebration like on Sunday night? Who was there? Can you say how many glasses of red you had? But also probably more importantly, what’s been the reception since your victory? What’s the text messages and all that sort of stuff you received?
TYRELL HATTON: Yeah, I’ve had a lot of messages, which has been really nice. The guys obviously out on TOUR, everyone’s kind of stopped and said congratulations, which is nice. Sunday night celebration, there was a lot of red wine and then unfortunately I think the finisher was the drinking the vodka and tequila out of the bottle, which never kind of ends well. And, yeah, I fell victim of that, definitely.

Q. Can you describe your emotions coming down the stretch last week?
TYRELL HATTON: Just obviously a little bit nervous, like anyone would be, but I was just trying to do the best I could, try and — the only bit I can control is obviously myself and try to not kind of make any mistakes. Although I was trying my best down 16 to make a few of those. No, just trying to keep calm. Obviously I’ve won in Europe before, so obviously I know I can get over the line and thankfully it just kind of worked out for me last week and it was my time.

Q. Are there any text messages or congratulatory things that particularly meant something for you that you can share with us?
TYRELL HATTON: Honestly, I’ve still got around a hundred unopened WhatsApp messages. The reception has been incredible, so it’s just — I just really appreciate the amount of people that have kind of messaged me to say well done, and I know for like my family and stuff, it was quite nail-biting to watch, it was difficult to watch, but yeah, I don’t know.

Q. Has the Ryder Cup captain been in touch, and is it too early to know how your schedule will alter because of this victory?
TYRELL HATTON: Well, like I say, I’ve still got a hundred WhatsApp messages unopened, so I haven’t — I don’t know exactly like who has messaged in that sense. But my schedule at the moment isn’t, hasn’t changed, that’s something that me and my manager, Danny, we are yet to kind of sit down and talk about, but obviously I would like to be on the Ryder Cup team in September and I’ve had a good start to the points race again, which is nice, and hopefully I can kind of continue pushing on this year and make that team.

Q. Can you please specify the surgery that you had and why you needed it, as well as why you think your body responded so well and so quickly to it?
TYRELL HATTON: Well it was keyhole surgery in my right wrist, and the initial injury was back in 2017 when I fell over at the Masters during the par-3 tournament. It was canceled due to a storm that came through. I just slipped on the pine straw, and over time the wrist just got progressively worse with a build-up of kind of scar tissue and my range of movement was nonexistent and I just had basically a lot of pain kind of coming in to try and make contact with the golf ball, especially with the wedges because you naturally come into the ground a little bit steeper so there was more sort of, it was anything in that kind of movement that was uncomfortable. I had had three steroid injections in 18 months. They all lasted sort of pain-free between four and five-and-a-half months. But obviously that’s not kind of sustainable to just keep having injections. So we decided that the time was to properly fix it would be to have surgery.

The surgery obviously went well but the recovery time was much longer than we had all hoped for. I mean, initially we thought it would be four weeks and I would be back kind of hitting balls again. I was hoping to start my season in mid January, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and I wasn’t even hitting chip shots by then. So obviously these kind of things you can’t rush, and Mexico was a great place for me to start my season because I was guaranteed a full tournament week. There’s no pressure, no cut, you just kind of play and see how the body feels and it was absolutely fine. I had no issues, which is nice, because the first event back you’re not quite sure how it could go.

Q. You mentioned Sunday at Bay Hill that you were pretty nervous over that final putt, that your putter was shaking little bit. And I’m wondering, I know it’s only been a few days, but what you have learned, what your takeaway has been, not only for your game but about yourself, given that tough test on the back nine Sunday that you’ll be bringing to THE PLAYERS this week?
TYRELL HATTON: Well I think throughout the whole week at Bay Hill I managed myself pretty well, which is always one of the hardest things for me. So that was obviously something that I would like to continue, and obviously I’m human so I’m going to make mistakes along the way, and yeah, there’s probably going to be weeks where I’ll have some blowups but hopefully that’s kind of few and far between. So, yeah, hopefully I can kind of stay cool, and I’ve got my dad out with me this week, so to have him there to kind of get back on point with my swing, because playing in those kind of conditions where you’re constantly trying to flight the ball and your weight’s in a different place than it normally would be, it can kind of knock your swing out. So it’s good to have my dad here, and hopefully we can have another good week here.

Q. This may be because I’m American, but I’ve never seen your name spelled the way it is in the first name with two R’s, and I was wondering if there’s a story behind that at all and my apologies if you’ve been asked this three thousand times before.
TYRELL HATTON: Well, it’s my granddad’s middle name is kind of where it comes from. My parents that play golf, they like the liked the film Caddyshack and obviously the guy was, I think was it Ty, I think, so that’s how they kind of got my name. But in terms of the spelling, over here it would be normally Ty-rell, wouldn’t it? But I ain’t no Ty-rell, so yeah.

Q. Why do you feel like you were able to learn from your past trips here to THE PLAYERS Championship that you feel like you can build on for this week?
TYRELL HATTON: Well, this week’s not normally been a good tournament for me. I actually had, I mean last year it was kind of typical me, where I was one shot away from like one shot outside the cut line with five holes to go and I had a blowup, snapped my 3-wood and basically started hitting shots on the run, and I think we missed the cut by five or something like that.

So it kind of just goes back to making sure can I kind of control myself, and that’s normally the first step to me having a decent week.

Q. Gambling is becoming much more normalized in sports, especially golf now. I’m wondering if you’re aware of your odds each week and if you’re aware of your odds this week.
TYRELL HATTON: To be honest, I have no idea with my odds in terms of golf tournaments. I don’t mind putting bets on the football back home, but obviously we are — we’re not allowed to do any betting or anything like that in golf, and yeah, so sort of I’ve got no interest in that kind of thing. It makes no difference to how I go about my week, but I can tell you that I’m not very good at betting the on the football. I’m quite good at losing money each Saturday.

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Q. You said you were playing Xbox and drinking red wine during your time off. Do you have a particular go-to Xbox game?
TYRELL HATTON: Yeah, Call of Duty. So I’m actually devastated that the new War Zone game’s come out. It was released yesterday, and I’m not going to get to play it for another few weeks. So that’s cut me deep.

JOHN BUSH: Tyrrell, we appreciate your time. Congratulations once again on getting the win last week. Best of luck this week.

TYRELL HATTON: Thank you.

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

March 11, 2020

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