The 16th hole is one of golf’s more famous holes. On Saturday, the par 3 becomes a concert venue.
Always looking to push the envelope, WM Phoenix Open tournament organizers The Thunderbirds have done just that with its first Concert in the Coliseum.
The 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale is one of golf’s more famous holes. On Saturday, the par 3 becomes a concert venue.
Construction on a stage started on Wednesday and will take three days to complete. On Friday, the light towers will be installed. On Saturday, it’s show time as country music stars Old Dominion and Thomas Rhett will rock the house in the arena that surrounds the hole.
The two bands will perform on a stage that sits between the tee box and the green.
On Lexi and Bubba and more from the final round in Naples.
NAPLES, Fla. — LPGA star Lexi Thompson and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson finished ninth out of 12 teams in the QBE Shootout on Sunday.
But their 23-under total was Thompson’s best in her five appearances in Greg Norman’s PGA Tour event. Thompson had tied for fourth while playing with Tony Finau in 2017, but they had shot 21 under.
Thompson and Watson shot a 4-under 68 in the final round, which uses a better-ball format. That meant Thompson had to play her own ball from the same tee as all 23 male players, roughly 900 yards further than the Tiburón Gold Course layout she played in the LPGA’s Tour CME Group Tour Championship a few weeks ago.
“The experience was great,” Watson said. “Today I just didn’t have it. This is the first time, I guess counting the pro-am, playing five days in a row in 3 1/2 months. She played unbelievable. I couldn’t ask for a better partner. She putted phenomenal. She hit a lot of amazing shots, even playing those tees. Even today, playing her own ball, she hit so many great shots.
[vertical-gallery id=778185800]
“I couldn’t ask for a better partner, but she could — I didn’t make that many birdies today.”
Thompson had played with Bryson DeChambeau in 2016, and Finau in 2017 and 2018, and Sean O’Hair two years ago. She wasn’t able to play in last year’s Shootout after the U.S. Women’s Open was moved back due to the coronavirus pandemic and ended up being the same week.
Thompson and DeChambeau tied for 11th in 2016, and Finau and Thompson were seventh in 2018 following up their fourth-place finish the year before. O’Hair and Thompson were last in 2019.
“It was overall amazing,” Thompson said. “I was so happy to be able to team up with (Bubba) this week. This week is so much fun, growing up with older brothers, just playing with the guys and playing from all the way back. But to be alongside Bubba, always rooting me on, helping me out, and just feeding off each other as a team is an honor to be out there, and we had a lot of fun doing it.”
Lexi Thompson of the United States plays his shot from the 18th tee during the final round of the QBE Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club on December 12, 2021 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Leaders go cold
Marc Leishman and Jason Day had a three-shot lead going into the final round of the QBE Shootout on Sunday. Then they extended it to four early at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.
And then they went cold.
The two Aussies made one birdie in an eight-hole stretch on the middle of the front nine and early on the back. By the time they made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 13 and 14, they were chasing eventual winners Jason Kokrak and Kevin Na.
“I mean, just a little bit off, I think,” Leishman said. “Just cold putters. But Kevin and Jason, they played some unbelievable golf. I don’t even know what we shot. We just left too many shots out there and just couldn’t get it going. In four-ball you have to see those putts drop in and we weren’t able to do that.”
“We just didn’t get the putter rolling today, so kind of started from the get-go with me three-whacking off the front edge there,” Day said. “Just didn’t get any sort of momentum kind of rolling unfortunately.”
Day is still working on some swing changes to keep his back, on which he had noninvasive surgery, from bothering him.
“It’s still not 100%,” Day said. “Obviously every day I come off and I’m just a little bit in pain still because it’s just not quite — it’s hard. Like I’m standing out there and I’m trying to get my left hip back and cover it with the ball, I feel like it’s going to go 50 left and then I kind of dump it back underneath, which is the old move and it’s no good for me.”
Burns, Horschel bogey again
Sam Burns and Billy Horschel bogeyed in the modified alternate shot format Saturday, and joked they’d be OK making another bogey in the final round if it meant a victory.
That nearly was the case.
The pair bogeyed the par-3 No. 5, but birded 10 of the last 11 holes to finish second at 32-under.
“Once again got off to a slow start like we did in the scramble format and once again we made another bogey as two professionals playing a best ball format, so that’s really solid,” Horschel said sarcastically. “But other than that, we got hot.”
Burns hit it tight on the 18th hole, but Horschel holed out for birdie from near the water hazard.
“Billy stealing my thunder on 18,” Burns joked.
Horschel missed a birdie putt on No. 15 for the only par on the back nine.
