#PEOPLESOPEN

WM Phoenix Open

SATURDAY AT THE 2023 WM PHOENIX OPEN

by Leave a Comment

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1676231005429{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Saturday at the WM Phoenix Open – quite literally, there’s just nothing else like it. Some come to TPC Scottsdale to see and be seen. Some to watch the best golf on the planet. Some are first timers who learned the ropes on how to stay outside the ropes. The WM Phoenix Open is “The People’s Open,” and the people were out in droves.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler is alone atop the round-three leaderboard after firing a 3-under 68 including a birdie from the rough on the difficult par-4 14th. Scheffler seeks to become the 7th player to successfully defend their Phoenix Open title in the 88-year history of the event.

Some of the best PGA TOUR professionals in the world are waiting in the wings to make sure he doesn’t. Major champion Jon Rahm and Nick Taylor are tied two back at 11-under. Three-time Major champion Jordan Speith and Adam Hadwin are two back at 10-under. Five players are four back at 9-under including Tyrrell Hatton, Sungjae Jim, Major champion Jason Day and 2019 WM Phoenix Open champion Rickie Fowler.

Thank you to all the fans who came to the WM Phoenix Open wearing green for Saturday’s #GREENOUT to support title sponsor WM and their sustainability initiatives.

Sunday’s final round begins at 8:55 a.m. Want to know when your favorite players are teeing off and who they’re playing with? You’re in luck. Hit the link below to see full pairings.[/vc_column_text][mk_button dimension=”flat” size=”medium” url=”https://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/2023/wm-phoenix-open/R2023003/tee-times” target=”_blank” fullwidth=”true”]Click Here to See Full Sunday Pairings[/mk_button][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Thursday at the 2023 WM Phoenix Open

by Leave a Comment

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1675996520880{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]It was officially opening day at the 2023 WM Phoenix Open on Thursday, where arguably the best field in tournament history began their respective campaigns for the winner’s circle at “The People’s Open.” Unseasonably strong winds were the only thing keeping Thursday’s first round from being a picture-perfect day on the golf course, but the fans in the stands – by the thousands – didn’t seem to mind one bit. Not at all. And while play was suspended at 6:10 due to darkness, and winds impacted early rounds, the 88th playing of the WM Phoenix Open is still anyone’s tournament.

Canadians Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor sit atop the leaderboard after the conclusion of play on Thursday with lots of golf left in the opening round. Xander Schauffele, Jim Herman and Jason Day are just a stroke back at 4-under par (Herman has five holes to play and Day has eight holes left to play) and eight players are tied at 3-under par.

Players who did not finish will resume in position at 7:45 a.m. on Friday. Second-round parings will begin after the conclusion of the first round.

Pairings for Friday’s second round will be the same for Friday’s round with tee times starting at 7:15 a.m. Those who started on No. 1 tee will start on No. 10 tee and vice versa. Click the button below to see the full list of pairings.[/vc_column_text][mk_button dimension=”flat” size=”medium” url=”https://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/2023/wm-phoenix-open/R2023003/tee-times” target=”_blank” fullwidth=”true”]View Friday Pairings[/mk_button][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1675996508968{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Tournament Chairman Pat Williams announced today tickets for Friday and Saturday for the 2023 WM Phoenix Open are now completely sold out as the tournament has put a cap on tickets for the two biggest days of tournament week.  General admission tickets for Thursday and Sunday are still available online at www.WMPhoenixOpen.com, but general admission tickets for Friday and Saturday are no longer available online or at the gate.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

TICKETS FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY OF 2023 WM PHOENIX OPEN OFFICIALLY SOLD OUT

by Leave a Comment

Tournament Chairman Pat Williams announced today tickets for Friday and Saturday for the 2023 WM Phoenix Open are now completely sold out as the tournament has put a cap on tickets for the two biggest days of tournament week.  General admission tickets for Thursday and Sunday are still available online at www.WMPhoenixOpen.com, but general admission tickets for Friday and Saturday are no longer available online or at the gate.

