Zhang excited to return in testing times

Much of the scene on Tuesday at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas was about what one would expect to see at a PGA Tour event. Players milled about the driving range while others took in practice rounds, where traditional ropes outlined the course.

But in this new normal in the age of coronavirus, not everything was the same. There were little to no handshakes between friends and no grandstands or hospitality tents to be found. The quiet sounds of chipping and putting were louder than ever without the roars of autograph seekers waiting to drown them out.

But golf was still back, no matter how different it may look.

"I passed my COVID-19 test yesterday when I arrived, so I feel ready to go," China's Zhang Xinjun said. "I'm very excited to be here in Fort Worth and at this tournament. I feel strong and anxious to start playing here on Thursday."

Zhang is part of a 148-player field this week at the Charles Schwab Challenge, the tour's first event since The Players Championship was canceled in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By the time players arrived in Fort Worth this week, 91 days had passed since the last tournament－the tour's longest unscheduled stoppage of play since World War II.

"I was really happy to be able to stay at our new home in Jacksonville (Florida) with my newborn son and the rest of my family," Zhang said.

"I'm not really used to doing that because I'm always on the road competing in tournaments for two or three months at a time. Having that much time to spend with my family has really been a great thing."

The new reality that welcomed Zhang and his colleagues back into tournament golf will take some getting used to. Cheering galleries, at least for the first four events, are gone. In their place are COVID-19 nasal swab tests.

"I'm not going to lie, I think it was pretty far up your nose," Spain's world No 2 Jon Rahm said.

Despite all that oddness, a winner will still be crowned on Sunday. That's normal enough for now.

"You can't go into this thing saying it's going to be normal because it's not," Justin Thomas said. "I would say 2020 is beyond a bizarre year so far, and especially in the world of sports, it's just going to be different.

"If we all want to get back and play the game that we love－and not just for us, but for the fans and everybody at home－we're just going to have to get over the fact that it's going to be different and be a little weird."

The PGA Tour will hold a minute's silence during each round to signify support for protests against racial and social injustice.

The silence, held both at the Charles Schwab Challenge and the developmental Korn Ferry Tour, is to mark the protests which have swept across the US following the death of unarmed black man George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.

In addition, the PGA Tour has set aside a blank 8:46 am tee time at both events, reflecting the 8 minutes and 46 seconds that Floyd was pinned to the floor with a police officer's knee on his neck before his alleged murder.