The fans claimed they were barred from entering the tournament.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Nearly 2,500 golf fans have requested ticket refunds from the WM Phoenix Open, claiming they were barred from entering the tournament during the third round after organizers closed the gates in an effort to mitigate the drunken chaos that overwhelmed this year’s event.
The Open ended with a record-high number of arrests, was overly crowded, and became so disorganized that it infuriated professional golfers and longtime fans alike ― some of whom questioned whether they would return next year.
The chaos reached its peak on Saturday, Feb. 10, when, “due to the large inflow of guests” tournament security “made the decision to allow guests into the event without scanning tickets to alleviate pressure at the entrance gates,” according to tournament spokesperson Ryan Woodcock.
Organizers cut off alcohol sales and denied access to individuals who had purchased tournament tickets.
In an email six days after The Arizona Republic asked, Woodcock said in an email that 2,461 fans have requested their money back. None of them have received a refund as of yet, but that refunds were starting to be issued on March 7 for those who bought their ticket on the Phoenix Open website.
Those who bought their ticket on StubHub, Vivid Seats or anywhere else are out of luck, however. Woodcock told The Republic that “we are unable to verify ticket purchases through any other vendor,” so anyone who did not use the Phoenix Open web page to buy their ticket is not eligible for a refund, even if they were barred from entering.
“They really screwed over a lot of a lot of fans,” said John Christensen, who attends the Open every year with his father as a family tradition, but was unable to get into this year’s event and is ineligible for a refund. “We paid for something that we weren’t able to use.”
The Open organizers, who are a nonprofit organization called The Thunderbirds, declined to answer questions about how many fans attended the tournament. They haven’t announced attendance numbers since 2018.
It’s also unclear how many fans who bought tickets were turned away from the Open on that Saturday, let alone how many of them can’t get their money back because they used a third-party ticket service.
Woodcock did not explain why the tournament is unable to verify tickets purchased through other websites, saying only that the refund process involves, “verifying the purchase of a ticket through (our) website and verifying that the ticket was not scanned. Upon verification, we will issue a refund to any and all eligible fans who request a refund.”
Eligible fans have until March 31 to submit a refund request by emailing orders@wmphoenixopen.com.
“We understand the frustrations from those who have submitted refund requests and welcome the feedback and opportunity to improve our systems,” Woodcock wrote to The Republic. “To request a refund or inquire about a pending request, please email orders@wmphoenixopen.com.”
“There’s some major improvements and operational things that we are looking to make.”
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The 2024 WM Phoenix had a fantastic finish with a playoff that ended just before dark Sunday but this year’s version of the People’s Open is being remembered for rain, muddy conditions and the social media videos of fans drinking too much and getting into it with players.
Four days after its conclusion, tournament director George Thimsen told Golfweek there have already been long discussions about how to be better next time around, especially for the third round on Saturday, always the most highly attended day of the week.
“With respect to Saturday, I think we have a lot of things to learn from,” Thimsen said. “I think that we understand that it was a challenging set of circumstances that we had to navigate.”
Using the term “operational audit,” Thimsen said the Thunderbirds, the civic group that runs the WMPO at TPC Scottsdale, will look at the entire week.
“Each year as this tournament continues to grow, the Thunderbirds and all of our partners in law enforcement and first responders, we meet and we do a post-mortem of the event,” he said. “What are some of the key learnings that how can we continue to improve? And obviously this year, there’s some major improvements and operational things that we are looking to make and the Thunderbirds are committed to doing that.
“We’re committed to making this an event that the community is proud of. But, yeah, on that Saturday, the weather that morning and just the sheer number of people that still wanted to come out and enjoy the event, it did create a lot of congestion.”
Days of rain made many of the grassy hillsides unusable for fans. Well, mostly unusable except for the fan caught on viral video sliding shirtless face first in the muck, then getting doused in beer from several of his friends.
Do the Thunderbirds feel like part of the future plan is the discouragement of excessive drinking?