“The fan experience at the WM Phoenix Open is very important to our tournament,” Williams said. “Maintaining exceptional fan-experience quality is at the forefront of our decision making. With the weather forecast, other high-profile events in town and other factors creating record demand, The Thunderbirds feel the best way to preserve the excitement level at the WM Phoenix Open was to cap attendance on our highest traffic days. This is ‘The People’s Open’ for a reason, and we want to keep it that way.”

FIRST TEE OF PHOENIX REPORTER EMILEE SWAGGER

by Leave a Comment

Throughout my time at the First Tee of Phoenix I have never had an experience like today. I believe that being a Junior On Course Reporter is one of the best opportunities the First Tee offers. Over the course” of the day, I learned so many tips and tricks from sports broadcasters themselves to the mindset of Xander Schauffele being 1 stroke off the lead heading into round 2. This experience in one day has shown me a totally different side of golf. I discovered that not everyone has to become a professional golfer to be working in the golf community. The game of golf is a beautiful sport, but there is more to it than sinking the putt on 18 for the win and today showed me just that.
During my afternoon my fellow course reporter, Andrew Hayslett and I got the chance to take a peek into the Golf Channel set held on Hole 16. After watching the brilliant commentators: Paige Mackenzie, Rich Lerner, Brandel Chamblee I got to speak with them individually about their journeys to becoming a part of the Golf Channel. “When a person has something to say it is a powerful thing, but if you can find a way to share it in a way that people will understand and listen, well that is as powerful as you can be”, Brandel Chamblee expressed when asked what advice he would give to young, aspiring journalists. I found an astonishing truth in his statement just for the fact that the hardest thing for the younger generation to do is to understand that our voice matters. Paige Mackenzie and Rich Lerner depicted how in life we are given opportunities, and during those uncomfortable moments we have to step outside of our box and say “YES” both exclaimed during their interviews. As I went throughout my day and interviewing other WM staff members I saw a recurring thing- saying “yes” can lead you to being a successful and great human being. The voice of young people is severely underrated, and I would say the Golf Channel commentators helped me learn how to harness my voice and use it to grow.

Although the wind was brutal and conditions worsened throughout the day, I got the chance to debrief with the players as they rolled in off of 9 and 18 greens. Being ranked highest on the leaderboard after round 1, Xander Schauffele spoke about how his mindset had been changed so early in the morning when he forgot to check the weather and was shocked when the first gust of wind hit him on the range. “ My preparation for the day had changed with only an hour left before my tee time, but I don’t anticipate as much wind for tomorrow so we will see”, Schauffele stated when asked if he thinks the wind will have as much of an effect tomorrow. Tony Finau was excited for the late tee times to keep himself warm even though it was windier through his front 9. As Finau reached the end of the front 9 he started to rally it up and finish off the day strong. He explains his hole 16 strategy is “always go for the 1!” as early that day he hit an amazing shot to 1’4” on 16. Obviously that strategy must work! For his second appearance at the Peoples Open, Rory Mcilory finished his day +2, although only hitting 4 out of 14 fairways. Although his day didn’t play out how he wanted, he explained how he kept his head in the game and pulled off some incredible shots.

Today was so much fun and I am so happy I get to come back for day 2 tomorrow.

FIRST TEE REPORTER ANDREW HAYSLETT

by Leave a Comment

Hello, my name is Andrew and I covered the WM Phoenix Open as a junior course

reporter with another First Tee participant Emilee. I had an amazing experience interviewing a

number of different people, from golfers to broadcasters to security. One of my dreams is to

become a sports broadcaster and to achieve this I will attend the Walter Cronkite School of

Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University in the fall.

What I found interesting is the number of people that said yes to interviews with us. I

thought it would take a number of times to get an interview, but when my partner and I asked

people to be interviewed, they all said yes. For example, my partner went up to Sam Burns who

was fairly frustrated at the time, because he had recorded a double bogey on his penultimate

hole, and he stopped and answered a few questions she had for him. This made me feel like we

were accepted into the media circle. Once I felt this, I was looser and less tense compared to

the interviews I did earlier. This allowed me to know that I mattered to these people which

means a lot to me.

