The PGA Tour returned this week to Colonial Country Club and the Charles Schwab Challenge, after almost 3 months of inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of course, no fans were allowed. Massive testing and precautions were taken to ensure players, caddies, and staff were properly taken care of. I guess it was better to err on the side of caution, although I think it was an overkill based on the information available.
Unfortunately, for the tournament, the country has been in a tailspin after the tragic death of a black man named George Floyd in the city of Minneapolis while in police custody.
The PGA Tour and Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan wasted no time to turn that tragedy into a publicity stunt by saving the 8:46 a.m. tee time to honor Mr. Floyd every day with a moment of silence.
The Tour was nowhere to be found when it came to honoring the memory of the many police officers who were injured or killed during the riots. The Tour missed a huge opportunity at been a vehicle for unity.
Let’s talk about the tournament for a moment. For me, it was a big snoozer. I didn’t realize until this week, the importance of those annoying “in the hole” or “baba booey” screams from the galleries. The fans are such an important part of the game, even players acknowledged how “weird” it felt. I agree 100% and I hope the Tour takes a second look at this.
I have to say, the most entertaining part for me was listening to Sir Nick Faldo and his “one liner” analysis. The golf itself was pretty good, but I could not watch for more than twenty minutes. I can only take so much of Jim Nantz and the golf silence was deafening. It was like watching a long televise practice round and it was utterly boring.
Back to the social aspect of the broadcast. I want to give huge kudos to Harold Varner III. Varner III, one of the few black golfers on the professional tour, didn’t fall for the obvious race baiting coming from the media circus. He did not brush away what happened, but he refused to engage in a social tit for tat with the media, instead choosing to talk about his game.
On the other hand, Tony Finau, who’s not Black, but from American Samoa, went on a social tirade on social media. Short of saying all white people were racists, Finau went on to say he was with Black Lives Matter. I am sure Mr. Finau has no clue what Black Lives Matter is all about, but like most athletes, he thought he sounded pretty good propping an organization who calls for white people to be eliminated from the face of the earth.
When it comes to honoring Mr. Floyd, the Tour should have done better research when it decided to honor Mr. Floyd with a moment of silence by leaving the 8:46 a.m. tee time open.
They should have known that on September 11, 2001, at 8:46 a.m., American Airlines, Flight 11, hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center killing all passengers onboard. This time is reserved every year, by every television network, to honor the memory of the victims of that tragic event. How the Tour didn’t know this is beyond me.
In my opinion, this was a mistake of major proportions that went mostly unnoticed by the golf media and golf pundits.
They also missed a big opportunity in promoting unity by not acknowledging the many good police officers who do a great job. Many of these police officers provide security during tour events and are avid golfers and fans of the game. For this, the Tour scored a quadrupled bogey, with an out of bounds.
The PGA Tour decided to kneel instead of lead, and for that they’ll never get a social mulligan.
PGA Tour scorecard? Way, way over par.