“We’re going to be addressing the distribution channels of alcohol and the alcoholic beverages to our guests and we’re going to make the necessary changes that we need to once we are able to diagnose everything, all elements of it,” Thimsen said.
“You’re hitting me at a very emotional point right now, so if I were to say if I’m gonna come back, I’d probably say no,” Johnson told The Arizona Republic. “But at the same time, I have no idea.”
Things may have come to a head around 2 p.m. on Saturday when the tournament gates were closed, even to fans who purchased tickets. That led to social media outrage. To make it up to those fans, Thimsen said they can send an email to orders@wmphoenixopen.com and after providing an order number, a ticket number or an email associated with the original order, get a full refund.
“We own up to it, we take full responsibility and own that Saturday was not perfect and we want to continue to prove that but the stage was not the normal stage that we have,” he said.
Justin Thomas thanks the crowd after his putt on the 10th green during the second round of the 2024 WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (Photo: The Arizona Republic)
Chance Cozby, executive director of the Thunderbirds, was on Golf Channel Monday and called Saturday a “turning point.” On Tuesday, he and next year’s WM Phoenix Open tournament chairman Matt Mooney visited Pacific Palisades, California, ahead of this week’s Genesis Invitational. The Sports Business Journal reported that the duo met with PGA Tour players throughout the day to get feedback, the most common being that fans didn’t seem to get out of line when uniformed police officers were stationed in highly visible areas.
Tournament organizers stopped announcing attendance figures in 2019. In 2018, the tournament reported a weekly attendance of 719,179 and a Saturday attendance of 216,818, the most ever in a single day on record for the event. That Saturday was also the third year in a row the attendance surpassed the 200,000 mark.
“I think there’s been a lot of speculative numbers out there and we actually don’t have a number that we have officially communicated internally yet so I don’t have a number,” Thimsen said when asked about a 2024 number.
What is still being tracked are public-safety security issues. The numbers show that arrests went from 18 to 54 from 2023 to 2024 and that ejections went from 102 to 211.
Security issues
2022
2023
2024
Calls for service
440
558
653
Arrests
0
18
54
Ejections
90
102
211
Trespass
14
41
73
Source: Arizona Department of Liquor License and Control
If last Saturday’s attendance was close to the 2018 mark of more than 200,000, then the 211 fans tossed out represents 0.1 percent and the 54 fans arrested is 0.03 percent of all the fans who attended.
Still, seeing those numbers double and triple, respectively, is a trend moving in the wrong direction.
The full operational audit will take time to complete but one distinct possibility is that fewer tickets will be sold on the popular days of Friday and Saturday in future years.
“I think that one thing you can definitely count on is that we’re going to make improvements and diagnose through our operational audit what makes the most sense for our tournament,” Thimsen said. “But if I were a betting man, I would say that likely there will be less people on a Friday and a Saturday at our event and that we would focus on quality over quantity.
“You know, we’re proud of the uniqueness and energy of the WMPOs. It is the People’s Open but we do understand that we need to make changes and not necessarily, you know, always bigger, but definitely always to get better.”
The Phoenix Open donated more than $14 million to charities after the 2023 event, bringing the lifetime total to close to $110 million.
“We’re hoping to be able to get to announce a number very similar because people are out there partying with a purpose,” Thimsen said. “I think that that’s really the main focus, that I hope people can rally around, which is, yes, there are some things out there that are fun to see on video and kind of scroll through when you’re on your social media but at the end of the day, we’re making a really big impact for our community here and that’s why we do what we do.”
It pays to play well on the PGA Tour. Just ask this week’s winner, Nick Taylor.
The 35-year-old Canadian won the 2024 WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona after making clutch putt after clutch putt to take down Charley Hoffman in a two-hole playoff on Sunday. For his efforts, Taylor will take home the top prize of $1,584,000. Hoffman earned a hefty consolation prize of $959,200. Best friends and Ryder Cup partners Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns finished T-3 and each earned $519,200.
