Wasted fans turned the notoriously rowdy Waste Management Phoenix Open into a “show.”
That’s how at least one PGA Tour golfer described Saturday’s crowd at TPC Scottsdale. Alcohol sales at TPC Scottsdale were temporarily suspended at various locations around the course, and fan admission was also halted around 2 p.m.
“S-Show. Completely out of control on every hole,” South Korean-born golfer Byung Hun Ahn posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday.
“Yes, I know what I signed up for.” wrote a reply to a fan, along with a shrug emoji. “He’s played here many times over the years and he’s been fine until today. It’s just personal experience.”
With alcohol sales suspended, fights broke out in the gallery, with fans shouting “I want beer” and videos of shirtless male fans jumping into sand traps.
On Sunday, a video surfaced of Zach Johnson having a heated exchange with a fan, telling him to “shut up.”
Max Homa, who missed the cut, posted to X: “Actually, I love it.” “I hear some stupid stuff, but the roar is epic and the environment is so much fun.”
The tournament was known as “The Greatest Show on Lawn,” with up to 200,000 fans filling the course and often seeing unruly behavior, especially on the par-3 16th hole. .
Play was suspended on Saturday due to rain and darkness, but Nick Taylor held a one-stroke lead at 13 under through six holes in the third round.
Taylor tied the course record with an 11-under 60 in the opening round.
Jordan Spieth said Saturday that he was unable to get to the course for his afternoon tee time because of the large crowd.
“When I went home and when I came back, I couldn’t keep going in the same direction,” Spieth said, according to SI.com. “A police officer was blocking the road, so I drove up and said, ‘How do I get back on track?'” He said, “We’re over capacity.”It’s dangerous so you have to take a different route [entrance]. ”
“Once he said that, I thought he might have gotten into a little bit of trouble this afternoon, but we were on the front nine so it wasn’t a bit noisy, and he said alcohol sales had been stopped. I heard…Saturday is usually the big day, but I think it’s 27 holes. [Sunday], there may be more people than usual. ”
