PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Paul Casey is not sure how all of his friends will deal with the state of affairs, however he mentioned he is blissful that the PGA Tour has instituted a coverage that can enable him to forego COVID-19 testing if he’s absolutely vaccinated.
The 43-year-old Casey, the two-time defending champion of the Valspar Championship, has had each vaccine pictures in Arizona, the place he lives.
It means the following time he performs a PGA Tour occasion, he’ll now not have to get a destructive consequence from a COVID-19 check.
“I am nonetheless anxious about worldwide journey arising,” Casey mentioned Wednesday on the Innisbrook Resort, the place the Valspar Championship begins Thursday. “I’ve obtained to go play the Porsche (European Open in Germany) in a couple of weeks after which The Open Championship (in England in July) and I need to go on vacation with my mates. I normally go to Italy and that is not going to occur for one more yr.
“So I am sick of it, and I am keen to do the issues essential to get by way of it.”
Casey, who’s from England, additionally competes on the European Tour and gained the Dubai Desert Basic in February.
The PGA Tour informed gamers final week that it plans to discontinue on-site COVID-19 testing in late June. But when a participant or caddie just isn’t absolutely vaccinated, he shall be required to be examined at his personal expense and won’t be able to play with a optimistic check.
Casey advised there are nonetheless a whole lot of questions being requested, as he was aware of a dialogue Wednesday the place a PGA Tour official was “speaking to a bunch of gamers concerning the vaccine,” he mentioned. “I am pondering microchips might need been talked about in that dialog. I am unsure.”
As a part of its memo final week, the PGA Tour pushed again in opposition to numerous conspiracy theories put forth concerning the vaccines, together with infertility and microchips.
“I do know what I really feel, and I do not know what the overall consensus is on the Tour by way of eager to get vaccinated, guys who do not, conspiracy theories,” Casey mentioned. “All I do know is that I believe like of lot of individuals on the market, like most of the people, we’re form of attending to the purpose the place we simply need to crack on with issues and get again to regular.”
Since returning to golf final June following a 13-week pandemic break, the PGA Tour has tweaked its testing program a number of occasions and customarily had good success, with roughly 35 COVID-19 associated instances amongst gamers, together with 26 on-site positives.
After a month of no optimistic instances, there have been six within the final two weeks, with all 4 gamers who examined optimistic this week — Will Gordon, Brice Garnett, Sepp Straka and Tyrell Hatton — having performed in New Orleans final week.
Many PGA Tour gamers are of the age the place the vaccines are simply now turning into accessible to them, relying on the place they stay and the varied journey schedules.
“Contact wooden they did not go it on to anyone else and did not have an effect on anyone else, and it looks as if we have not had anyone on Tour who’s been severely adversely affected,” Casey mentioned. “I’d attempt to attain as a lot as I can. I do not need to get on a soapbox and form of scream it, however all of us need to get by way of this. And the way else are we going to get by way of it except everyone has obtained antibodies and we get vaccinated.”