One thing I learned is how to keep your composure when you are talking to important

people. The first interviews we did were with police officers and the gentleman who created the

thunder dog which was less intimidating compared to the players. This allowed me to build up

my confidence, which is one of First Tee’s nine core values, which came in handy when I

interviewed the Golf Channel broadcasters Rich Lerner, Brandel Chamblee, & Paige McKenzie.

The confidence allowed me to ask deeper and more thoughtful questions, for example, how do

you say the same thing in different ways. I asked this because Brandel had mentioned that a

key to being a good sportscaster is to be able to say the same thing differently. He replied that

he might use the shots Jon Rahm does not have in his bag and how he adapts to having to play

holes with the shots that he has. This made me less stressed when my partner and I

interviewed players, which boosted my confidence so I could give good interviews with players.

For example, we learned that Xander Schauffele did not expect wind until he arrived at the

driving range and his caddy told him there would be wind throughout the day. Now that I know

how to keep my composure, I feel that I can give good interviews with anyone that I see

tomorrow, anyone from a marshal to a food vendor to a player.

In conclusion, I learned that the majority of people say yes when you ask to interview

them and how to keep your composure when I interview people. I had a blast when I got to visit

the Golf Channel skybox and broadcast studio. I look forward to continuing this experience of a

lifetime tomorrow! Thank you to First Tee and everyone for making this experience happen!

WEDNESDAY AT THE 2023 WM PHOENIX OPEN

by Leave a Comment

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1675910362415{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Doesn’t get much better than Wednesday at the WM Phoenix Open. The extremely popular and star-studded lineup at the Annexus Pro-Am didn’t disappoint, and incredible weather was a perfect backdrop for one of the most fun days in the entire PGA TOUR season. Big name celebrities and athletes like Albert Pujols, Jerome Bettis, Alex Rodriguez, Michael Phelps, J.J. Watt, Larry Fitzgerald Jr., Chris Lane and Reggie Bush – to name just a few – were paired with PGA TOUR professionals in front of thousands of the most passionate fans in all of golf. The combined group of PGA TOUR pros Brian Harman and Taylor Pendrith playing with CEO of Swire Coca-Cola Rob Gehring took top honors this year shooting an impressive 16-under 55, one shot better than Justin Thomas and J.J. Spaun. Following close behind in third place was a WM Phoenix Open champion duo Rickie Fowler and Gary Woodland with a score of 58.

If beautiful weather at the best-attended golf tournament in the world with some of the greatest athletes of all time wasn’t enough, the WHOOP Shot at Glory added an exclamation point to Wednesday at “The People’s Open.” US Air Force Master Sergeant Mark Eyman got things started at the unique closest-to-the-pin contest for charity with an incredible rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.

Following promptly was a flyover of four F-35s out of nearby Luke Air Force Base which rattled the stands at the 16th hole Coliseum. Of the 25-plus contestants vying for their shot a $1 million for charity, Michael Phelps – you might remember him as the greatest Olympic athlete of all time – was closest to the pin at 8’ 5” inches from the hole, securing $40,000 for his charity of choice. Second place went to golf YouTube sensation Peter Finch, who took home $25,000 for his charity. Third place went to Minnesota Vikings receiver Adam Thielen who secured $15,000 for charity.

All that and Wednesday at the WM Phoenix Open STILL ain’t done. A trio of headliners kicks off the Coors Light Birds Nest concert series with country music stars Chris Lane, Lainey Wilson and Dustin Lynch taking the stage tonight. On Thursday, the country theme continues with superstar Jason Aldean and special guest Mackenzie Porter. Gates open at 3:30 p.m. Don’t miss out![/vc_column_text][mk_button dimension=”flat” size=”medium” url=”https://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/2023/wm-phoenix-open/R2023003/tee-times” fullwidth=”true”]2023 WM Phoenix Open Thursday Pairings [/mk_button][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1675909276859{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]The first round of the 2023 WM Phoenix Open begins tomorrow with morning groupings set to tee off at 7:15 a.m. and afternoon groupings beginning at 11:40 a.m. Who will challenge Scottie Scheffler for his title? Stay tuned – same WMPO time, same WMPO channel.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]