The PGA Tour Champions’ fourth event was the Cologuard Classic. The event which took place in Arizona had all players wear blue ribbons to honor a colon cancer patient, survivor, or even remembering someone who passed away from the disease. Stewart Cink, one of the former PGA Tour pros had chosen to honor the legendary reporter Steve DiMeglio. Now, the ongoing CJ Cup Byron Nelson at McKinney, Texas also features something similar.

The players taking part in the 4-day event at the TPC Craig Ranch will be wearing green ribbons as part of the “Green Out” initiative, which is happening in May. The initiative is taking place as part of Mental Health Awareness Month, and it will not just be the players who will be involved in this campaign. In a very interesting move, the caddies at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson too will be wearing special bibs.

As part of the currently underway Mental Health Awareness Month campaign, the caddies’ bibs will have special messages on them. There have been some very interesting and thoughtful messages on the bibs, which include “Family’, ‘Call Mom’, and ‘Hang with Friends’. The wide variety of messages shows the different approaches each player takes to improve their mental health. The messages reflect on how the players keep the mental aspect of their game strong and the ways and means they go about it.

This is in line with the event’s messaging as well. The CJ Cup has previously worked on fundraising to support the mental health of children, families, and communities. Since 1968, the event has helped 1 million children and trains 4,000 educators, mental health professionals, and caregivers to help the future generation of our community. Every year, more than 2,000 people get mental health services and parent education.

Several players have opened up about their mental health and the importance in maintaining it in a sensible way. “For me, it’s getting the confidence and just the inner self-belief is a big part of it,” Justin Thomas had explained his views on mental health. Even Scottie Scheffler faced severe mental hurdles after a disappointing performance at the 2024 US Open. “I think mentally fatigued. I think with golf, the physical aspect of it is something you can really train for. The mental part is, I would say, more difficult to train for,” The current World No.1 stated. Remember, he was in the middle of one of his best ever individual seasons at the time. This is a very important issue and stakeholders in the world of golf are beginning to understand it.

So far,  the PGA Tour event has raised a huge amount of $190 million for several of their activities. With the continuous impact on society, the “Green Out” is a great campaign that sparks change in the most important areas of the community. Even last year, the Texas-based event went with a similar theme. Mark Hubbard had ‘Take Nap’ on his caddie, while Min Woo Lee had ‘Play COD’ on his caddie’s bib.

S0 how do golfers deal with their mental health?

Based on a 2022 study published by the International Journal of Golf Science, there are worrying numbers for mental health in golf. The 2020 Challenge Tour players were sent a questionnaire which assessed various symptoms associated with mental health.

The two-week symptom prevalence was 10.3% for depression, 51.7% for distress, 8.6% for anxiety, 10.3% for sleep disturbance, 13.8% for obsessive thoughts and 27.6% for compulsive behavior. 67% of players who had experienced a mental health issue did not seek professional help at the time and 61% of players did not think sufficient support was available to them. Needless to say, the increased necessity for initiatives like Mental Health Awareness Week is paramount.

The initiative by the CJ Cup Byron Nelson team is a great way to bring mental health to the forefront of discussions. With messages in caddies’ bibs, players get to share their approach and ideas with the other golfers and the rest of the world and if even one person finds solace in a concept, the initiative has achieved a huge win. Ben Kohles went with the simple message, ‘Enjoy Nature’. Kohles was candid regarding his choice of message and how it helps him work on his mental health: “We live in a world with a lot of screens these days, and I’m guilty as well; spend too much time on the screen. If you can just get outside and enjoy nature is nothing but good for you.”

For Jake Knapp, ‘Workout’ was his preferred way of staying sharp. Knapp explained how working out helps him refresh his mind. “Whether I need to take off stress or kind of work through something, it’s just always been somewhere that I go. Whether it’s like to the gym in general or training with guys in my garage or something like that, it’s just a good stress reliever for me.”

What do you think of the idea behind the caddie’s bibs carrying supportive mental health messages? Should this be a continuous tradition at the event? Chime in below!