With $8.8 million up for grabs, check out how much money each PGA Tour player earned this week at the 2024 WM Phoenix Open.
Scheffler has won nearly $6 million at the WM Phoenix Open.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It took just four appearances in the WM Phoenix Open for Scottie Scheffler to become the tournament’s all-time leading money winner. A year ago, the $3.6 million first-place check – it was a signature event in 2023 – put him at $5.3 million and vaulted him past Phil Mickelson, who made 30 visits to TPC Scottsdale and earned just short of $4.2 million.
Scheffler, who went back-to-back in 2022 and 2023, was unable to join Arnold Palmer in the tournament’s three-peat category in 2024 but he did tie for third with good friend Sam Burns, a finish that netted each $519,200.
That brings his career earnings total at the WM Phoenix Open to $5,824,541.
Nick Taylor, who won $2,180,000 a year ago for finishing second, banked $1,584,000 million for winning it this time in around, surviving a playoff against Charley Hoffman. Taylor’s Phoenix Open total is now $3,826,219, which ranks third all-time in the tournament. Rickie Fowler is fourth at $3,755,913.
The win is Taylor’s fourth of his PGA Tour career.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Nick Taylor clawed his way back from a three-shot deficit with four holes to go using a claw grip with his putter that propelled him to victory at the WM Phoenix Open.
Taylor birdied five of his last six holes at TPC Scottsdale on Sunday in an incredible display of putting to shoot a bogey-free 6-under 65 and win a two-hole sudden-death playoff over Charley Hoffman.
Taylor dropped his putter and clenched his fists as he birdied 18 for the third consecutive time – once in regulation and twice in the playoff — the final time from 15 feet. It marked the fourth career PGA Tour title for Taylor, who finished runner-up here last year.
“The finish was pretty dream-like,” he said.
Thirteen months ago at the Sony Open, at the suggestion of his short-game coach Gareth Raflewski, the Canadian Taylor switched to putting with a claw grip in which the left hand holds the club firmly and the right hand rotates so the palm faces his thighs. The grip is pinched “clawlike” by the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, and used to guide the stroke in a pendulum arc.
“My setup got much cleaner, my face rotation slowed down, so we’ve done the same drills for a year, just constantly repeating them over and over again,” he said. “I felt like growing up the claw was kind of a stigma. If you went to that, you probably struggled on the greens, but for me, once I committed to it, I haven’t turned back, and I’ve never putted better than the last year.”
Nick Taylor celebrates after defeating Charley Hoffman in a playoff at the 2024 WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Pros trying to improve their putting is considered golf’s endless and seemingly most futile search, but for Taylor, who dubbed himself as a streaky putter, it has been a game-changer, turning the biggest weakness in his game into a strength. Taylor famously holed a 72-foot eagle putt to win the 2023 Canadian Open in a playoff and end a 69-year drought for Canadians in their national open.
Having already won in his native land, Taylor, 35, added his hometown event. He has been a local resident since he graduated from University of Washington in 2010, and practices at TPC Scottsdale frequently. And yet until last year, he had always struggled reading the greens at TPC Scottsdale. That wasn’t the case this year as he holed 184 feet, 6 inches of putts in the first round, a personal high watermark. He gained 7.2 strokes on the greens, the fifth-best 18-hole performance in the ShotLink era dating to 2004, en route to tying the course record with an 11-under 60.
“I putted out of my mind,” Taylor said.
He followed with rounds of 70-68 and shared the 54-hole lead, but he trailed Hoffman by three strokes with four holes to go before his putter turned deadly one more time. He sank a clutch 10-foot birdie at 18 to force a playoff, and drained birdie putts of 15 feet and 11 feet in extra holes. For the week, he made 459 feet, 9 inches of putts, the most in the field and the best in Taylor’s 260 career Tour starts.
On Saturday evening, after the third round of the Phoenix Open was suspended due to darkness, Hoffman was asked what it would take to win the title.