“I missed a putt I think I’ve had five straight years and I missed it the same way every time,” Horschel said.
“We’ve got it in the book this time,” Burns interjected.
“We marked it in the book this time for next year,” Horschel followed up.
Defending champions just short
Harris English and Matt Kuchar said neither played all that well Sunday. Still, they tied for third, two strokes behind winners Jason Kokrak and Kevin Na.
So in seven appearances, English and Kuchar have won three times, finished second two times, third one time, and somehow in 2017 tied for 10th.
English had made an eagle on No. 17 to get them to 31 under, one back of Kokrak and Na at the time, but Kokrak birdied No. 18.
“It was a good run all things considered,” Kuchar said. “I don’t think either one of us were on our best form and I think we partnered up fairly well. There were a couple holes Harris was out that I was able to kind of hold on, recover, even make some birdies, which was fun. And then Harris just kind of owns this back nine and put it on on the back nine. Really, really kind of got us back in at least with a chance on the last hole.”
“We didn’t have our A-game today, I certainly didn’t, but he kept me in it,” English said. “We had a chance down the stretch.”
Live Fest was just as lively as it was two years ago. Even livelier for PGA Tour player Brandt Snedeker.
NAPLES, Fla. — Live Fest was just as lively as it was two years ago. Even livelier for PGA Tour player Brandt Snedeker.
The Nashville native knows quite a few in the country music world, including Saturday night’s headliner, Thomas Rhett. So Snedeker went to chat with Rhett before the concert.
Little did he know what present Rhett was going to bestow upon him.
“I’ve gotten to know Thomas a little bit, being a Nashville guy,” Snedeker said Sunday. “Kind of met up before the show just to say hello to him. He kind of spurred it on me that he was going to bring me out on stage and sing ‘Friends in Low Places’ (the Garth Brooks classic) with him. I vehemently denied it, said I didn’t want to do it, that I can’t sing, it’s going to be awful.
“He won out. I had an hour and a half of nervousness waiting to be called on stage, and was able to kind of fake my way through it. But it was something cool, something I’ll always remember. It was super nice of him to do it.”
Snedeker will never forget it, but he will also remember it when it comes to Rhett.
Thomas Rhett performs at Live Fest during the QBE Shootout at the Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Florida, on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021. Photo by Chris Tilley/Naples Daily News
“I’m going to try to turn the tables on him at some point in my career and get him out on the golf course make him feel the way I did,” Snedeker said with a laugh.
Snedeker said he hadn’t heard any critiques from his fellow pros yet.
“I think they thought I did OK, knowing I was terrible at it,” he said.
“If he ever decides not to play golf, I think he has a great career in singing and acting,” offered Charles Howell III.
A year off due to the coronavirus pandemic had little effect on the concert.
Darius Rucker and Lady A had headlined the inaugural show in 2019 with more than 8,000 people on the Tiburón Golf Club driving range. Organizers planned for 9,000 this year, with Rhett and Swindell the main acts, and reached that number.
“It was another magical night in Naples,” tournament director Rob Hartman said. “The energy, the atmosphere last night was just incredible. A sold-out show, over 9,000 people. It was an amazing night.”
Local act Ben Allen Band, with their namesake singer coming off an appearance on NBC’s “The Voice” in the interim between Live Fests, kicked off the show once again, just after 5 p.m. Female trio Runaway June performed as a duo, with Natalie Stovall and Jennifer Wayne taking turns filling in for lead singer Naomi Cooke, who posted she was out for medical reasons on her social media.
The anticipation only grew bigger in time for the final two acts, Swindell and Rhett, with event creator Steve Hagenbuckle thanking the crowd for another successful show.
“He did a great job last night,” Hartman said. “This is his baby and his vision. For him it’s very rewarding to be up there on stage and see what he created come to fruition, and it is for all of us.”
Gates opened at 3:30 p.m., but the stream of cowboy hats and boots—not the typical golf attire—started crossing near the Tiburon putting green around 3 p.m., many with lawn chairs at the ready.
“We knew what to expect this year, but we still had that feeling of they won’t stop coming in,” Hartman said. “There’s a flow of traffic. We open our gates at 3:30, so 3:30 to 7 p.m., it was a constant flow of people.
Runaway June performs at Live Fest during the QBE Shootout at the Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Florida, on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021. Photo by Chris Tilley/Naples Daily News
“One of the coolest things for us is we had a tremendous number of our golf fans who stayed for the concert. We also had thousands and thousands of people who came before the concert, and then were exposed to golf as well. So you talk about the blending of music and golf, it’s all coming together.”
