Waste Management Phoenix Open: It’s Party Time!
The Waste Management Phoenix Open 16th hole is the best party in the game but it’s even more – it’s the face of golf’s future.
The Waste Management Phoenix Open is not your usual golf tournament, at least not on the par-3 16th hole, the rowdiest hole on the PGA TOUR.
There’s chanting that out-chants any Arsenal soccer match. There’s alcohol consumption that surpasses any frat party chugging contest that’s ever existed. The pre-party starts at 9am. The hole is enclosed by a stadium that holds 20,000 “golf fans” who may or may not know the difference between a chip and a putt.
It’s a party that may not always be fun for everybody, as these Minnesota revelers made clear at the 2010 Open.
You get the idea. It’s just a normal golf tournament situation. And yet, there they sat in 2011 when Tiger Woods was on the tee, quiet as little mice. They didn’t need any cues. Those fans knew exactly how to behave while Tiger set up his shot.
The fans were quiet while he teed it up and took his shot. And when the ball dropped? Sheer bedlam!
Then Francesco Molinari did it too, in 2015. The crowd loved it!
Do those fans come for the golf, the beer, or the sheer camaraderie of a packed mass of screaming sports fans? Let them tell you:
It’s heckling like pro golfers have never been heckled, and it’s also adoration like pro golfers have never been adored. It’s a long way from the austere quiet of the 17th Century Scottish links and the lush, luxuriant 21st Century hush of Augusta National.
The 16th hole is the fresh face of golf’s youthful future. It’s golf on steroids. The Millennials are leading the way to the next iteration of a sport that constantly reinvents itself, even as the PGA TOUR tries to suppress their exuberance.
Next: Waste Management Phoenix Open Fantasy Picks
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