MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With recent concern over the Delta variant of the coronavirus and an increase in positive cases around the country, the PGA Tour this week reimplemented an indoor mask policy for all individuals, but stopped short of resuming its COVID-19 testing.
Two weeks ago, the Tour stopped the practice of weekly testing at events.
“Given the increase in cases across the country, resumption of some level of serial testing is a possibility,” said Andy Levinson, senior vice president, tournament administration for the PGA Tour, in an email. “However, at this time with our high vaccination rates across core constituents, our medical advisors have not recommended testing of asymptomatic individuals regardless of vaccination status.”
The PGA Tour reported that 85 percent of its “constituents’ are fully vaccinated. That includes a rate above 70 percent for players and above 90 percent for caddies. Others included and who were routinely tested at tournaments were rules officials, tournament administrators and media relations personnel.
When the Tour resumed play in June of 2020 following a three-month shutdown due to the pandemic, it required weekly testing on site, with tweaks made along the way. Those who were not at a tournament were required to test at home and again on site. Players who took a Tour-organized charter between events were also required to test prior to flying and again at the next tournament.
Several high-profile players tested positive over the past year, including Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott, Tony Finau, Sergio Garcia, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau.
In April, the Tour announced it would only test those players, caddies and support personnel who were not fully vaccinated, then decided to stop it completely at the 3M Championship in Minnesota last month.