Tour players tiring of the rowdy crowds at Phoenix Open: 'Cat's out of the bag' | D'Angelo
LOS ANGELES — There was a time when events like the Cognizant Classic envied the Phoenix Open. The overflow crowds. The fan engagement. The spotlight on the 16th hole, the personification of stadium golf.
But as officials continue to explore how to enhance the Cognizant Classic, including the fan experience, it became clear last weekend the Phoenix Open is not the blueprint.
The tournament that calls itself "The People's Open," this year became a People Problem. The fans became the story, turning a golf event into a giant out-of-control spring break party.
"It's been like that for a bit," said Nick Taylor, who rallied from three shots back with four holes to play Sunday at TPC Scottsdale and then survived a playoff with Charley Hoffman to win his fourth PGA Tour event.
"But I think the cat's probably out of the bag. I don't know how much they can change."
The Phoenix Open was a big topic of discussion among golfers Tuesday at the Genesis Invitational. With videos of Billy Horschel, Zach Johnson and Jordan Spieth frustrated by fan behavior - and Horschel and Johnson lashing out at the spectators - many believe fans finally crossed that line.
And now, many of the golfers are tired of the rowdiness.
According to the agencies policing the event, including the Scottsdale Police Department, arrests tripled from last year to 54 this year. Two years ago, there were no arrests.
Ejections more than doubled to 211 from 102 last year and there were 653 calls for help, up more than 200 from 2022 and nearly 100 from last year.
Videos went viral last weekend, and very few had little to do with golf shots.
Drunken fans stumbling through the crowd, sliding down muddy hills and fighting. One shirtless man even got past security on the iconic 16th hole, known as the biggest party hole in golf, did a front flip into the bunker and made sand angels.
A woman suffered non-life threatening injuries after falling from the grandstands at the 16th hole.
Billy Horschel has a warning about future Phoenix Opens
“It's been talked about amongst players about, if this would continue to escalate over the next few years, you could see players not want to come here,” Horschel said. “And that's an unfortunate situation.”
Horschel was caught on video calling out a fan for heckling during Nocilo Galletti’s backswing.
"Buddy, when he’s over a shot, shut the hell up, dude,” Horschel said. “He’s trying to hit a damn golf shot here. It’s our (bleeping) job."
A fan yelled during Spieth’s backswing on No. 18 and although Spieth was able to hit his approach shot to 15 feet, he was not pleased.
Johnson was recorded getting heated with a heckler. "I'm just sick of it … shut up!" Johnson shouted as he approached the ropes.
"This tournament has been inappropriate and crossed the line since I've been on tour and this is my 21st year," Johnson told the Arizona Republic. "I don't know what the line is, but you have people falling out of the rafters, you have fights in the stands. It's to the point where now, how do you reel it in? Because it's taken on a life of its own. … at some point, somebody's either gonna really, really get hurt or worse."
With the crowd becoming unruly and uncontrollable, the tournament locked its gates Saturday afternoon, shutting out some fans who had purchased tickets. Alcohol sales were cut off at the same time.
Although the tournament stopped announcing daily attendance figures in 2019, Saturday usually is the rowdiest day with typically more than 200,000 spectators.
"There are so many great things about that event and the overwhelming majority of the fans there are fantastic," Chris Kirk said. "But you put 200,000 people anywhere, there's going to be a few rotten eggs."
More: Joie Chitwood comes from family that's worked with Clark Gable, Evel Knievel, James Bond
Jupiter's Matt Kuchar also believes it will be difficult to rein in the crowd after promoting this behavior for so many years. But he has one solution for any of his peers who do not like what the event has become.
Don't play.
"You kind of understand that's the Phoenix Open," he said. "There are certain places guys don't like the course, so they don't play. If you don't like the fan experience, it's pretty easy just to not play."
Tom D'Angelo is a sports columnist and reporter at The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com. Follow him on social media @tomdangelo44.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: PGA Tour players tiring of rowdy crowds at Phoenix Open and People Problem
