How much “louder” will LIV Golf get in its second season?

How the field qualified for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open as of 10/3/2020: Check here for updates. Winner – PGA/U.S. Open Championship Jason Day Bryson DeChambeau Collin Morikawa Jimmy Walker Winner – THE PLAYERS Championship Rickie Fowler Si Woo Kim Webb Simpson Winner – The Masters Sergio Garcia Winner – The Open Championship Zach Johnson Francesco Molinari Winner – World Golf Championship Event Hideki Matsuyama Winners of the Arnold Palmer, Memorial, Genesis (Last 3 Years) Patrick Cantlay Jason Dufner Tournament Winner in Past Two Seasons Ryan Armour Keegan Bradley Paul Casey Cameron Champ Stewart Cink Austin Cook Tyler Duncan Dylan Frittelli Brice Garnett Lanto Griffin J.B. Holmes Max Homa Charles Howell III Sungjae Im Sung Kang Michael Kim Patton Kizzire Russell Knox Satoshi Kodaira Matt Kuchar Andrew Landry Nate Lashley Troy Merritt Keith Mitchell Sebastián Muñoz Kevin Na Joaquin Niemann Ryan Palmer Cheng Tsung Pan Pat Perez Scott Piercy J.T. Poston Ted Potter, Jr. Andrew Putnam Chez Reavie Cameron Smith Brandt Snedeker Brendan Steele Hudson Swafford Nick Taylor Martin Trainer Kevin Tway Richy Werenski Aaron Wise Matthew Wolff Career Money Exemption K.J. Choi Luke Donald Hunter Mahan Bo Van Pelt Sponsor Exemptions: 2018-19 FEC / 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Category Chesson Hadley Kristoffer Ventura Sponsors Exemptions – Members not otherwise exempt Martin Laird Kyle Stanley Sponsors Exemptions – Unrestricted Parker Coody MJ Daffue Justin Suh Will Zalatoris PGA Section Champion\Player of the Year Craig Hocknull Past Champion of Respective Event Smylie Kaufman Top 125 on Prior Season’s FedExCup Points List Scottie Scheffler Harris English Tony Finau Abraham Ancer Kevin Streelman Byeong Hun An Brian Harman Joel Dahmen Jason Kokrak Mark Hubbard Danny Lee Tom Hoge Carlos Ortiz Adam Hadwin Harry Higgs Russell Henley Talor Gooch Louis Oosthuizen Robby Shelton Maverick McNealy Doc Redman Denny McCarthy Henrik Norlander Charley Hoffman Xinjun Zhang Sepp Straka Harold Varner III Cameron Tringale Cameron Davis Vaughn Taylor Patrick Rodgers Brian Stuard Emiliano Grillo Matt Jones Kyoung-Hoon Lee Scott Harrington Matthew NeSmith Ryan Moore Sam Ryder Adam Schenk Wyndham Clark Sam Burns Zac Blair Scott Brown Brian Gay Beau Hossler Lucas Glover Luke List Scott Stallings Rory Sabbatini Tom Lewis Bo Hoag Top 125 (Prior Season Nonmember) William Gordon Major Medical Extension Charl Schwartzel Kevin Chappell Kevin Stadler Graham DeLaet William McGirt James Hahn Sean O’Hair Jamie Lovemark Camilo Villegas John Huh Greg Chalmers D.A. Points 2018-19 Top 125 FEC/2019 Top Finishers Korn Ferry Tour Cat. Fabián Gómez Rafa Cabrera Bello Bronson Burgoon

