glorious photo credit:@barstoolbanks
Damn.
What I wouldn’t give to be at TPC Scottsdale this weekend.
The Waste Management is renowned for being the People’s Open.
The tournament that attracts the most fans and the rowdiest crowds on the entire Tour.
Anyone who’s been will tell ya it’s a blast.
Still do, to be quite honest.
And why wouldn’t it?
Easy, easy pick for this to be an elevated event, and the purse reflects that.
Last year’s total purse was $8.2M, this year it’s $20M.
Quite a jump there.
Last year’s WMPO was one of the best tournaments of the year.
Absolutely jam packed leaderboard with big names at the top.
That’s a huge part of how this tournament became the massive success that it is.
It’s not a terribly long track and isn’t terribly narrow either.
It’s your quintessential 2nd shot golf course that rewards ball-striking and positioning on approach.
The opportunities (like most courses on Tour) are on the par 5’s.
There’s 3 of them and they are all extremely reachable for these guys.
Gotta take advantage there and on the short par 4 17th.
Best Hole -16th17th Hole Par 4, 332 Yards
Yeah yeah, I know.
The 16th hole is iconic.
It’s a giggle of laughs.
It’s chock full of great moments and there’s no experience like it anywhere in this entire sport.
All of those things are great and I love that hole for it.
But it’s also about as straightforward of a golf hole as there is.
I know, blasphemous.
People don’t appreciate what a gem the 17th hole is enough.
They should build a BIGGER stadium around this bad boy.
Especially when they put a pin in that back left peninsula, which they often do on Friday.
Then you start to see guys take a rip at the green a little more on the weekend.
Feels like every year the tournament is won or lost here.
It even has the Tour’s only hole-in-one on a Par 4 in history.
The above is from the PGA Tour’s twitter banner and the media relations website.
Not sure what I’ll be using moving forward but one is clearly busier than the other.
The Trophy
It’s… it’s like a bird?
They’re basically the hosts of this event.
Is that an indication that handicappers see Rahm as the better player right now?
With that said, I’m going in onCameron Young +2800.
Much like Scottie last year, it’s Cam’s time to break through.
The strong field in this event gives you a better payout for that inevitable breakthrough.
He’s gonna do it soon.
Tom Kim To Win +2800/Top 10 +300- Definitely seems like a guy who feeds off Scottsdale energy.
Excited to see what kinda show he puts on.
Tony Finau Top American +1100/Top 10 +175- Another former FOMO guy who actually should have won here already.
Webb Simpson stole his soul in 2020 by burying a long one to force a playoff.
This tournament used to belong to Deki.
His first 4 years at Scottsdale he went T-4, T-2, WIN, WIN.
He WD’d the next year and had some middling results since, but finished T-8 last year.
Garrick Higgo Top 20 +500- Higgo is regaining the form that saw him win so early in his career.
5 of the last 7 have gone to a playoff.
It’s currently +750 for rounds 1 and 2, +800 for Saturday, and +900 for Sunday.
I’ll leave you with that.
Hope you all enjoy reading these as much as I do writing em.
Enjoy the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
