Reigning RBC Heritage champion C.T. Pan set to defend

HILTON HEAD, S.C. – Turns out C.T. Pan was ahead of the curve, quite literally, when he withdrew from THE PLAYERS Championship on the eve of the PGA TOUR’s showcase event back in March.

Pan was concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic, which was just starting to put a stranglehold on the nation’s consciousness. He’d played in front of the sellout crowds at TPC Sawgrass before, and he and his wife, Michelle, just didn’t feel comfortable with him teeing it up there amid all the uncertainty.

“It was a really tough decision,” Pan said on Tuesday. “In my whole career, including junior golf, I've never withdrawn from a tournament. I can tell you an example like in Junior World when I was 11, my nose was bleeding, and I still insisted to play.

“... But for the safety of my family and myself, my wife and I, we think that's the right call to pull myself out early. Honestly, PLAYERS Championship is the biggest event on the PGA TOUR, and a lot of people come to watch.”

Within 24 hours -- and after one round that won’t ever be in the record books – the TOUR joined every other major sports organization in shutting its season down. For the better part of the next three months, the United States tried desperately to flatten the curve of the coronavirus.

Pan, who is now traveling in an RV rather than flying, was in Texas last week for the TOUR’s Return to Golf at the Charles Schwab Challenge. The 28-year-old from Chinese Taipei, who won the RBC Heritage last year, missed the cut but walked away comfortable with the testing and protocols put in place.

“I think the TOUR has put out so much efforts the last two months to create a safe environment for us to play,” Pan said. “Last week I was totally impressed by how they do things. The testing is impressively quick and easy. The social distancing, they're still doing that. And the grab-and-go meals, that's something I suggested them to do, and they said that's great, that they would do that.

“You know, I think they're trying to follow the rules just like everyone else out there, and hopefully they will be the model for NBA and MLB and for them to proceed to their next steps. So far, I'm very impressed about how PGA TOUR handled this.”

At one point during the three-month layoff, the RBC Heritage was among the 11 tournaments canceled in the wake of the pandemic. But when the TOUR announced its revamped schedule, the popular event at Harbour Town had moved into the dates of the U.S. Open that was postponed until September.

“Usually, cancellation means it won't be back for the whole year until '20-21,” Pan said. “So when they announced the new schedule, it was quite a surprise to me that RBC is the second event on the schedule, so I was really happy to see that.

“My wife and I, we love this place. We love coming back here.”

Pan spent the unprecedented mid-season, three-month break back home in Houston. He set up an indoor driving range in his garage so he could get in some work on his TrackMan. He also set up a YouTube channel to share golf tips with his fans.

By May, he had started playing again at his home course, BlueJack National, which Tiger Woods designed.

“It was weird the first shot hitting the ground, but I definitely appreciate that more,” he said.

The RBC Heritage is usually played the week after the Masters and offers TOUR players a chance to catch their collective breath after the pressure cooker at Augusta National. This year will be different, though, with no fans allowed onsite, although the resort town Hilton Head appears as bustling as ever.

This won’t be a vacation for either member of the Pan family, though, since Michelle is caddying for her husband this week. Their practice round on Tuesday was a trip down memory lane – at least for Pan. His wife missed his first TOUR victory because the junior event they host was the same weekend.

“This morning I played the back nine,” Pan said. “... So, I kind of told her how I played each hole and even each shot. I even showed her where the hole locations are and like the birdie putt on 16, the par save on 17 from the top bunker, and 18 I hit a great shot, the approach shot to 15 feet.

“So that was really fun to go through that again and having her in the ropes and caddying for me because she wasn't here last year. So, it's great to be back.”