The Ryder Cup, the majors, and the Players Championship may all be more prestigious, but there are few highlights on the golfing calendar quite like the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Indeed, it’s quite the achievement for a regular-season PGA Tour event to hold such an impressive title when those tournaments exist, but if you manage to witness it live, you’ll understand why it’s more than deserved.
Having been first held in 1932 – then known as the Arizona Open – and then becoming a regular fixture on the calendar in 1944, it's among the more historic events the PGA Tour has to offer. It has been since 1987 – when it found a permanent home at TPC Scottsdale – that the tournament has become so iconic, however.
More than half a million spectators flock to the venue’s Stadium Course to witness the Phoenix Open each year, consistently setting records as the most well-attended event in all of golf. In 2018, the total number of attendees exceeded 700,000, with more than 200,000 passing through the turnstiles on the Saturday alone. The Stadium Course earns its name thanks to the iconic par-3 16th hole, which takes place entirely within a 20,000-seat grandstand known as “The Coliseum.” Holes-in-one are common on this hole, and with the passionate crowd generating an electric atmosphere, there’s a lot more than just polite clapping when it happens! Just ask Tiger Woods – he found this out when he hit an ace back in 1997 – or Sam Ryder, who managed the same just last year.
The tournament kicks off on Thursday, 9 February, and there’s still chance to grab tickets and be part of that crowd if you’ve not already done so. General admission tickets start at just USD $45, and there’s a huge array of hospitality on offer, too, starting from $219 from Thursday.
