WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN COVERAGE ON SHANK MEDIA, SPONSORED BY THE ORIGINAL DUNDEE PHOTOSHOOT TOUR
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6 FEBRUARY 2023 - SHANK MEDIA, BY MATT HOOPER: THE PGA TOUR'S RESPONSE TO LIV GOLF, ASIDE FROM THE SCATHING LANGUAGE, SUSPENSIONS AND BEHIND CLOSED DOORS DEALS, HAS BEEN TO ELEVATE SEVERAL EVENTS DURING THE 2023 SEASON. 11 EVENTS HAVE SEEN THEIR PRIZE FUNDS ELEVATED TO A MINIMUM OF $20MILLION, AND THE FIRST OF THOSE COMES THIS WEEK IN THE ARIZONA DESERT. THE WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN IS THE FIFTH OLDEST EVENT ON THE PGA TOUR OUTSIDE THE MAJORS, AND THIS WEEK IT WILL FINALLY HAVE THE FIELD ITS INCREDIBLE COMMUNITY SUPPORT DESERVES. Much is made of the large number of fans, and particularly the 16th hole, BUT TPC SCOTTSDALE STADIUM COURSE is a great course in its own right, and the event has a tremendous history, strewn with iconic names to have won it.
22 OF THE WORLD'S TOP 25 PLAYERS, 37 OF THE TOP 50, WILL TEE IT UP IN SCOTTSDALE THIS WEEK. THIS IS THE KIND OF FIELD THE WORLD WANTS TO WATCH REGULARLY, AND BECAUSE OF THE STRENGTH OF FIELD, AND THE INCREDIBLE STAGE THEY WILL COMPETE ON, THIS HAS TO BE REGARDED AS THE FIRST TRULY BIG EVENT OF THE SEASON. RORY MCILROY COMES TO ARIZONA FRESH OFF HIS DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC VICTORY, AND THIS WILL BE THE FIRST CHANCE FOR THE WORLD TO SEE THE WORLD NUMBER ONE GO UP AGAINST THE WORLD NUMBER TWO, SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, AND THE IN-FORM WORLD NUMBER THREE, JON RAHM, IN 2023. OF COURSE, WORLD NUMBER FOUR, CAMERON SMITH, IS ABSENT DUE TO HIS SUSPENSION FOR JOINING LIV GOLF, SOMETHING WHICH SURELY THE SPONSORS AND FANS ARE HURT BY.
WITH AN EVEN MORE STACKED FIELD COMING UP NEXT WEEK IN LOS ANGELES, AT THE GENESIS INVITATIONAL, THE SPORT IS SET FOR A THRILLING COUPLE OF WEEKS, WITH TWO EVENTS LITTERED WITH GOLDEN MOMENTS OVER THE LAST CENTURY FINALLY GETTING THE FIELDS THEY DESERVE. OTHER EVENTS ELEVATED IN 2023 INCLUDE THE ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL, WGC-DELL TECHNOLOGIES MATCH PLAY, RBC HERITAGE, WELLS FARGO CHAMPIONSHIP, MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT, FEDEX ST JUDE CHAMPIONSHIP AND BMW CHAMPIONSHIP. Now just imagine what it could do for golf if these elevated events were the Australian Open, New Zealand Open, South African Open, Japan Open, Indian Open, French Open, Spanish Open,, Irish Open, Scottish Open, Canadian Open or Argentina Open.
The strategic alliance BETWEEN THE PGA TOUR AND DP WORLD TOUR HAS IN ESSENCE CREATED A PYRAMID LEADING TO THE PGA TOUR, BUT IN MY OPINION IT needs to become a merger OF THE MAJOR TOURS. Golf needs a true World Championship circuit, the sport isn't and shouldn't be NFL or Major League Baseball where they only play in America and call themselves World Champions. A TRUE GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT OF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS PLAYED ACROSS THE GLOBE WOULD ELEVATE THIS SPORT TO NEW HEIGHTS, AND MAKE THE BIGGEST GOLFERS IN THE WORLD TRUE SPORTING SUPERSTARS. THE ESTABLISHMENT ALTERNATIVE TO LIV GOLF NEEDS TO BE RADICAL, AND THE WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN could and should be the event for all others to aspire to.