Hartman said over half of the 24-player field of tour pros took in the show, with one highlight in particular, with Snedeker getting called up.
“It was incredible,” Hartman said.
Hartman credited all of the artists, but Swindell and Rhett in particular. Swindell played both days of the pro-am, and also performed at the pro-am gala Thursday night.
“I can’t say enough good things about Cole Swindell and Thomas Rhett,” he said.
Hartman and Team Wasserman, the tournament and the event’s management company, pulled out all of the stops to pull off the concert.
“To put on an event of this magnitude, it takes an army, and the effort that was put in by the Wasserman team. … we’re firing on all cylinders,” he said.
Hartman said improvements geared toward general admission such as increases in concession stands and restrooms, as well as a video board, were hits. He said concession sales were 30 percent higher than in 2019. A center walkway also was added for the acts coming out in front of the stage.
“We had the environment that we wanted around the stage, which was a full pit, lots of energy,” Hartman said. “The acts feed off that.”
Hartman said he doesn’t anticipate increasing the capacity for next year.
“I think we’ve found our sweet spot,” he said. “We’ve got a great model. We will continue to tweak that model because you learn more things every year. We’ll continue to improve the experience, make investments in the right areas.”
Hartman also was happy that the property was cleared less than an hour after Rhett finished around 10 p.m.
And after some deep breaths, work toward 2022 will start.
“Year-round planning goes into five hours of music,” he said.
After being canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the QBE Shootout’s concert, Live Fest, is back.
NAPLES, Fla. — After being canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the QBE Shootout’s concert, Live Fest, is back.
Thomas Rhett, Cole Swindell, Runaway June and Ben Allen Band will play on the Tiburón Golf Club driving range from 4:30 to 10 p.m. ET Saturday.
Live Fest is just another example of the meshing of golf and music, with many events across all three major tours having concerts as part of their experience.
Fittingly, when Hartman got together with Lady A’s Charles Kelley, whose band played the inaugural Live Fest in 2019, they did on a golf course. In Nashville.
“The snow melted for a day and we were able to get out to play,” Hartman said. “So many of these artists are really embracing the game.
“The melding of music and golf has been around for a while, but it’s only going to get bigger and better.”
That goes for the second Live Fest as well. After 8,000 fans attended the 2019 concert that featured Darius Rucker, Lady A, Jordan Davis, and Ben Allen Band, organizers have made room for another 1,000 people.
All tickets are sold out except for general admission, which are $135 (children 10 and under get in a free with a ticketholder) but Hartman said many of the improvements from the 2019 inaugural Live Fest are with the general-admission crowd in mind.
“It was our first time ever hosting a concert,” Hartman said. “We were building a temporary venue for one night. Most of our improvements were in the guest experience. We’ve gone from 43 points of sale to concessions up to 73. We’ve more than doubled our restrooms that we have on property. We’re adding a center walkway. We’re adding a video wall for the GA ticketholders.
“Much of the improvements that we’ve made and investments we’ve made have made have been on the general admission side to improve the overall experience without losing sight of having a first-class hospitality experience for our VIP ticketholders and corporate sponsors.”
Hartman said Kelley made some introductions to Rhett’s and Swindell’s teams to get the ball rolling for this year’s lineup.
“He helped facilitate some conversations,” Hartman said. “At the time, we weren’t sure we were going to be able to have this.”
But since that February meeting, for the most part, live music has returned, and Hartman was buoyed by the response when tickets went on sale.
Field update
One “third” is in the field this week, and another dropped out.
Charles Howell III will make his 12th start in the Shootout after Lee Westwood withdrew due to an illness. Howell will be paired with Ian Poulter.
Harold Varner III withdrew with an injury, and 2021 Honda Classic champion Matt Jones will play with Ryan Palmer instead. When Jones, an Australian, won the Honda, he received a congratulatory video call from Shootout founder and host Greg Norman, his idol.
Last week, U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker, a former Shootout champion, withdrew and was replaced by PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Will Zalatoris, who will play with Sean O’Hair.
Pro-am celebs
ESPN’s Chris Berman, a regular during the pro-am, will not play this year due to a “balky back.” Boomer had played in the pro-am every year since 2004.
Country singer Cole Swindell, who is one of the headliners of Saturday’s Live Fest concert, and Bret Baier of Fox News are playing in both pro-ams Wednesday and Thursday.
Winners in the field
Jones joins 10 others who have won on the PGA Tour in 2021 or early in the 2021-22 season. The others are: Sam Burns, Harris English, Max Homa, Billy Horschel, Kevin Kisner, Jason Kokrak, K.H. Lee, Marc Leishman, Kevin Na and Hudson Swafford.
