Whatever else this week’s Players Championship may be – fifth major, ode to the railroad tie, warm-up to the Masters, only with a better field – it certainly is a handy bookmark.
A year ago, it marked, as much as any mere sporting event could, all the angst and chaos of the coming coronavirus pandemic. And now this week, one interminable year later, as the Players welcomes back a limited number of fans to an island party at No. 17, it marks a hopeful note that we just may be emerging on the other side of this ordeal.
We cling to any sign of life as it was, even if it’s just some beered-up fool yelling, “In the hole!” in Bryson DeChambeau’s ear. That almost sounds like Brahms now.
On March 12, 2020, in front of a smaller-than-usual gallery – but a gallery nonetheless – Hideki Matsuyama shot a course-record 63 to lead the first round of the Players. Before the second round could commence, PGA Tour execs were going through the kind of contortions that would easily land them a Cirque du Soleil gig.
In quick succession, they went from announcing the tournament would continue with no fans to outright scrapping the event. The NBA had postponed its season two days earlier, and Major League Baseball was on the verge of abandoning spring training. Everyone was scrambling, but because of the wide-open spaces and its non-contact nature, golf thought it might be able to skirt a shutdown. Until it couldn’t. Ah, good times.
There wouldn’t be another golf ball hit for profit for three months. Keep in mind that half the Players purse was divvied up among the field, amounting to a bit more than $50,000 a man. Your top golfers have required no stimulus.
“It’s the anniversary of where the world really changed, especially the sporting world,” Rory McIlroy said Tuesday from TPC Sawgrass in suburban St. Simons or Jacksonville, according to which state you favor.
So, happy anniversary. How shall we celebrate? A Zoom mixer? A champagne toast by Anthony Fauci? The traditional gift for the first anniversary of a pandemic, I believe, is a paper mask.
One whole year just shot to hell. Who could have known back then? “It’s funny, at the start of that week you had people sort of fist bumping or elbowing and I’m thinking, what are these people doing, this is stupid. And then five days later the world shuts down,” McIlroy said.
We’ll never be able to laugh about this one day. The best we can do at this point is take some encouragement from gradual advances. Like the measured return of fans to the first golf event sacrificed to COVID-19 last year. It’s a sign.
And as it stands now, there’ll be another hopeful twist next month when the Masters invites back a few of its badge-holders after staging a November tournament in a sound-proof booth. They treat crowd figures there like a trade secret, so exact percentages will be elusive.
“I definitely think it’s a step back to normal,” DeChambeau said Tuesday. He won last week at Bay Hill to the ring of live applause. “This is one year removed from us not playing golf, and the world kind of shutting down. I think it’s cool that one year later we’re back to somewhat normal. There obviously are different things that are going on, but I would say that for the most part, it’s pretty amazing to see fans back out.
“Fans are what create some of that momentum for players, and for me, I know that was definitely the case last week.”
No, certainly, golf and sports in general are far from all the way back. For instance, they just announced that June’s Canadian Open was to be canceled because of continuing coronavirus concerns. And 2016 Masters champion Danny Willet just withdrew from the Players after testing positive. So, there’s the obligatory splash of cold water that comes with any show of optimism.
And you wonder just how long it will be before players and fans can interact the way they used to? When will fans again reach out to high-five a player on his way to the next tee and when will players wade through post-round autograph lines?
When, then, will we be totally comfortable in each other’s company again? There is a wide mental canyon to cross here. “There’s a part of me that likes people to have freedom and to have their own choice and all of that, but then you walk into like a busy restaurant in Florida and you’re sort of taken aback. You’re like, whoa, maybe we’re just not quite ready for this yet,” McIlroy said. “The idea (of casting off restrictions) is great, but then when you actually start to live it, it’s like, whoa, maybe this is a little too soon.”
Incidentally, Justin Thomas figured out he was out of the high-fiving-fans business even before the pandemic. Not like hygiene should be a recent phenomenon.
“Regardless of what’s going on in the world, I think it’s a smart decision for me personally to not be touching random people and then touch my face and eat food,” Thomas said.
“But,” he added, “it’ll all make sense and get back together when it can.”
None of it has made sense for a full year. But people are back at the Players Championship ready to delight in the discomforts TPC Sawgrass inflicts upon a comfortable profession. The next 63 might just stand up for the week. It’s a start.
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