International players to require vaccine to play on PGA Tour

Non-American players and caddies will soon need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to play PGA Tour events in the United States.

According a Golf Channel report, the world’s most lucrative men’s golf circuit is not exempt from a new “Greensheet” that outlines new travel restrictions for overseas visitors entering the US.

The US State Department is mandating that, from November 8, foreign national air travellers to the United States be fully vaccinated and able to provide proof of their vaccination status prior to boarding a flight to the US.

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There will only be a handful of exceptions to this requirement. Playing or caddying on the PGA Tour is not one of them. 

A senior White House spokesperson said: “These are strict safety protocols that follow the science of public health to enhance the safety of Americans here at home and the safety of international air travel.”

Last month, bunkered.co.uk reported that only 83% of the tour’s “constituents” are fully vaccinated. 

According to the tour, constituents comprise players, caddies, essential staff such as rules officials, media officials and others who have close contact with players.

It is believed that the number of playing members to have received both doses is somewhere between 70% and 80%.

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At last week’s Bermuda Championship, the tour was unable to fill its already limited field, believed to be the result of Bermuda travel restrictions requiring that all inbound overseas visitors be vaccinated or willing to complete a period of quarantine. 

After this week’s World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, the PGA Tour will be played exclusively in the United States and US territories until the final week of March, when the Corales Puntacana Championship is scheduled to take place in the Dominican Republic.