The Waste Management Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Arizona is renowned as the golf event on the PGA Tour unlike any other. The typical etiquette and formalities of the sport of golf are thrown out the window, and replaced with a raucous atmosphere by thousands of fans.
The TPC ‘stadium’ course boasts a par-3 16th hole that takes on the form of an enclosed arena for one week a year. Fans queue at the gates of the tournament from nearly 5 am to race to the 16th hole for the best spot in the house.
Many avid golf fanatics have this week circled in the calendar all year round. The tournament almost always falls on Super Bowl week as well, which makes it a sporting utopia for fans of both sports. The tournament usually wraps up just before ‘The Big Game’ commences, giving those in attendance a full day of non-stop action.
It is a huge spectacle in the states and the entertainment aspect has lived up to the billing in recent years.
You had Sam Ryder’s hole-in-one on the infamous sixteenth in 2022 which sent those surrounding the hole ballistic, with a plethora of plastic beer cups flying in the air and a decibel level that rivalled that of a last-minute winner in the Premier League.
That same year, Joel Dahmen and Harry Higgs, depicted as ‘the people’s golfers’, both took their tops off in front of the crowd on sixteen after the latter rolled in a long par putt, only adding to the sheer chaos already on display. The scene was so far removed from the normal golf archetype that it poses the question, has it gone too far?
Fast forward back to 2024, this year’s tournament left a sour taste in a few players’ mouths. Play was affected by rare adverse weather in the desert which meant the competition was in catch-up mode for the whole weekend.
Long delays in play meant fans didn’t have much else to do apart from drinking all day. And some of the behaviour on display could subjectively be seen as over the line. The line, in this case, is relatively vague and ambiguous.
As aforementioned, players know what they are signing up for, they know the connotations of this standout event. Also, for a game that presides around silence when someone is hitting, it is somewhat astounding that no one has ever shouted something in a player’s backswing in a moment of significance.
However, this past weekend, a couple of players had enough. A clip made the rounds on social media of 2023 U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Zach Johnson reacting to a member of the crowd; he was riled up by something they had said and snapped.
Another video emerged of Billy Horschel confronting a fan who ostensibly spoke loudly whilst a player was taking a shot. These instances suggest that fans have taken it too far, and respect between the players and the fans has seemingly disappeared.
But then the response is, how does the tour rein it back in? Waste Management has built this reputation for the past couple of decades, surely those in power can’t just completely eradicate its whole identity.
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One thing is for certain though, despite the fun and games, no matter what the golf world looks like in the coming years, something needs to be done from a security standpoint, to uphold the integrity of the game. Otherwise, more and more players will be reluctant to keep this tournament in their already packed tour schedule.
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