PGA Tour : Waste Management Phoenix Open Thursday
I don't think the fan experience can fair more radically between this week's Waste Management Phoenix Open and last week's top rated tournament, the PIF Saudi International.
Saudi Arabia, home of Mecca, the holy of the Muslim holiest, is extremely conservative with a complete ban on drinking, selling, making, or serving alcohol, and smoking, even to all the internationals who flock there to work. Fans were few and far between Thursday and Friday, a little more on Saturday and on Sunday the modest stands around the 18th were full, mainly of white foreign workers, business men and visitors. Unlike the pictures from Dubai in the UAE the week previous, of packed stands of fans drinking, eating, partying, Saudi will never entertain those activities.
Forward to the insanity of the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale this week where college students etal line up in the darkness of early morning to find a spot at golf's biggest party zone where "get in the hole" is away down the list of verbalization. It wouldn't be unfair to say they have beer for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the crowd ranges from buzzed to hammered all week. Not to be a curmudgeon, CBS and the PGA Tour do a very good (?) job of not getting behind the scenes where bursting bladders and immature drinkers are in abundance losing their stomach's contents from both ends.
Not everybody is at the 16th of course, as record breaking crowds of 700,000 attended in 2020
Meanwhile six Canadians are in the field. Corey Connors 8.32 1st, Adam Hadwin 11.40 1st, Roger Sloan 7.37 10th, Nick Taylor 8.43 1st, are joined by Monday qualifiers Ben Silverman 1.30pm 1st and Etienne Papineau 1.30 10th..
7,59 10th Hovland, Spieth , Schauffele are the featured morning pairing.
12.13pm 1st Matsuyama, Cantlay, Thomas then 12.24 1st Rahm, Simpson, Fowler are the afternoon features.
Of note Harold Varner has flown from the afore mentioned Saudi Arabia to Phoenix for his spot in the field at 12.35 off the 1st, with Adam Scott who is playing well of late. What a reception he will get !!
Bryan Angus
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