GOLF

Coronavirus dominates headlines at the 2020 RBC Heritage

6 years ago - Sportingbase

The 2020 Royal Bank of Canada Heritage completed on Sunday from Hilton Head, South Carolina, with Webb Simpson of Raleigh, North Carolina putting together four sensational rounds of golf with an overall score of -22. Simpson ended up beating Abraham Ancer of Mexico by a stroke to claim his seventh career title and second this year. Simpson, who won the 2012 U.S. Open despite posting a score of one-over-par, previously won the 2020 Waste Management Phoenix Open on Super Bowl Sunday, when he beat Tony Finau of Salt Lake City, Utah in a playoff.

However, the deadly pandemic of coronavirus unfortunately made headlines. On Friday, Nick Watney of Sacramento, California tested positive for the disease, and immediately withdrew from the tournament. According to Golf Channel, Watney did not seem to be looking too well during a practice round on Wednesday. Then on Friday, he had an elevated respiratory rate and was tested. The high rate was shown due to the fact Watney was wearing a Whoop device according to Bob Harig of ESPN.

Watney is 39 years old, and has won five times on the PGA Tour. However, his last win has not been since 2012, when he won The Barclays in New York, which is part of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Nick Watney is also the cousin of Heidi Watney, who works as a reporter for the Major League Baseball Network.

Furthermore, 2017 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas of Louisville, Kentucky deserves high praise for using his role as a professional golfer to show strong leadership in criticizing the people of the Hilton Head region. According to Rex Hoggard of Golf Channel, Thomas said the following:

“No offense to Hilton Head, but they’re (the people in the region) seeming to not take it very seriously. It’s an absolute zoo around here. There’s people everywhere. The beaches are absolutely packed. Every restaurant, from what I’ve seen when I’ve been driving by, is absolutely crowded.”

The state of South Carolina needs to clearly hear what Thomas is saying. South Carolina governor Henry McMaster should strongly consider an immediate shutdown of the state once again. There are currently 25,701 cases of coronavirus in South Carolina with 659 deaths and 14, 252 active cases. In addition to Watney, 23 Clemson University Football players have tested positive for coronavirus.