“The lowest score,” he said with a wry smile.
The 47-year-old in his 19th year on the PGA Tour went out and gave it all he had. He wrapped up the third round when play resumed on Sunday with five birdies in his final six holes to shoot 7-under 64 and then matched that figure again to be the first player in the clubhouse with a 72-hole total of 21-under 263. Hoffman, a WM ambassador since 2007, was seeking his first title since 2016 but had to settle for his first top-10 since the 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic.
“I played my butt off,” Hoffman said. “I knew if I got to that 22 number it would be hard for (Taylor) to catch me, and left a putt short (at 18) in regulation. But I love the juices. I love competing. This builds a little fire in the belly. I definitely want to be back here.”
This time Taylor also managed to get the better of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who was bidding to win the title for the third straight year. Scheffler charged with five birdies in a row on Sunday morning during the third round to trail by two heading into the final round. Then he reeled off four more birdies in a row starting at the second to take the lead at 17 under. Taylor’s reaction to seeing the world No. 1 charge? “Oh, boy,” he said.
But Scheffler’s putter let him down in crunch time as he lipped out for par from 6 feet at No. 7, missed for birdie from 8 feet at the ninth and most disappointing of all, failed to make a 3-foot birdie attempt at 13. A final-round 66 made for a valiant effort to defend the title – had he won they may have re-named the course TPC Scottie-Dale – but it came up short (T-3).
“I’d say I’m a bit frustrated. I didn’t really finish the way I wanted to, but I gave myself a good chance this week,” Scheffler said. “Just wasn’t able to close.”
Nick Taylor Is awarded a check during the trophy ceremony after winning in a two-hole playoff during the final round of the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale on February 11, 2024 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
Weather delays totaling nearly seven hours had been a big part of the tournament’s story and so it was only fitting that there would be more one more on Sunday, a 76-minute frost delay, and a sudden-death playoff.
After players completed the third round, they had 10 minutes before they were sent back out for the final round. Hoffman made an eagle and six birdies in his first 15 holes to reach 21 under and build a three-stroke lead. But Taylor seized the moment.
“To find my swing a bit the last nine or ten holes and make some birdies was incredible,” Taylor said.
“I accepted it. I embrace the term seagull as a nickname.”
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Charley Hoffman is competing in his 18th consecutive WM Phoenix Open this week.
He is noticeable in the green shirts and golf gloves, as he is sponsored by WM, the title sponsor of the tournament.
But do you know what Hoffman’s nickname is? And do you know how he got it?
Four years ago, he joined the “Gravy and the Sleeze” show on SiriusXM, which is co-hosted by Colt Knost, to get into the details.
“I accepted it. I embrace the term seagull as a nickname and it sucks because Colt eventually heard of it and didn’t let it go,” Hoffman quipped.
He then got into the origin story.
“Well, seagulls are known for flying around and (expletive) on people . . . so I am a seagull,” he said. “I fly around and drop (expletive) on people. And it usually makes them laugh or sometimes is pisses them off. It all depends on what mood you’re in.”
Dimarco had a few zingers for the fans who step out of line.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Fan/player interaction at the WM Phoenix Open is usually positive. Sure, fans like to heckle the golfers who miss the green at No. 16 but they’re just as quick to erupt into roars after great shots. Fans are always eager to reach out to high-five players as they walk by at many parts of the crowded TPC Scottsdale.
But certainly fans can go too far with their comments, taunts and jeers. Pro golfers are trying to do “their f—ing jobs”, as Billy Horschel told fans during Saturday’s action. Zach Johnson also got into it with some other fans, imploring them to shut up.
It’s nothing new, really, during the People’s Open. The winner of the then-FBR Open in 2002 at TPC Scottsdale, Chris DiMarco had a rough closing stretch in 2004 as victory slipped away, and the fans couldn’t not engage.
After his round, an animated DiMarco had some choice comments.