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With the Charles Schwab Challenge, scheduled for June 11-14 at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, the PGA TOUR is set to lead the way as professional sports begin to emerge from a nearly three-month quarantine amid the coronavirus pandemic. As to how it will do that, the answer is very carefully. “It’s really a layered approach that we’ve taken, and the heart of it is social distancing,â€� the TOUR’s Senior Vice President and Chief of Operations Tyler Dennis told reporters Wednesday on a call that also included Chief Tournaments and Competitions Officer Andy Pazder and Senior Vice President of Tournament Administration Andy Levinson. That layered approach will include plenty of testing. Players and caddies will be expected to comply with medical questionnaires, thermal (temperature) readings and RT-PCR nasal swabs. It will start before they travel to tournaments and continue when they arrive. “We’re excited about how the PGA TOUR can play a role here in the world’s return, if you will, to enjoying things we love and doing so in a responsible manner,â€� Dennis said. Pazder concurred, calling this moment “a unique opportunityâ€� to lead the way. Players such as Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy and Brendon Todd have said they’re in and will do whatever is needed to return to competition. All three will be in action at Colonial, and McIlroy has said he’ll play the first three tournaments back, which will also include the RBC Heritage (South Carolina) and Travelers Championship (Connecticut). (For more on McIlroy’s schedule, click here.) Asked this week if he had any reservations, McIlroy said, “I don’t think so. If you take necessary precautions … face cover … washing hands … practicing social distancing, I really do think it is possible. If everyone follows guidelines, I don’t see why it’s not possible. Will be comfortable with logistics. I feel comfortable getting back out there.â€� Specifics were outlined in a document sent to players Tuesday. The plan was two months in the making and formed with input from PGA TOUR medical adviser Dr. Tom Hospel and the Federal Coronavirus Task Force, plus other specialists and laboratory directors, and in consultation with other professional sports leagues. The TOUR will provide masks and sanitizer at tournament sites, part of a significantly enhanced disinfectant and hygiene program. The number of people allowed inside any structure concurrently will be monitored and restricted. Most important will be a comprehensive testing and screening program that seeks to protect all involved. “For the player and caddie group,â€� Levinson said, “we are going to be providing that group with a pre‑travel testing program, and the purpose of this is really for those individuals to understand whether or not they have the virus before they travel to a tournament market. “And then upon arrival,â€� he added, “everyone will report to a testing area, likely at a designated hotel, where they will undergo all three screening methods: The questionnaire, thermal reading, and a PCR test. … Everybody who comes on‑site at our events will have to go through a questionnaire and thermal screening before entering the property, and participation is a condition of competition.â€� Although the results of PCR tests can take up to three days or longer, Levinson said the TOUR is working with local laboratories in an effort to shave that waiting time down to “a matter of hours instead of a matter of days.â€� One caveat: It must be done without taking resources away from local communities. “We’re actually studying this very carefully,â€� Dennis said, “and everything we’ve designed is being done in a way that does not do that.â€� Anyone who presents with an elevated temperature will consult with a tournament physician, and in certain cases go from there to COVID-19 testing. “In the event we have a positive test,â€� Levinson said, “we will comply with all local health authorities as well as CDC guidelines, and that would include isolating that individual and may require a period of isolation or an extended time.â€� The TOUR will support players with specialized medical care and supplies throughout the isolation period, he said, “and any player or caddie who were to test positive during an event would receive a stipend associated with the cost of that isolation period.â€� Healthy players and caddies will have access to chartered jets between tournament sites. With the TOUR’s relaunch a month away, it’s all about minimizing risk. Levinson freely admits there is no way to eradicate that risk completely, not yet, but as the players and caddies know best, with the toughest recovery shots there never is.

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SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda - Camiko Smith's childhood home abuts the fourth hole at Port Royal GC, site of this week's Bermuda Championship. "I actually hop over a fence, and I'm right on it," Smith said. "I used to get kicked off for doing that." This week, the Bermuda native will literally tee it up in his own backyard. Earlier this month, Smith won a Bermudian qualifier - by five strokes - to earn his first career PGA TOUR start this week at Port Royal GC. Also advancing from the local qualifier were Michael Sims and Anthony Phipps. For Smith, 35, it marks a memorable achievement in a persistent, perseverant career. The eight-year pro has maintained his dream via various income sources - assistant pro, lessons on the side, mini-tour earnings. For the past four months, he has worked for a Bermuda-based glass company, Commercial Glass & Aluminum. "Basically installing doors, windows, storm shelters, different things like that," Smith said. "Putting mirrors in people's houses and commercial buildings. "I play golf, and I'm working with glass. I guess it's touch-and-go sometimes. I've got to be very, very cautious, but it's definitely helped me along the way, just keeping my passion and drive alive.” A typical day for Smith: hit the gym at 4 a.m. Full workday at Commercial Glass, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Hit balls afterward - "just keep my swing loose." Smith expressed appreciation to his manager for providing two weeks off to prepare for and compete in the Bermudian qualifier. "I told him, ‘Hey, look, if I get in, another two weeks off.'" Two-round total of 1-under at Port Royal, five clear of second place. "He called me and said, ‘You've got another two weeks off, here you go.' He's pretty stoked about it." As Smith navigates Port Royal this week - beginning 1:35 p.m. AT Thursday with Ben Taylor and Seth Reeves, off No. 10 - he'll draw on childhood memories. He remembers as a 5-year-old, seeing family friends hitting golf balls in his backyard - Port Royal's fourth hole - and becoming intrigued. At age 9, he walked into the Port Royal caddie shop and "basically said, ‘Hey, guy, can I possibly have a golf club?'" That guy, Teddy Greaves, provided a club to try. Later it was range access, course access, playing together on the weekends. "A lot of gratitude toward him," Smith said of Greaves. "(Without him), I probably wouldn't be sitting here right now." Concurrently, Smith honed his game at home. "7:00, 8:00 at night, I would basically be on the putting green under the streetlights, putting, chipping, hitting balls. Putting a flashlight up at a flag, hit balls at it, putt at it. That's it right there, man. No. 4 is my yard." Under the tutelage of Greaves, Smith steadily got better. In 2013, while working at Bermuda's Belmont Hills GC, he turned pro. He kept working for a while, accruing savings. Eventually, Smith traveled to Florida, working with Fred Griffin at the Grand Cypress Academy and practicing at North Shore GC. He then migrated to Dallas, working with Carlos Brown at Hackberry Creek CC. This past February, Smith flew from Dallas to Bermuda for a par-3 event at Turtle Hill GC. Then, the hiatus. "It threw everybody a monkey wrench," Smith said. Smith stayed in Bermuda through the hiatus and began work at Commercial Glass while preparing for the Bermuda Championship qualifier. Next year, he plans to spend time between Orlando and Dallas while competing on the Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour (APGA). However life unfolds, he'll cherish this week forever. "To have it on my island, on my home course, right in my neighborhood, front yard, backyard, it's super exciting," Smith said. "Just looking forward to making everybody proud. Make myself proud, and my family and the island proud."

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