It is not a query that begets a singular, clear-cut answer. However, after speaking with tour and tournament officials, players, caddies and an epidemiologist, the response also is not as ambiguous as it may seem.
Because of the 13 cancelled events, plenty of big-name golfers who thought they had time to play their way into the top 125 are now sitting on the bubble.
As he did earlier this year in winning at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Simpson’s work on the greens with his Odyssey Tank Cruiser V-Line putter proved key.
The first positive coronavirus diagnosis on the PGA Tour has brought with it a host of complicated questions, including what precisely led a player who tested negative earlier in the week to request a subsequent test Friday morning.
The Tour didn’t release the names of specific people tested, but his Friday playing partners, Luke List and Vaughn Taylor (along with their caddies), were almost certainly among the 11.
Nick Watney is the first player on the PGA Tour to test positive for COVID-19. He has withdrawn from the RBC Heritage and begun self-isolation, the Tour said in a statement overnight.
Those who test positive are being told to self-isolate for at least 10 days, and they need to have two negative test results at least 24 hours apart before returning to tour action.
It’s been a while since any of these players had played for this kind of money, and no doubt it was entertaining to see how they handled final-day pressure once more.