FORT WORTH, Texas – If you watch golf on TV this week, you know the suspect is at or near the top of the star ranking board.
Jordan Spieth? You know him. Rory McIlroy, ranked 1 in the world? You know him.
Same with Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Gary Woodland, Bubba Watson and Justin Rose – all the big names in the middle of the fight at the Charles Schwab Challenge enter the game weekend.
You might have noticed some other names behind the caddy auto bibs – names you don’t know, but people who are far more important in big life schemes than people who hit and chase white balls around the golf course for millions of prize money.
You might not know who John Hollingsworth is. You most likely have never heard of Anit Singal, John Burk, Alan Kramer or Steven Meadors.
All are part of one of the coolest initiatives the PGA Tour has dreamed of – recognizing 148 first respondent areas of the COVID-19 health service by putting their names on the auto caddy along with the names of the players.
“I think it’s a very clever idea to bring awareness and appreciation to the work being done,” Hollingsworth, director of critical care medical at Fort Worth Texas Hospital of Health, told The Post on Friday. “We are in capacity at our hospital now, and my concern is people are ignoring warnings when unfortunately I think we might be at the beginning of this second wave. I pray that it won’t be this bad. ‘
Kramer, assistant vice president of health systems strategy who appeared at UT Southwestern, told The Post, “This is a difficult time, and with the tour coming back, it is a glimmer of hope for many people. Paying attention to health workers who have experienced the great difficulties of the past few months are the extraordinary things about this tour. ‘
Rose called it “a great honor to have Mr. Kramer’s name right next to me,” added, “We’ve been home for three months. People who obviously work on the front lines may not have seen their families for three months. This is a real contrast Certain areas and certain sectors have reached their maximum limits, and it is clear that healthcare workers have become absolute champions and true heroes in all of this.
“Recognizing them in any way is important, but this is a fun initiative, and it’s something cool, and hopefully walking on the fairway on Sunday afternoon can bring a smile to Alan Kramer’s face if we disagree and maybe just give him a little light assistance. I think after a few months it was quite difficult for all of them. “
Bernhard Langer and his caddy and daughter, Christina Langer, prepare to play from the ninth tee. Caddies wear a combination of their golfer’s name and the name of the first respondent on the back of their bibs during the tournament.Getty Images
One shame about this program, which is scheduled to continue for the next two tournaments – RBC Heritage next week at Hilton Head and the Travelers the week after that – is this: With no fans allowed in the tournament, recognized health workers cannot being in a sunbathing tournament in their newly discovered fame.
Burk, a critical care lung specialist at Pulmonary & Critical Care Consultants with service for 43 years, has his name behind Tim Mickelson’s bib when he praised him for his brother, Phil, who missed the piece. But he didn’t even find out about it until his son, Justin, called him from Nashville on Thursday after seeing him on TV.
“I got a call from my son, who asked me, ‘Dad, did you play golf?’ Burk, who is not a golfer, told The Post. “Now there are several phone calls and pictures sent and my sons have all decided that I now have to play golf at the moment.”
Like Burk, Singal, a doctor at UT Southwestern Medical Center, not golfers also don’t know much about the game. But he was touched by the PGA Tour movement.
“I don’t know many golfers, but I know about Rickie Fowler,” Singal said. “My wife does not know sports, but she knows Rickie Fowler. When I hear that I will be attached to her, it makes honor even greater.”
Unfortunately, like Mickelson, Fowler failed to prune, so the name Singal was no longer visible around the Colonial for the next two days.
“I have never thought of myself as someone who is shown on TV on a sporting event,” Singal said. “This is a lifelong dream that I don’t think will be fulfilled.”
Unlike Burk and Singal, Meaders, a vascular surgeon at UT Southwestern Medical Center, is a cripple and a golf addict. His wife, also a doctor, put him on the list when the PGA Tour came calling.
“He said he filled out the form and I was like,‘ Yeah, right. What is my chance of being selected? ‘Meaders said.
He, and his name is behind Ryan Palmer’s bib caddy.
“I have been a golf fan all my life,” Meaders said. “So it’s a bit involved with the PGA Tour and my name on the bib is quite special, something I’ll never forget.”
