The PGA Tour has announced that golfers will not be required to take mandatory Covid-19 tests if they have already been vaccinated.
The Tour has held to strict protocols for players competing in a safe bio-bubble, but numerous golfers and caddies have tested positive upon arrival at an event.
With the vaccination process in full flow in the USA, the PGA Tour is confident players who had a vaccination dose 14 days or longer before an event, can enter the on-site bio-bubble without Covid-19 tests.
READ: DeChambeau pulls out of RCB Heritage
‘As the Covid-19 vaccine is becoming more readily available, more individuals are being vaccinated,’ read a Tour email earlier this week.
‘PGA Tour Health and Safety protocol requires individuals to continue testing onsite until 14 full days have passed since their second dose [Moderna & Pfizer] or 14 full days since their single dose [Johnson & Johnson]. Once 14 days have passed, individuals are no longer required to take a Covid-19 test when considered “inside the bubble” at PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions or Korn Ferry Tour events.’
Players, caddies and coaches will thus gain access to an event via a vaccination card on the Health Roster app.
Competitors will, however, not be forced or required to be vaccinated in order to play each week, in which case they will have to return a negative Covid-19 result.
‘We’re going to do everything we can to educate all of our players on the facts behind vaccinations,’ PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said at last month’s PLAYERS Championship.
‘I think the most important thing right now is education, and then we’re going to do everything we can to support vaccination for our players when it’s appropriate to do so.’
