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The rumors happened throughout the afternoon of March 12. "The NBA has been suspended," read a text message on the phone of world number one golf, Rory McIlroy . The first day of The Players Championship, a tournament considered the fifth largest in golf, had just taken place on the last day of competition before the Covid-19 era. Some players were already asleep when the tournament and season suspension on the PGA Tour became official. On June 11, ninety days later, golf will officially return to the best circuit in the World.

The prelude to the return will take place this Sunday, May 17, thanks to the exhibition of four players ( Rory MciIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Mathew Wolff and Ricky Fowler ) and two million dollars to raise in the fight against the coronavirius. A snack in the middle of the countdown of the Charles Schwab Challenge next June 11 in Worth Worth (Texas). Initially the tournament was only reserved for 120 players, although it has had to expand its field. "After so many weeks without competing, everyone will want to play," confirmed Sergio García a few days ago, from his confinement in Austin. The Spaniard will occupy one of the 156 seats in the event.

But the return of golf will be something different from what we are used to. "Safety comes first for us," said Jay Monahan , commissioner of the PGA Tour, who is also part of the roster of experts President Donald Trump surrounded himself with in the face of the Covid-19 crisis. The players themselves have approved a comprehensive 37-page safety manual that covers how golf will return to the PGA Tour.

No audience

The measures, which cover all the details, have been developed in record time and represent an example of effectiveness envied by many sports organizations and professional leagues. Especially on the other side of the Atlantic, where from the European Circuit they plan an uncertain round of the competition not before summer, looking for formulas to alleviate the great handicap of the second great golf league in the World; the geographical mobility of the different tournaments played in different countries that would affect players with entry restrictions and quarantines, a circumstance that would be forcing the European Tour to focus its competition for several weeks in the same country.

The imminent return of the PGA Tour would be without an audience at least in the first four tournaments, limiting the presence to the players who will only be able to travel accompanied by their caddy and coach or interpreter . In addition, the document itself announces a comprehensive test and control plan to which golfers who visit Forth Worth from June 8 will undergo. The plan has been drawn up with leading scientists from Havard Medical School. The 'new professional golf' suppresses the handshakes and claps at the end of the rounds. Player and caddy will have to keep the safety distances and it will be the player who has to take and remove the clubs from the bag and collect the ball from inside the hole. The caddy, for his part, may attend to the flag and rake the bunkers, subsequently disinfecting all the areas with which he has come into contact.

Every week it is planned to test an average of 400 people. Caddies and players will have to pass a mandatory test before traveling and will then undergo three different control methods upon arrival at a tournament venue (questionnaire, nasal test and temperature control). The PGA Tour will also have hotels assigned to each tournament where it concentrates all the players and has organized charter flights between each of the tournaments for special conditions for players and caddies and other circuit personnel. The presence of the press will also be limited in each tournament and individual interviews will not be allowed.

The only concern that remained today is the 25 non-American players with a PGA Tour card who are currently outside the United States. "We are working with the federal government to help them enter the United States, we are optimistic that they may do so before the competition begins," they said this week from the PGA Tour. This situation will not affect the three habitual Spaniards of the circuit, since both Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Sergio García and Jon Rahm passed their confinement in the United States and will be in Fort Worth. Along with them will compete among others Rory Mcilroy, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, the best squad in the history of the tournament. The icing on the cake would be the presence of Tiger Woods, still unconfirmed in golf's most anticipated return.

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