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#PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan has led way in sports’ coronavirus response

#PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan has led way in sports’ coronavirus response

PGA of America to the PGA Tour: “Thank you.’’

This is an underlying theme to the PGA Championship, as it begins this week at Harding Park in San Francisco as the first major championship of 2020.

The PGA of America, the governing body for this year’s first major championship, has taken copious notes of how the PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has conducted the past eight weeks of tournaments since the COVID-19 restart of its halted schedule.

So, too, have the commissioners of every other professional sport — all of whom have consulted with Monahan, who’s become somewhat of an unwitting pioneer since he was the first to restart his sport’s season after the pandemic put a pause to all pro sports.

Monahan is not in the PGA Championship field this week. He will not take a single shot at Harding Park. But he’s already a big part of the goings on because of the way he’s led the PGA Tour in its restart, paving the way for the PGA.

“It’s been nothing short of heroic,’’ Seth Waugh, the CEO of the PGA of America, told The Post when asked about Monahan’s leadership. “I’m biased, because I’m a huge Jay fan. But he was in the heart of it. They were into Players [Championship in March] when it went from playing with fans to no fans to cancellation. Within 24 hours, he went from game on to game off and everything in between.’’

All along, Waugh and the powers at the PGA of America had the advantage of time after they postponed the PGA Championship from May to August.

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PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan leaves the clubhouse.Getty Images

That has allowed them to observe how Monahan and the PGA Tour has done things, which to date have been more than admirable considering the fact that, entering last week, they’d administered some 7,000 COVID-19 tests on the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour, and had just 25 come back positive among players, caddies and essential tournament personnel.

“In terms of bringing back sports, he was the first to say, ‘We’re going to play,’ in June when no one thought anyone could do anything and it felt like a dream,’’ Waugh said. “We were all hopeful and rooting for it, but we weren’t sure it made any sense.’’

It’s not only made sense, it’s been a resounding success — so much so that Monahan, if he wanted, could bill consulting fees to the likes of NBA commissioner Adam Silver and his comrades from the NHL, Gary Bettman; Major League Baseball, Rob Manfred; and the NFL, Roger Goodell.

“We’ve shared what our plans were going into our return,’’ Monahan said recently. “I think what they’re most curious about is: ‘What are you learning now that you’re in operation and that your plans are underway, and what are some of the things that we could benefit from?’ ’’

Monahan, of course, had no guidebook, because there’s no such thing for a pandemic.

“There’s obviously been a lot of excitement about golf’s return, and the PGA Tour has done a remarkable job of bringing it back and showing leadership and guts to do things,’’ Waugh said. “They’ve been unafraid to learn week by week and what they can do better. It’s been remarkably smooth. We’re glad we’ve gotten a couple of months or so to watch and learn.’’

Andy North, who’ll be calling the PGA Championship this week as an ESPN analyst, has taken notice of the work Monahan has done the past two months.

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PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Jack Nicklaus ride in a cart.Getty Images

“I hope that at the end of this season, whenever it does end, there will be some stories written on what a great job the Tour did of figuring out how to handle this and how to deal with it and how to move on with their business,’’ North said. “I’m usually very critical of the Tour [and] have been for 30, 40 years because that’s what we did as players. But I think they’ve handled the situation very, very well.’’

California has been one of the U.S. states that’s seen a heavy spike in cases in recent weeks, making this week even more challenging. There was speculation for months that the PGA Championship may never be played in San Francisco with rumors of it moving to another venue out of state running rampant.

“It’ll be a sigh of relief once we get this going,’’ Waugh said. “You’re nervous every day about what could go wrong. I’m glad we’re the first major. I’m really glad we weren’t the first event. It’s been a gift to us to have eight weeks to watch and learn. There’s a lot of comfort in that.’’

PGA of America to the PGA Tour: “Thank you.’’

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