Waste Management Phoenix Open Tournament Chairman Tim Woods announced at the annual Tee Off Luncheon earlier this week that Scott Harrington will receive the first of five available sponsor exemptions for the 2020 Waste Management Phoenix Open, which is scheduled to be played January 27 – February 2 at TPC Scottsdale.

Harrington, a 39-year-old PGA TOUR rookie and Scottsdale resident, earned his 2019-20 TOUR card by finishing in the Top-25 (11^th) on the Korn Ferry Tour last year. The 16-year pro put his career on hold in 2018 to care for his wife, Jenn, who had a long battle with cancer, but the couple overcame the odds as Jenn’s cancer is in remission and she got to witness her husband achieve his dreams of qualifying for the PGA TOUR in August of 2019. The surprise announcement came from Woods at the WM Phoenix Open Tee-Off Luncheon with Scott and Jenn in attendance at Chase Field.

“Scott’s perseverance through mountains of adversity is inspiring, and what he and Jenn have been through together is a tremendous story of strength, commitment, love and determination,” Woods said. “The way Scott is playing he probably won’t need an exemption, he will most likely qualify on his own, but we just wanted to let him know we are thinking of him, supporting him and Jenn and that a spot in our field is guaranteed for him to play here in Scottsdale.”

Woods and The Thunderbirds have a total of five exemptions to handout for the 2020 Waste Management Phoenix Open. The remaining four exemptions will be announced in the coming weeks leading up to the tournament.

A field of 132 players will vie for the $7.3 million purse, the $1,314,000 first-place check and 500 FedExCup points. PGA TOUR members have until 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24, to commit to play in the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Eligible players are assigned one of 34 PGA TOUR priority ranking categories based on their past performance on TOUR. The field will continue to change as players with higher priority rankings commit to play in the Open.

The 2020 Waste Management Phoenix Open will be held at TPC Scottsdale January 27 – February 2, 2020. “The People’s Open” was recently named the Tournament of the Year by the PGA TOUR for 2019, an honor that has been awarded four times in the last six years (2014, 2015, 2018, 2019) to help the tournament gain legendary status for being one the most unique events in golf. The 2020 edition will mark the 85th playing of the event (one of the five oldest events on the PGA TOUR) and the 11th as the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

The Thunderbirds were founded in 1937 with the mission of promoting the Valley of the Sun through sports. The Thunderbirds consist of 55 “active” members and more than 280 “life” members. The Thunderbirds raised a record $13.2 million for charity from proceeds from the 2019 WM Phoenix Open and have eclipsed $147 million in charitable giving since its inception in 1932. For more information on The Thunderbirds visit www.thunderbirdscharities.com.