Reed Talking Point: Will Rahm's plight spur unvaccinated athletes to get shots?

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The state of Ohio is offering its residents a shot at $1 million as an incentive to get vaccinated. 

Jon Rahm topped that Saturday night at the Memorial Tournament giving away $1.67 million in first-place prize money that almost certainly would have been his had he not tested positive for COVID-19. The tournament’s defending champion carded a third-round 64 and held a six-stroke lead before PGA officials notified him of the bad news.   

The 26-year-old Rahm, who ranks third in the world, was understandably upset, and just about everyone who publicly addressed the issue at the Dublin, Ohio course this weekend expressed sympathy for the Spaniard’s plight. 

“We're all devastated," golfing legend and tournament founder Jack Nicklaus told reporters prior to Sunday’s final round. “I wish we could figure out how to give Jon three-fourths of the trophy.”

But the Golden Bear, who along with his wife was stricken with the virus in March, added: “Getting vaccinated is a business decision in many ways.” Whether Rahm’s disqualification prompts other golfers to get the shots — a PGA Tour tournament administrator said “north of 50 percent” of its members are fully vaccinated — remains to be seen.

Nicklaus is absolutely right, however. Rahm made a choice and, in this instance, it cost him a prestigious tour win and a significant payday two weeks ahead of the U.S. Open. 

Naturally, social media went into overdrive and everyone chose up sides. We’re a nation divided, one that can’t seem to agree on anything these days except that Tristan Jarry needs to work on his glove hand. 

The virus has been harmful on so many levels, and I’m not taking this opportunity to dunk on anyone. My wife and I are vaccinated, but nobody should be forced to get the shots if they don’t want them. Whether it’s for religious, medical or freedom-of-choice reasons, I respect their decisions. 

But understand there are consequences for actions, or in this case, inaction. It’s not yet clear where Rahm, an Arizona resident, was at on the vaccination spectrum, and tour officials declined to comment on it. We don’t know if he had opted not to get the shots, whether he had only taken one shot, or had taken both and had not yet past the two-week “all clear” phase. What we do know is Rahm wasn’t fully vaccinated, or the tour would not have been testing him all week after learning on Monday that he had recently come into close contact with someone who had the virus. 

Rahm had tested negative all week until Saturday. He also is believed to have followed the rules by staying out of indoors facilities such as the clubhouse and locker room. The good news is he’s asymptomatic and, after isolating for 10 days, Rahm has a decent shot at playing in the Open at Torrey Pines, where he won a 2017 tour event.

Some have suggested that Memorial and PGA officials should have allowed him to complete the final round, walking the course without anyone else in his group. That was never going to happen, and officials quashed the idea Saturday night. Rahm isn’t the first player to test positive on the tour, and the others who did also were forced to withdraw. So the PGA wasn’t going to break with precedent. 

Rahm certainly was aware of the risk he was running. He could have been vaccinated several months ago. Unlike some of us who have been afforded the luxury of working from home, you can’t win tournaments without being on the course. 

The five-time PGA Tour winner gambled and lost. He’s hardly alone. The Capitals were without one of their best players, Evgeny Kuznetsov, for a three-week stretch, including the first two games of their opening-round playoff series loss to the Bruins, after testing positive for a second time this year.  At least Rahm didn’t have to face teammates and coaches, and explain his absence. With nearly $25 million in career earnings, he’s also not taking food out of the mouths of family members. 

But with COVID-19 case numbers dropping in the United States, it’s clear the vaccines are having an impact. “There’s no hassle to it after you get vaccinated,” Nicklaus said. 

Will Rahm’s story spur other athletes to roll up their sleeves? There’s been nothing predictable about the past 18 months except a lot of outrage over the best way to deal with the health crisis. 

Meanwhile, the second $1 million winner in the Ohio vaccine lottery was revealed this week, with several more to come. Jonathan Carlyle, an Amazon delivery driver, is one of 3.2 million Ohioans who have taken at least one vaccine dose to qualify for the drawing, according to ABC News. 

“Nothing like this ever happened to me,” Carlyle said. 

Rahm knows the feeling. Let’s see what he and others do about it.

YOUR TURN: Does the Rahm disqualification spur other athletes to get vaccinated?