Colonial landed another big name, but a few international stars are backing out
The Charles Schwab Challenge seemingly adds a big-time player to its field on a daily basis.
Irishman Shane Lowry became the latest addition on Thursday as the reigning British Open champion committed to the Fort Worth event. Lowry will be making his Colonial debut.
It gives the Colonial three of the defending major champions along with Brooks Koepka (PGA Championship) and Gary Woodland (U.S. Open). Tiger Woods, the 2019 Masters champion, has not played at Colonial since 1997 and has not scheduled it on his calendar yet.
While Lowry joins top-ranked Rory McIlroy, No. 2 Jon Rahm and 2018 Colonial champion Justin Rose as notable European players in the Colonial’s 144-man field, a few international stars have decommitted.
Tommy Fleetwood, an Englishman ranked No. 10 in the world, is no longer expected to make his Colonial debut. Fellow Englishman Lee Westwood, who was once the No. 1 player in the world, has also backed out of the tournament.
Fleetwood and Westwood both cited the quarantine restrictions as the biggest deterrent. International travelers coming into the U.S. are subject to a 14-day quarantine, which means those wanting to play in the Colonial will likely have to arrive in the U.S. by Monday.
That would allow them two weeks to quarantine before the Colonial gets underway the week of June 8 with tournament rounds June 11-14. Upon returning to their home country, the players would be subject to another two-week quarantine.
“It’s six weeks for two tournaments, and to me, that’s just not worth it,” Westwood told the Golf Channel earlier this week. “And it’s not worth taking the risk if everybody thinks that those kind of precautions have got to be in place. I don’t feel like golf’s a priority if it’s that severe.’‘
Fleetwood echoed that it would require too much time away from home to play at the Colonial and other U.S.-based events in the near future.
Another international player who won’t be playing in this year’s Colonial is Australian Adam Scott. The 2014 champion, who never committed to play, cited concerns over the PGA Tour’s coronavirus testing protocols.
The PGA Tour released a detailed 37-page packet outlining its protocols for returning to play, including tests prior to leaving for a tournament and a COVID-19 test upon arrival at the golf tournament site. After that, there would be daily screenings and thermal readings.
“They are being fairly thorough, but my initial reaction was I was surprised it wasn’t tighter than it is,” Scott said in an interview with the Australian Associated Press. “What concerns me is dialogue that (the tour) is hopeful of returning one- or two-hour test (results). You’d want that in place before competing.
“The other (concern) is it seems an asymptomatic person could operate within a tournament. If they’re not showing symptoms and I somehow pick it up inside the course and I’m disqualified, I’m now self-isolating (in that city) for two weeks. I’d be annoyed if that happened.
“I thought you’d start quite tight and loosen those protocols to normal, if appropriate.”
The PGA Tour has acknowledged that players may be wary of competing, or could be forced to self-isolate, during the pandemic. That’s why it has frozen players’ statuses for the 2020-21 season unless they earn a higher ranking during this shortened season.
Additionally, the PGA Tour is working with its international players to ensure they can return to the U.S. in as safe of an environment as possible.
“We are pursuing all avenues to facilitate the timely re-entry for players currently outside the United States for the restart of the PGA Tour’s season,” the PGA Tour said.
Schauffele commits
While the Colonial lost a top 10 player with Fleetwood backing out, No. 12-ranked Xander Schauffele joined the field. Schauffele is considered a budding star in golf following a runner-up finish at the Masters last year and a runner-up finish at the British Open in 2018.
Schauffele has been ranked as high as No. 6 in the world.
Joining Lowry and Schauffele as newsworthy commits on Thursday is Billy Horschel, who won the 2017 AT&T Byron Nelson in its final year at TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas.
This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 3:52 PM.
