While the WM open is known for having a party every day, especially on the iconic 16th hole. This week the party was a little colder than most… In more ways than one. First off the weather was very un-Phoenix like. The tournament started on Thursday with temps in the 40’s. You read that right. The 40’s in Phoenix. Only then to get an uncharacteristic amount of rain, thus delaying things and getting the tournament schedule behind from the beginning. This left tournament officials in scramble mode almost immediately. Having to deal with parking situations and being unable to park almost 3000 cars due to the amount of rain and subsequently mud that came along with it.
As if that wasn’t enough to deal with, the plot only thickens from here. Allegedly on Saturday, the wonderful folks working the admissions decided to quit checking tickets which then lead to an absurd amount of people being let into the grounds. And as you would expect the party grew and grew to a record number and quickly became out of control. Things got so out of control that early in the afternoon. Tournament officials decided to suspend all alcohol sales. Which, with this crowd went over about as well as you would think it would.
Finally, to golf. (I mean that’s why all the people are there anyway, right?) The tournament set up for one of the greatest feel-good stories the game of golf has seen in some time. Crowd favorite Charlie Hoffman, whose last PGA tour victory was nearly a decade ago in 2016, was in prime position to take home the hardware, when Nick Taylor birdied 3 of the last 4 holes to force a playoff. Nick would eventually get the best of Charlie in the second hole of the playoff to earn his 4th PGA win. The golf was great, then venue as always was in excellent shape (despite the weather), but I still can help feeling disappointed. I would have loved to see Charlie win this event. I have always loved watching Charlie and hope that this is only a sign of good things to come for him.