Speaking at a news conference ahead of this
week's Players Championship in Florida, Monahan felt there was
light at the end of the tunnel regarding pandemic-related
protocols but the PGA Tour was not about to let its guard down.
"We will continue to provide testing for the foreseeable future
and, hopefully, as we get to a high percentage of our players
that have been vaccinated, we can start to pull back from the
program that we know it as of today," he said.
"It's hard to determine when that will be, but clearly we see
light at the end of the tunnel."
There is no mandate in place requiring PGA Tour players to be
vaccinated but Monahan said players are eager to be inoculated
against COVID-19.
Last year's Players Championship was cancelled after the first
round because of the pandemic, which marked the start of the PGA
Tour's three-month COVID-19 hiatus.
This week's event at Ponte Vedra Beach will feature the
strongest field of the year and allow 20% of the usual crowd
capacity at TPC Sawgrass.
The protocols that were in place when play finally resumed have
since evolved and some, including temperature checks upon
arrival at events, have been removed in recent weeks.
But Monahan, credited with salvaging a season last year that
many feared would be lost to COVID-19, said the PGA Tour
continued to guard itself from thinking the worst was in the
past given vaccination efforts were ramping up around the world.
"We've seen surges, we've seen the unpredictable, the uncertain
nature of this pandemic and this virus," he said.
"While we see light at the end of the tunnel and there are a lot
with vaccination and the progress that we're making and the hope
that's in front of us, you take that, but you still have to
remind yourself that you've got to focus on your plan and your
protocols and make sure we're doing everything we can to keep
health and safety as our number one priority."
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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