At the Memorial Tournament, the PGA Tour confronts a Covid-19 vaccine… – Golf.com

By: James Colgan June 6, 2021

The Memorial Tournament hosted the first-ever vaccine clinic at a PGA Tour event this weekend.

James Colgan

DUBLIN, Ohio There is a cruel irony in the news of Jon Rahms positive Covid-19 test and subsequent withdrawal from the Memorial Tournament, and it can be found no more than 200 yards from the spot where Rahm folded over in shock after PGA Tour officials delivered the news.

It is the OhioHealth vaccine pop-up site, a small, green tent located between the main gate and the short-game area. Before Rahms devastating withdrawal on Saturday afternoon, the pop-up site was supposed to serve as the headline in the Tours ongoing efforts against the virus. The site is the first of its kind ever to be held at a PGA Tour event, an idea orchestrated and executed by public health officials from the state of Ohio, with approval from Memorial Tournament officials. For three days this weekend, fans have been invited to receive their free, one-shot Covid-19 vaccine at any time during the course of play.

Dr. Genevieve Messick is the sites medical director, and shes been on-site for all three days this weekend as a liaison, answering questions for members of the public who might be considering receiving a shot.

Its always good to be a source of truth, because now with how fast the vaccines were developed, people have a lot of questions, so we try to give good information based on clinical evidence, Messick said. Our team got together and said, What can we do where wed see a group of people? and I said, How about the Muirfield Tournament?'

Messick says the site has administered roughly 20 vaccines per day, including one to a PGA Tour caddie. The pop-up clinic comes as the PGA Tour and the nation as a whole begins to move past a vaccine inflection point. The number of daily doses administered throughout the country has steadily dropped from earlier in the spring, and the pace of vaccinations has slowed noticeably. The Tour has offered vaccines to players for several months and has incentivized those who undergo a full vaccine course by lifting many of the restrictions required of unvaccinated players. A spokesman for the Tour shared Saturday that north of 50 percent of pros are fully vaccinated, and that number is expected to grow.

We have strongly encouraged our players, our caddies, our staff, and anyone involved with our competition to be vaccinated, and we have presented educational materials and resources to educate them on that, completely understanding that it is an individual choice, said Andy Levinson, the Tours senior vice president of tournament administration. We just want to make sure that people have the proper facts, the unadulterated facts related to that. We have also been out quite a bit at Tour events having one-on-one conversations with people who have questions about the vaccine and are hesitant. And our advisor has been out every week for the last nine or t10 weeks or so doing just that, having one-on-one conversations and thats I think been extremely helpful. So we have strongly encouraged but not mandated.

But those restrictions on unvaccinated players are set to expire at the end of June. Under the new rules, Rahm who tested positive only after entering the PGA Tours contact-tracing protocols for confirmed close contacts likely would not have needed a test until he began presenting symptoms, which could have expanded the risk of infecting others.

This is a particularly prescient point given the makeup of those who have not received the vaccine to date a group Messick says is uniquely in need of motivation, and affected by convenience.

Initially, there was a group of people who wanted to get the vaccine and they all came early on, but what were seeing now is there was a group of people who werent really opposed to getting the vaccine, but it had to be convenient, she said. It was a younger population, theyre busier, they dont have much free time. So the strategy has changed now to make it as convenient as possible. To take the vaccine to where people are.

In the aftermath of Rahms asymptomatic positive test, its fair to wonder whether the Tour rule changes could disincentivize the vaccine process for the group of unopposed but still unvaccinated. After his round with Rahm on Saturday, Patrick Cantlay said since he already had Covid, he didnt feel too concerned.

Obviously it is somewhat of a concern, but I got to imagine that I had it earlier this year, so Im feeling pretty OK about it. Cantlay said.

Perhaps Rahms positive test will be what it takes to convince a large swathe of the PGA Tours vaccine holdouts, but if the golf public is any indication, the early returns at Muirfield Village havent been promising.

Were well aware of what happened yesterday, Messick said. At this point, I dont think its actually brought more people in, but its definitely brought more attention to the whole vaccination process.

James Colgan is an assistant editor at GOLF, contributing stories for the website and magazine on a broad range of topics. He writes the Hot Mic, GOLFs weekly media column, and utilizes his broadcast experience across the brands social media and video platforms. A 2019 graduate of Syracuse University, James and evidently, his golf game is still defrosting from four years in the snow, during which time he cut his teeth at NFL Films, CBS News and Fox Sports. Prior to joining GOLF, James was a caddie scholarship recipient (and astute looper) on Long Island, where he is from.

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At the Memorial Tournament, the PGA Tour confronts a Covid-19 vaccine... - Golf.com