The strategic alliance BETWEEN THE PGA TOUR AND DP WORLD TOUR HAS IN ESSENCE CREATED A PYRAMID LEADING TO THE PGA TOUR, BUT IN MY OPINION IT needs to become a merger OF THE MAJOR TOURS. Golf needs a true World Championship circuit, the sport isn't and shouldn't be NFL or Major League Baseball where they only play in America and call themselves World Champions. A TRUE GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT OF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS PLAYED ACROSS THE GLOBE WOULD ELEVATE THIS SPORT TO NEW HEIGHTS, AND MAKE THE BIGGEST GOLFERS IN THE WORLD TRUE SPORTING SUPERSTARS. THE ESTABLISHMENT ALTERNATIVE TO LIV GOLF NEEDS TO BE RADICAL, AND THE WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN could and should be the event for all others to aspire to.
The Phoenix Open was first played as the Arizona Open in 1932, very few people would have ever envisioned the tournament becoming as big as it is today; in 1935 after a lack of local support the tournament folded and it wasn't until 1939 and the intervention of Bob Goldwater Sr that the Phoenix Open returned. It returned under the management and leadership of the Thunderbirds, a Phoenix-based charitable organisation, and the event went from strength to strength being played at the Phoenix Country Club and the Arizona Country Club with several iconic figures of the game claiming victory.
Nelson, Hogan, Locke, Demaret, Littler, Middlecoff, Casper, Venturi, Fleck, Palmer, Nicklaus, Boros, Miller, Pate, Crenshaw, Graham, Wadkins, Peete and Sutton among others won the Phoenix Open between 1939 and 1986, making the Phoenix Open a sought after title, but it was in 1987 that this big golf tournament became a truly iconic event that the whole of the Arizona community could get behind. The move to TPC Scottsdale has made it the most attended golf tournament in the world and one of the top ten spectator events held annually anywhere in the world. The first year achieved a then record attendance of 257,000 – some 70,000 more people attended the Phoenix Open in the first year at the TPC than did a year earlier in the final year at Phoenix Country Club.
Attendances have topped 150,000 on 8 occasions for a single day and the single day record stands at a staggering 173,210 set in the third round of the 2012 tournament. Only once in the last 20 years has an attendance on a Friday or Saturday dipped below 100,000 and that was still an attendance of over 74,000 on the Friday in 2011. Truly unbelievable numbers which bare testament to the incredible job the Thunderbirds have done since they took on the running of the Phoenix Open some 84 years ago.
Over 20,000 seats are located at the par three 16th hole which is marketed as the loudest hole in golf, but it isn't all about one hole at the TPC Scottsdale, this course is truly world-class and could easily stage a Ryder Cup if the opportunity ever came. It boasts many holes which would be brilliant for match play and has one of the finest four hole finishing stretches in all of golf, beginning at the par five 15th, followed by the 16th then the drivable par four 17th and the demanding par four 18th. This is a true stadium course, I would argue by far a better example of a stadium course than the original at TPC Sawgrass, it has mounding in all of the right places and the Thunderbirds have fulfilled the potential of this great event by doing everything they possibly can to attract all categories of spectator to the Phoenix Open each FEBRUARY.
THE PHOENIX OPEN HAS FINALLY REACHED THE LEVEL IT ASPIRED TO, AND THIS WEEK IT WILL HAVE THE INCREDIBLE FIELD TO MATCH THE UNRIVALLED SUPPORT AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. BUT GOLF DOES EXIST OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THE ARGENTINA OPEN WAS FIRST PLAYED IN 1905, THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN WAS FIRST PLAYED IN 1904, THE SOUTH AFRICAN OPEN TOOK ITS BOW IN 1903, THE NEW ZEALAND OPEN TOOK 4 YEARS LONGER IN 1907, THE FRENCH OPEN A YEAR EARLIER IN 1906. THERE ARE HISTORIC EVENTS ALL OVER THE WORLD, AND THEY TOO DESERVE THE ELEVATED PRIZE FUND, AND JUST IMAGINE THE LEGACY OF ASSEMBLING A FIELD THIS GOOD, EVERY YEAR, IN BUENOS AIRES, PARIS, JOHANNESBURG, MELBOURNE, AND AUCKLAND. SO HERE IS THE RADICAL PLAN TO CHANGE THIS SPORT AND TAKE IT INTO FUTURE, BECAUSE WHILST GOLF SHOULD BE PROUD OF ITS HISTORY AND TRADITION, IT SHOULDN'T BE HELD BACK BY IT.
