If only someone had given a shout of ‘fore’ then perhaps the coronavirus and its associated ravages could have been nipped in the bud.
As it stands, golf, like everything else, is facing up to the unprecedented chaos. “I think The Masters will drop, logic tells you it will,” declared Iain Stoddart, the manager of some of Scotland’s leading golfers, as he pondered the knock-on effects of this global pandemic.
“The coronavirus is going to go round at a furious rate of knots and I can see April and May being a write off.”
On the European Tour, where Stoddart’s leading lights ply their trade, events have been dropping quicker than the Bank of England’s interest rates due to the remorseless march of COVID-19.
The Indian Open, set to be defended by Stoddart’s sturdy stalwart Stephen Gallacher next week, was called off yesterday while news swiftly followed that the circuit’s Czech Masters, which was not due to take place until late August, has also been postponed.
In total, five European Tour events have already fallen by the wayside while schedules across the golfing spectrum, from the LPGA Tour to the third-tier MENA Tour, have been savaged as the virus grips the world in a double nelson.
His players may not be competing amid this enforced hiatus but that doesn’t mean Stoddart is sitting in self-isolation twiddling his thumbs. “As a manager the biggest thing in the short term is unravelling stuff and sorting out all the plans for events that you had in place,” he said.
“You’ve made bookings for stuff right across the schedule for the whole year. China and Malaysia got called off early so we didn’t lose too much on that and to be fair the tour have been very good in refunding hotel rooms and everything.
“You just hope you can recoup things. We have to be re-active as opposed to pro-active and we just have to roll with the punches.”
A couple of weeks ago, the Italian pair of Edoardo Molinari and Lorenzo Gagli were tested for coronavirus during an event in Oman but, thankfully, both returned negative results.
“They were on the cusp of being caught in a horrible situation and the last thing you want is to be quarantined somewhere far afield,” said Stoddart. “Thankfully, all our boys are back in Scotland.”
Stoddart is waiting to hear if his star client, Robert MacIntyre, will get into the forthcoming WGC-Matchplay in Austin, Texas.
PGA Tour officials have stated that it is going ahead as planned but with large, public gatherings like the renowned South by Southwest festival being cancelled in the same city, nothing can be guaranteed. “You have to think it (the WGC event) will be off, golf can’t be immune to this,” added Stoddart.
With lives being lost, sport is of little consequence in the grand scheme of things. That doesn’t stop questions being asked, though. And there are more questions than answers at this stage
“One of the first things that came into my head was ‘does the tour’s qualifying school go ahead this year?’,” said Stoddart, of the annual scramble to get on to the tour.
“The guys who won their cards for 2020 are now facing very few opportunities to play.
“There’s a case to honour last year’s result and not hold a q-school this season. It’s early days, of course, and we’ll have to wait and see how bad things get.There’s no precedent for this.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here