Tiger Woods Adjusts to Competing Without Fans - The New York Times
sedar.indah.link
DUBLIN, Ohio — Tuesday morning, in his first appearance at a PGA Tour event in five months, Tiger Woods hit a majestic iron shot during a practice round that soared toward an elevated green 250 yards away. When the ball deftly skirted bunkers protecting the putting surface and settled eight feet from the 15th hole, one person among the handful of security officers, volunteers and media members watching Woods clapped his hands.
As the faintest possible applause pierced the stillness at the Muirfield Village Golf Club, home to this week’s Memorial Tournament, Woods seemed uncomfortable, or startled. Accustomed to being surrounded by tens of thousands of cheering admirers, even during practice rounds, Woods awkwardly turned to his one fan, offered a sheepish wave and smiled.
The coronavirus pandemic has meant that spectators are no longer allowed at PGA Tour events, including practice rounds, a situation that has led to quiet, uneasy non-celebrations even as a tournament-clinching final putt falls into the hole. Woods has watched the scenes from afar on TV, but on Tuesday he got his first taste of the changed environment.
He is still trying to adjust.
“I’ve been there when they’re throwing drinks towards the greens and people screaming, high-fiving, people running through bunkers — that’s all gone,” Woods said to reporters after his practice round. “That’s our new reality that we’re facing.”
As Woods spoke, it was as if he was remembering something he took for granted and now wished he had not.
“It’s a very different world out here — not to have the distractions, the noise, the excitement, the energy that the fans bring,” he said. “It’s just a silent and different world.”
Woods added, “Very stark, really.”
He was asked if he could remember the last time he had played a competitive round without a crowd present. Maybe in college at Stanford?
Woods slightly shook his head. He was having none of it, and deadpanned: “Even in college I had a few people following.” He then grinned.
“I’m used to having so many people around me or even touch me — just going from green to tee,” Woods said after a practice round on Tuesday.Credit...Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times
It was perfectly reasonable to expect that Woods might miss his golf kingdom during a five-month tour layoff this year, but who knew he missed his subjects so much?
Even if the course atmosphere on Tuesday was entirely different at Muirfield, Woods was still happy to be back and insisted he was far more fit than he was his last tournament appearance in mid-February, when he finished last among the golfers who made the cut at the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles. At the time, Woods’s surgically repaired back was stiff and inhibited his swing. By May’s made-for-TV match in Florida, where he and Peyton Manning paired to beat Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady head-to-head, Woods looked both consistently sharp and powerful.
“I’ve been able to train a lot,” Woods said Tuesday. “I’ve been able to do a lot of things that I hadn’t done in a very long time, which is spend a lot of time with my kids and be around them.
“Physically, I feel so much better than I did then. I’ve been able to train and concentrate on getting back up to speed and back up to tournament speed.”
The coronavirus can stay aloft for hours in tiny droplets in stagnant air, infecting people as they inhale, mounting scientific evidence suggests. This risk is highest in crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation, and may help explain super-spreading events reported in meatpacking plants, churches and restaurants. It’s unclear how often the virus is spread via these tiny droplets, or aerosols, compared with larger droplets that are expelled when a sick person coughs or sneezes, or transmitted through contact with contaminated surfaces, said Linsey Marr, an aerosol expert at Virginia Tech. Aerosols are released even when a person without symptoms exhales, talks or sings, according to Dr. Marr and more than 200 other experts, who have outlined the evidence in an open letter to the World Health Organization.
What are the symptoms of coronavirus?
Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.
A commentary published this month on the website of the British Journal of Sports Medicine points out that covering your face during exercise “comes with issues of potential breathing restriction and discomfort” and requires “balancing benefits versus possible adverse events.” Masks do alter exercise, says Cedric X. Bryant, the president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit organization that funds exercise research and certifies fitness professionals. “In my personal experience,” he says, “heart rates are higher at the same relative intensity when you wear a mask.” Some people also could experience lightheadedness during familiar workouts while masked, says Len Kravitz, a professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico.
I’ve heard about a treatment called dexamethasone. Does it work?
The steroid, dexamethasone, is the firsttreatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.
What is pandemic paid leave?
The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.
Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 happen?
So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.
What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?
Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.
How does blood type influence coronavirus?
A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.
How can I protect myself while flying?
If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)
What should I do if I feel sick?
If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.
While the five-month break from elite competitive golf was not expected, Woods said he had learned to adapt to such layoffs since they have become a necessity after his many back reconstructions.
“Unfortunately, over the last few years I’ve been used to taking long breaks and having to build my game to a level where it’s at a tour level at home and play a few tournaments here and there,” he said. “This was a forced break for all of us, but I’m excited to get back into playing again.”
Woods is the last American golfer ranked in the top 30 to return to the tour, and he admitted he weighed whether to come back sooner. (Some top golfers from other countries have not played in the United States because of mandatory quarantine restrictions.) But in the end, it was Woods’s popularity that factored heavily in his decision.
“I’m used to playing with lots of people around me or having lots of people have a direct line to me and that puts not only myself in danger but my friends and family,” he said, adding that he ultimately felt it was safer to remain at home in Florida.
“I’m used to having so many people around me or even touch me — just going from green to tee,” he said. “That’s something that I looked at and said, ‘I’m really not quite comfortable with that whole idea. Let’s see how it plays out first.’”
In returning now, Woods comes back to something of a second home at the Memorial Tournament, a place where he has won five times and he said he felt comfortable.
Until, perhaps, he hit a truly spectacular shot and only one person clapped.
No comments:
Post a Comment