“They’re just inebriated out there,” he said. “Nothing bothered me. Absolutely not. I heard about 10 or 12 ‘Noonans’ (after a bogey at 16) that I heard from years past. It’s fine.”
He then offered up an opinion that other pro golfers surely have thought of before.
“I’ll just say this. I’d love to get a six-pack of beer, go find out where some of those guys work, go in their office, sit on my chair and go yell at them while they’re making sales calls. It’d be beautiful. It really would,” DiMarco said. “It’s a little disappointing that they don’t show more respect than that, but it goes with the hole. You would’ve thought that since I’d won here and being a past champion, maybe they’d show a little more respect, but it just goes to show what alcohol does to you.
“That (16th) hole is fun for the most part, except for maybe 2 percent of the crowd,” said DiMarco in 2004. “Those 2 percent are complete idiots. Unfortunately, those 2 percent make the rest of the tournament get just a little bit lower than it should be. I love it here.”
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Johnson has played this event 14 times and knows the deal. For him to lose his cool a bit shows you how different a scenario this was. That said, he should also know better. This is the one tournament every year where fans are allowed to let the pros hear it when they goof — as opposed to nearly every other sport where that’s the norm. After hitting a bad shot, Johnson should’ve just put his head down and left the area.
On the other hand, Billy Horschel confronting a fan who was yelling during Nicolo Galletti’s swing feels a bit more warranted.
There’s a really fine line at this event, which evidently becomes harder to find each year. Go to TPC Scottsdale expecting a party, of course, but doing something as basic as waiting five seconds before yelling when someone is taking a shot is hardly asking much at all.
It’s entirely understandable Horschel would look out for his playing partner. And it makes you wonder if this incredibly successful event is overdue for some tweaks to make sure it stays that way.
Only one other golfer has won the event three straight years: Arnold Palmer.
SCOTTSDALE Ariz. — Scottie Scheffler won his first PGA Tour stop at the WM Phoenix Open two years ago.
Now he’s in prime position to be the first to win the event three years in a row at TPC Scottsdale.
Scheffler made five straight birdies on Nos. 9 through 13 in the resumption of his third round Sunday morning, the fourth time he’s done that in his career, to zoom up the leaderboard and get to 13 under, one stroke off the lead.
He bogeyed the 14th but then birdied the 16th to stay within a shot of first-round leader Nick Taylor, second-round leader Sahith Theegala and Charley Hoffman.
A few minutes later, he poured in a four-footer for birdie on the driveable par-4 17th to get to 14 under and forge a four-way tie for the lead. But he inexplicably putted off the green from 42 feet and into the bunker at 18 and made bogey to drop two strokes off the lead heading into the final round.
Arnold Palmer turned the hat trick in the ’60s but that was when the tournament was held at Phoenix Country Club.
The final round officially started at 10:15 a.m. local time (12:15 p.m. ET) with the third round still in progress on other parts of the course as tournament organizers decided not to re-order groups for the final round. The last group started their final rounds at about 12:15 p.m. local time.
Play was called due to darkness each of the first three days at 6:07 p.m. local time.
The Super Bowl in Las Vegas kicks off at 4:30 p.m. Arizona time, so the final round is likely to overrun the start of the big game.
Golf Channel, NBC and Peacock are teaming up on the coverage of the 2024 WM Phoenix Open.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Rain on Thursday, a frost delay on Friday and a cut that didn’t come till nearly 2 p.m. local time Saturday put a twist on the 2024 WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. The third round spilled into Sunday, which saw a second frost delay of the week, this one was an hour and 16 minutes.
Fans at home started watching the Sunday action on PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Golf Channel and Peacock came on with TV and streaming coverage from 1-3 p.m. ET.
Network television coverage on NBC is scheduled to run from from 3-6 p.m. ET but the tournament will go beyond that. If it does, Golf Channel will be ready to go. It won’t get dark until about 8:15 p.m. or so ET. The NBC coverage will also be simulcast on Peacock.
Meanwhile, the Super Bowl in Las Vegas is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