THE PGA TOUR, DP WORLD TOUR, ASIAN TOUR, JAPAN GOLF TOUR, PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA AND SUNSHINE TOUR, ALONG WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE FEEDER AND AFFILIATE TOURS, SHOULD BE MERGED, CREATING THE WORLD GOLF LEAGUE. WHAT?! I HEAR YOU CRY. NO MORE PGA TOUR?! YES, NO MORE PGA TOUR. OVER 30 YEARS AGO THE BIG FIVE FOOTBALL CLUBS IN ENGLAND LED A BREAKAWAY FROM THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE TO CREATE THE PREMIER LEAGUE, AND BY AND LARGE, FOOTBALL HAS NEVER LOOKED BACK. THE SPORT OF FOOTBALL HAS BEEN ENHANCED, AND CERTAINLY THE LEAGUE HAS BEEN ENHANCED WITH THE CREATION OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE. IT IS NOW THE MOST-WATCHED SPORTING PROPERTY ON THE PLANET, AND ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNISABLE BRANDS IN SPORT.
ANOTHER ICONIC AND GLOBALLY RECOGNISED BRAND IS FORMULA 1, FROM THE LOGO TO THE ANTHEM, AND EVERY SINGLE GRAND PRIX, THIS SPORT IS THE ONE WHICH GOLF SHOULD ASPIRE TO MATCH IN TERMS OF GLOBAL ATTENTION. WHY? BECAUSE GOLF HAS THE POWER TO CHANGE THE WORLD, AND IF IT IS MORE VISIBLE AND HAS A MORE COMPELLING, AND MORE GLOBAL PRODUCT, IT CAN HELP RAISE PEOPLE OUT OF POVERTY ACROSS THE WORLD. LOOK AT THE IMPACT THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP HAS HAD ON THE EAST LAKE COMMUNITY IN ATLANTA, AND THE FIRST TEE ACROSS AMERICA. THAT COULD BE ROLLED OUT ACROSS THE WORLD, AND THE WORLD'S BEST GOLFERS COULD PLAY ACROSS THE WORLD, REGULARLY, NOT JUST AS A TOKEN GESTURE.
THE WORLD GOLF LEAGUE WOULD BE A MERITOCRACY, SOMETHING WHICH THE ESTABLISHMENT AND THEIR COMPLIANT MEDIA HAS BANGED ON ABOUT FOR THE LAST YEAR, DESPITE OFFERING LIFETIME HONORARY MEMBERSHIPS TO CERTAIN PLAYERS, HYPOCRISY? OF COURSE.
THE LEAGUE WOULD FEATURE FIVE DIVISIONS, EACH PLAYING 22 EVENTS OUTSIDE THE MAJORS BETWEEN JANUARY AND OCTOBER, WITH PLAYERS ABLE TO EARN PROMOTION TO THE DIVISION ABOVE BY WINNING TWICE IN THE SAME SEASON. THE EVENTS WOULD BE FULL-FIELD, 72-HOLE TOURNAMENTS WITH A CUT, SO PLAYERS WOULD HAVE TO "EARN IT" AS TIGER SAYS.
EACH OF THE FIVE DIVISIONS WOULD FEATURE AT LEAST ONE EVENT ON EACH CONTINENT, AND PLAYERS WOULD HAVE TO PLAY A MINIMUM OF 18 EVENTS OUTSIDE THE MAJORS EACH SEASON. A KEY FACTOR IN THE NEW STRUCTURE IS THAT ALL EVENTS WOULD COUNT FOR RYDER CUP QUALIFICATION, SO A PLAYER COULD EARN RYDER CUP POINTS WHEREVER THEY PLAY IN THE WORLD, AND THEY WOULDN'T HAVE TO ADD EXTRA EVENTS TO DO SO. THE IDEA WOULD BE THAT ALL ELIGIBLE PLAYERS PLAY IN EVERY EVENT DURING THE SEASON. LEWIS HAMILTON DOESN'T JUST DECIDE TO SKIP A GRAND PRIX, DOES HE?
