Tournament Chairman Dr. Michael Golding announced today defending champion and four-time Major winner Brooks Koepka and 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama are the latest to commit to play in the 2022 Waste Management Phoenix Open, which is set to tee it up Feb. 7-13 at TPC Scottsdale.  The duo, who are both two-time WM Phoenix Open winners and currently rank in the Top-20 in the Official World Golf Rankings, have combined to win four WM Phoenix Open titles in the last seven years.

Koepka and Matsuyama will join World No. 1 golfer Jon Rahm and World No. 6 golfer Justin Thomas, who were among the first to commit to “The People’s Open” earlier this month.

Koepka will return to defend his WM Phoenix Open title in 2022 after coming from five shots back last year to earn his second win at TPC Scottsdale.  The eight-time PGA TOUR winner is coming off an outstanding 2021 season with eight Top-10s that included two runner-up finishes and three Top-10 finishes in Majors (PGA Championship – T2, U.S. Open – T4, The Open Championship – T6).  He also was a member of the winning U.S. Ryder Cup team that beat the European squad 19-9 at Whistling Straits.

Koepka won his first Major in 2017 at the U.S Open and successfully defended that title the following year, making him the first player to win consecutive U.S. Open’s since 1989. Koepka also won consecutive PGA Championship titles in 2018 and 2019 and became the first player to win the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in the same year since Tiger Woods in 2000. That incredible two-year stretch in 2018 and 2019 earned PGA Player of the year (2018, 2019) and PGA TOUR player of the year (2018) honors.  He currently ranks 16^th in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Matsuyama is coming off an exceptional 2021 season in which he carded two runner-up finishes, three additional top-10’s and a total of 10 Top-25 finishes to go along with his first Major victory at the Masters, missing only four cuts in 27 events on his way to a 26^th place finish in the FedExCup standings.

Matsuyama’s stellar career includes 16 worldwide wins and eight career top-10 finishes in Major championships, including his win last year at Augusta National to become the first Japanese born player to win a Major. The seven-time PGA TOUR winner joins Koepka as one of 16 two-time WM Phoenix Open champions and one of only six players to successfully defend their WM Phoenix Open title the following year.  Matsuyama earned his seventh PGA TOUR win in October at the ZoZo Championship, and currently ranks No. 18 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

A field of 132 players will vie for the $8.2 million purse, the $1,476,000 first-place check and 500 FedExCup points.  PGA TOUR members have until 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 4, 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 2022 WM Phoenix Open will take place Feb. 7-13 at TPC Scottsdale. “The People’s Open” has been named the Tournament of the Year by the PGA TOUR four times in the past seven years (2014, 2015, 2018, 2019) to acknowledge the tournament’s legendary status as one the most unique events in golf. The 2022 edition will mark the 87th playing of the event (one of the five oldest events on the PGA TOUR) and the 13^th with Waste Management as title sponsor.

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 who have helped the tournament eclipse $165 million in charitable giving since its inception in 1932 (through the 2021 tournament).  For more information on The Thunderbirds, visit thunderbirdscharities.org.