PGA Tour Brunch | WM Phoenix Open | R-1
Preview of the Opening Round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open
By TERRY LYONS
SCOTTSDALE - Welcome to one of sports’ most popular and entertaining weekends as your can pair The Super Bowl (Glendale) and the WM Phoenix Open (Scottsdale). Certainly, it’s the best sports weekend of the year in Arizona.
As of 9:30am (ET)/7:30am (local): Due to lingering frost, the start to Round One of the WM Phoenix Open was delayed one hour from its original start time and is scheduled to begin at 10:15am (ET)/8:15am (local).
One quick note: Frequent readers of PGA Tour Brunch and frequent users of the links we send to PGATourCom will notice an entirely redesigned site. As with all new redesigns, it will take time to get used to the new navigation and layout. The content remains the same.
Another opening round note: The WM Phoenix Open is one of the elevated events on the PGA Tour circuit. The purse is $20 million ($3.6 million/winner), matching the largest purse and winner's share in Tour history, the prior being the 2022 PLAYERS Championship. There are 11 events in the 2022-23 PGA Tour Season (not including major championships) with purses of $20 million or more.
Turning to the players, Keith Mitchell is coming off a T-4 at last week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, his best result since the 2021 CJ CUP (T-3) last Fall. He finished T-10 at the 2022 WM Phoenix Open. Mitchell enters the week No. 55 in the Official World Golf Ranking and has never been ranked inside the Top 50.
There are two rookies in the Top 30 of the FedEx Cup standings and both players are competing on sponsor exemptions this weekend. They are: Taylor Montgomery (No. 8) and Davis Thompson (No. 22). Montgomery has four Top-10s this season, tied with Jon Rahm and Sahith Theegala for most on the Tour.
2023 WM Phoenix Open Leaderboard: (link)
Waste Management Open | Tournament Facts
COURSE: TPC Scottsdale, Arizona (Stadium Course)
YARDS/PAR: 7,261 yards/Par 71
ARCHITECTS: Tom Weiskopf \ Jay Morrish
PRIZE Money - Purse: $20,000,000/$3,600,000
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Scottie Scheffler
PAST RESULTS: (link)
PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)
FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @WMPhoenixOpen
How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)
PGA Tour Radio: WM Phoenix Open
1 TH 02/09 02:00 PM - 08:00 PM
2 FR 02/10 02:00 PM - 08:00 PM
3 SA 02/11 01:00 PM - 06:30 PM
4 SU 02/12 01:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Note: Times listed are (ET). PGA Tour Radio is available in North America on SiriusXM 92; in the United Kingdom and Ireland on talkSPORT, and globally on PGA TOUR Digital platforms.
TPC Scottsdale | The Basics
The Tee Times at TPC Scottsdale will run from 9:15am (ET) to 4:01pm (ET) today.
Weather: Today’s forecast is for sunny skies, 41-degrees rising to 68 by 2pm (Local). 2-to-11 mph winds.
Tournament Web Site: (link)
FedEx Cup Info: (link)
PGA Tour Brunch will post by 9:00am (ET) Friday
WM Phoenix Open, Tee Times, Updates and Leaderboard
The Field: (link)
Tee Times: (link)
Updates:
John Huh WD
Lanto Griffin WD
Field size is now 134
Tournament Leaderboard: (link)
What They’re Saying
WM Phoenix Open and Super Bowl: 1-2 Punch (PGATourCom)
Comparing Rahm and Rory (PGATourCom)
Re-designed PGATourCom (PGATourCom)
On This Day in Golf History
February 9, 1986- Bob Tway won his first PGA Tour title, taking the Shearson Lehman Brothers Andy Williams Open by defeating Bernhard Langer on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff.
Parting Putt
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