The most highly attended event on the PGA Tour is the Waste Management Phoenix Open. And it could be true again in 2021, even with a severely scaled down fan presence.
Few Tour events have had any fans at all since the restart last June. The Vivint Houston Open two months ago was the first to welcome them back, with about 2,000 fans on hand each day.
The Thunderbirds, who run the Phoenix Open, stopped announcing daily attendance numbers a few years ago, choosing instead to put the emphasis dollars raised for charities rather than people coming through the turnstiles.
But they’re committed to having fans on site and this year, they have already sold out of the $100 and $125 general-admission tickets for the tournament, Feb. 4-7, at TPC Scottsdale.
“We’re very encouraged and very thankful that our community came right in and bought all the general admission tickets,” tournament director Scott Jenkins said on Thursday. “Friday and Saturday were gone in about 12 hours.”
With less than a month to go before the Phoenix Open, there is still much to do but it’s almost time for some golf at TPC Scottsdale.
“It’s been a long year for everyone, not just on the Waste Management Phoenix Open front. It’s been a long year for our country. I’m happy we’re about 25 days away,” Jenkins said. “It’s taken a lot of different shapes and planning but we think we have a really good plan in place and we’re going to execute on it.”
Per COVID protocols, all fans will have their temperature checked upon entry. Masks will be mandatory and the policy will be enforced, said Jenkins. The seating areas will be spaced out.
“It’s a 192-acre golf course,” Jenkins said. “We think it’s very conducive to social distancing.
“The world is divided on this topic. We look around the country at the various sporting events, football. … you know, we think we have a good plan in place. We understand people that are cautious about us having events but we think we’ve talked to the best in the business about this, as far as the experts. Again, it’s utilizing the full 192 acres, with spreading people out.”
The 68th rendition of the event will no doubt look different and while the infamous 16th hole won’t have its typical thousands of raucous fans in attendance, there will still be a coliseum surrounding the par-3 hole with fans on just the top deck.
There will be other “fans” there as well, called Faces on 16.
“A lot of different sports have cardboard cutouts of fans. This is our take on it,” Jenkins said. “We’ll have banners with peoples’ faces on it. You can buy them on our website. All the money is going to four different charities that all deal with kids. Boys & Girls Clubs, Phoenix Children’s Hospitals so if you can’t make it out there, you can still help us fundraise.
“Normally our 16th hole is three stories, houses 16,000 people. This year it’s one story, still yet to determine how many people we’re going to have in there, but obviously much reduced,” Jenkins said. “The other thing is typically in a normal year, you’re able to walk around the entire 16th hole. This year we’ve divided it into four different sections and you’ll be restricted to your section. That’s all COVID protocol. Mandatory masks.
“At the end of the day, it’ll be treated a lot like a restaurant: when you’re at your table and you’re dining, you can have your mask off. But when you’re moving around, we ask that you have your mask on and it will be enforced.”