First-timers
Jones is among six first-time participants, joining Burns, Homa, Lee, Swafford and Zalatoris.
The concert will take place on a stage built in the middle of the 16th hole fairway.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Waste Management Phoenix Open has added a Concert at the Coliseum to its live music programming for 2022.
Thomas Rhett and Old Dominion will take the stage at the iconic 16th hole for the inaugural Concert at the Coliseum on Saturday, Feb. 5, providing fans with an earlier start date for the festivities.
The Phoenix Open week runs Monday, Feb. 7, through Sunday, Feb. 13.
General admission tickets for the Concert at the Coliseum are $150 and go on sale at 9 a.m. Monday, Nov. 1, at WMPhoenixOpen.com.
A limited number of suites with all-inclusive food and beverage are also available. The Concert at the Coliseum is a 21-and-older event.
Doors open at 3 p.m. Old Dominion will kick things off at 5 p.m., with Thomas Rhett taking the stage at approximately 6:30 p.m.
The concert will take place on a stage built in the middle of the 16th hole fairway strictly for this show.
In a news release, tournament chairman Dr. Michael Golding said, “We’ve all seen the energy fans bring to cheer on the PGA Tour players at the 16th hole. We can’t wait to see and feel that buzz at night for Thomas Rhett and Old Dominion.”
Birds Nest concerts for 2022
Live music will, of course, continue at the festival’s popular Coors Light Birds Nest.
The Birds Nest will bring Sam Hunt, Macklemore and Kygo to the big tent when the popular concert series returns on the weekend of Feb. 9-12, 2022, for the golf tournament. Tickets are on sale at coorslightbirdsnest.com.
The Wednesday headline act and remaining Birds Nest lineup will be announced as more artists are confirmed.
Thomas Rhett performs “What’s Your Country Song” at the 56th Academy of Country Music Awards at the Grand Ole Opry Saturday, on April 17, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo by George Walker IV/The Tennessean
In a release, Golding said, “We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome music fans back to the Coors Light Birds Nest and to kick things off with an incredible lineup of musicians.”
Headlining the Thursday, Feb. 10, show is American country music star Sam Hunt with special guest, multi-platinum recording artist Russell Dickerson.
More about Sam Hunt, Macklemore, Kygo
A former college football quarterback, Hunt has topped the country airplay charts eight times since breaking through with “Leave the Light On” in 2014, including the multi-platinum smashes “Take Your Time,” “House Party,” “Make You Miss Me” and “Body Like a Back Road.”
Four-time Grammy winner Macklemore will headline Friday, Feb. 11. Macklemore earned his four Grammy’s in 2014: Best New Artist, Best Rap Album (“The Heist”), and Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for hit single “Thrift Shop,” one of his two No. 1 singles that year.
He also earned two American Music Awards in 2013 for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album as well Billboard Music Awards in 2013 and 2014 for Rap Song of the Year (“Thrift Shop”) and Top Rap Song (“Can’t Hold Us”).
Rounding out the lineup is Norwegian-born producer/DJ Kygo, along with special guests Sam Feldt and Forester on Saturday, Feb. 12.
Kygo has built a career on popular remixes, sellout shows in North America and Europe and headline performances at Coachella and Ultra Music Festival with 15 billion global streams. The multiplatinum “It Ain’t Me” (feat. Selena Gomez) cracked the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 with more than 2.5 billion streams worldwide.
This is Kygo’s second Birds Nest appearance, following his successful debut in 2020.
Changes are coming
The Birds Nest will see some changes this year to the outdoor patio area.
The live performances will still take place inside the 48,000-square-foot-tent, but the area outside the tent will offer an enhanced fan experience with more of a festival atmosphere.
In a news release, chairman Eric Brandt said, “We wanted to take a look at how we could improve the overall fan experience, especially before the headliners take the stage.”
Brandt said ticket holders “can expect a much more fan-friendly atmosphere where they can meet friends for drinks after golf, come early to have a bite to eat at food trucks, play outdoor party games and enjoy the various outdoor bars and seating areas.”
Birds Nest general admission tickets start at $75. VIP tickets are available starting at $285, which includes exclusive access to an enhanced VIP area where guests are treated to complimentary food and drinks and access to a premium viewing area for the shows.
Organizers encourage fans to buy their tickets early as ticket prices will increase as the event draws closer.
The Birds Nest is located directly across from the main Phoenix Open tournament entrance. The entertainment venue opens at 3:30 p.m. and closes at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
Headline acts will take the main stage each evening at approximately 8:30 p.m. The Birds Nest is a 21-and-over venue.
