Drunken Fans, Fights, Heckling Overwhelm Event
The Waste Management Phoenix Open (WMPO) at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona has a long and well-earned reputation as one of the more raucous PGA Tour events. Now, “raucous” and “PGA Tour” are not two words you often see in the same sentence, but there is always an exception to the rule and the WMPO is it.
Golf fans have dubbed it the “Greatest Show on Grass” for the party atmosphere, heavy – HEAVY – drinking, and more heckling of the players than you’d ever hear at any other PGA event. It’s really like Happy Gilmore in real life. Except the WMPO gets far more wild and crazy than even Happy Gilmore could have imagined. Let’s just say, Shooter McGavin would not enjoy playing in this tournament.
The 2024 WMPO Sets A New Low For Fan Behavior
Even with that reputation, however, the fans at the 2024 WMPO got more out of control – across all 18 holes, not just at the normally wild par-3 16th, known as “The Coliseum” – than they ever have in previous years.
This year, in addition to the normal overflowing alcohol sales, the tournament saw quite a bit of rain, which, with more than hundreds of thousands of fans visiting over the course of the week, led to very muddy conditions and some outrageous antics. The X account Used Golf Facts captured video from some of the wildest behavior.
One user on X called it “the Preakness of Golf” which, if you have ever been to the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, is a pretty accurate assessment. Things got so bad that tournament officials at one point closed the gates and shut off alcohol sales in a futile effort to maintain some semblance of control.
Players Lose Their Patience With Unruly Fans
Drunken antics (and even fights) are one thing, but the heckling of the players at the WMPO got so bad that a few players lost their temper with the spectators.
Ryder Cup Captain Zach Johnson called the police to his location to complain about the heckling.
But those fans were just giving him a hard time – albeit offensively – and some suggested that Johnson just needed to grow a thicker skin. Other players, like Billy Horschel and Jordan Speith, had more reason to be upset: fans heckling them and their playing partners while they were actually in the middle of their swings.
Korean golfer An Byeong-hun was completely fed up with the entire event:
Players, Fans, and Commentators Call For Change
Horschel has said in the past that he loves playing in the WMPO every year because of all the energy in the crowd, but after this year, his sentiment began to change.
“When you’re impacting the golf tournament, that’s where it gets a little bit too much,” Horschel said. “And when you’re saying personal things. The last couple of years, the guys I’ve played with, I’ve heard some personal stuff yelled at them. And I think that’s just not right.”
Billy Horschel to The Republic
When the WMPO posted to its X account on Sunday morning, the post was overwhelmed with fans calling the tournament “an embarrassment to golf” and “out of control.” Some fans recommended that the players even boycott the event in the future unless the tournament officials can get it under control.
Back 9 Films posted an 8-minute video to its YouTube account, documenting all of the craziness, the criticism from players, and basically saying to the WMPO, “Enough is enough.”
Looking at the mayhem throughout the tournament, especially on Saturday and Sunday, it’s difficult to dispute the point that the Waste Management Phoenix Open has gone too far in what it tolerates from the fans.