The PGA Tour’s four days spent in Arizona desert, especially the weekend of Phoenix Open, served as a stark reminder of its true purpose.
Sport is best enjoyed in silence, but noise is good as long as it is the right kind.
The PGA Tour has had far too much chaos to begin the new year.
It’s not just the sound from beer cans hitting the TPC Scottsdale 16th green that caused undue delays (funny, how the pace of play is no longer considered such an issue) or enough damage to the putting surface that it almost affected the outcome.
In the debate about whether golf needs more tournaments such as Phoenix (it doesn’t), it is not clear who is responsible.
They are the fans. There are many of them.
After being banned by COVID-19, golf is now at the one year mark. Observers are slowly being allowed back to tournaments. Traditionalists who feel that golf is out of control in Phoenix may want to consider the alternatives. Phoenix was refreshing in this context.
Golf was never duller than it was a year ago. Woods was able to live the experience of being Tiger Woods, despite not having to play in front of a large crowd.
Phoenix has one of the loudest, if not the most offensive, atmospheres in golf. It is something that most players are comfortable with. Those who aren’t can always go home.
Phoenix fans are at risk of trying to live up their reputations, and this year was an example.
It’s difficult to imagine how the PGA Tour brass would feel about two players taking off their shirts to encourage more chuckling of drinks onto the green.
Carlos Ortiz was a great player on Sunday, even if he didn’t wear his shirt. There were also some nervous moments.
Ortiz stated, “A lot people cheering you on and then you start trying not to look at your head because I was actually nailed pretty hard on my back with a beer bottle.”
It was something he still loves, maybe because he could talk about it.
Fans will be the ones to blame if the tournament ever has to put up netting in front the grandstands.
It’s still a good sound.
Charley Hoffman’s noise was not so great, regardless of whether it was a silly message he posted to Instagram or an attempt to explain himself the next day.
It is enough for golf fans to hear Phil Mickelson speak about the “obnoxious glutt” of the PGA Tour, while he takes seven-figure appearances in Saudi Arabia.
Charley Hoffman?
Hoffman was charged with a violation of rules Friday after he drove into water and placed his ball in play. He then stepped away to watch it fall into the water again for another penalty. He could have dropped it in a safer place. His next drop didn’t move. The rule is annoying, however.
Hoffman said it was about more than just the rules.
He also referred to the USGA (not the first) as amateurs who run the professional game. He blamed the PGA Tour and the location of his hazard line. He claimed that there was no accountability. He suggested that this is why “guys want to jump ship and play on another tour.”
Dumber was still his explanation that he referred to the Saudi threat the next day.
Hoffman stated, “So I put in a jab there on purpose just to make it catch the media,” Hoffman added.
Then, he declared his support for the PGA Tour. He also stated that he doesn’t intend to play for any league Greg Norman or his Saudi-financed team have in mind. Hoffman won’t be leaving for another tour, so the PGA Tour can rest easy.
Scottie Scheffler won his first PGA Tour playoff win over Patrick Cantlay. Cantlay hasn’t finished in the top 10 for six months. (OK, he only played three months). Five of the top 10 players in the world were represented in the top 10, which was the Phoenix top 10.
This week, Riviera will feature the top 10 players from around the world playing on the course that many consider to be the best on the tour. It won’t be a circus, but it doesn’t have to be. This is part of what makes Phoenix so special.
Within two months, the Masters will be here.
Bryson deChambeau and Mickelson, the two worst players in noise, won’t be at Riviera, and chances are that no one will.
Fans will be there. They were missed by golf, even if they didn’t bring beer cans.
