Sports are back — at least for those who enjoy golf.
And the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge provided some quality entertainment as a plethora of the game’s biggest names rose to the top of the leaderboard by Sunday afternoon.
Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Reed, Gary Woodland and Bubba Watson all found themselves in contention to win the tournament. That’s some impressive star power.
But in the end, it was a couple of the game’s up-and-coming stars, Daniel Berger and Collin Morikawa, earning a spot in a sudden death playoff that Berger eventually won.
People all over the globe are anxiously waiting for their sports to return. Golf has been put in a unique position to lead the way back for professional sports in the United States. It’s perhaps the safest sport to play and compete in during a global health pandemic. It’s played outside, there’s no shared ball that all competitors come in contact with, and social distancing is pretty easy to execute when walking on a 150-200 acre field.
What does this suggest about the return of other sports? Let’s review what we learned from the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge:
Fans aren’t necessary For Drama
There were no fans in attendance for the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge, but that didn’t take away from the drama of the event. Sunday afternoon delivered a wild ride for golf fans. Golf is fantastic viewing because the same golfer can bury a 50-foot putt to tie for the lead and then miss a four-footer to extend a playoff.
Berger had to grind to even earn a spot in the playoff. He faced a 10-foot sliding putt on the 72nd hole of regulation golf to move to 15-under par for the tournament and tie for the lead. And he dropped it into the center of the cup.
Then, of course, Sunday’s broadcast provided one of the most heartbreaking, unfair lip-outs on the PGA Tour in some time. Schauffele was tied for the lead on hole No. 17 on Sunday and faced a short par putt to remain a co-leader with one hole left.
Sometimes, gravity just doesn’t work.
Without Fans, Viewers At Home Can Hear More
The presence of thousands of sports fans at an event provides a jolt of electricity to the venue. It’s why some golfers say they would choose not to participate in the 2020 Ryder Cup this season if fans aren’t allowed. They do make an impact, and competing without them is likely a significant adjustment for big-name golfers — as it would be for athletes of other sports.
The silver lining, however, is that the viewers at home can now hear things on the television broadcast they otherwise wouldn’t. For example, after Jon Rahm holed out from off the green on Thursday, the on-course microphones clearly picked up playing partner Brooks Koepka calling that shot “pretty f****** good there.”
Most golf fans have been yearning for more audio of the competitors during the event. The Charles Schwab Challenge broadcast featured more dialogue from golfers and caddies, whether it was a strategic discussion about a shot or a golfer simply venting frustration about a shot.
As other professional sports return without fans, the noise generally filled by crowd cheers will be replaced by commentary from the players themselves, for better or worse.
IT’s Impossible to Get Every Participant To Follow New Guidelines
Professional athletes have done things their way for a long time. The social distancing guidelines put in place by the PGA Tour were not radical and largely let the golfers and their caddies do what they always have. However, once these guys got into competition, it was easy to fall back into old habits. Players and caddies were handing clubs to and from each other, which was not suggested under the guidelines. The broadcast showed several instances where social distancing was technically violated.
But what is the PGA Tour going to do, penalize the players? Halt the return of golf altogether? Of course not. Creating completely new habits doesn’t happen quickly.
What Happens If an Athlete, Or Anyone at The Event, Tests Positive For COVID-19?
This is the wild card for everything. Luckily for the PGA Tour, everyone at Colonial Country Club for the Charles Schwab Challenge, including players, caddies, tournament officials, grounds crew, media, and anyone else that set food on the course, tested negative for the virus.
Moving forward, events will take place at a new course with new officials and new competitors. If there is a positive test, is the tournament shut down? Is just that individual, and those directly exposed, asked to quarantine? Hopefully, we don’t see the answers to these questions play out.
The Best Athletes Will Hit The Ground Running
Few golfers, especially those with the most popular names in the sport, showed any kind of rust during the first tournament back from the break. These are the best golfers in the world, and it shouldn’t be terribly surprising that level of play was as good as it was.
In other sports, it’s fair to expect the level of competition to be what it was prior to the middle of March. The expectation should be that the best athletes in the world have been training and preparing during the whole break. It showed during the Charles Schwab Challenge.
