If there is a tournament of the PGA Tour where the public will be missed on the golf course is undoubtedly the Waste Management Phoenix Open that starts tomorrow in the TPC Scottsdale. It is true that there will be a small number of spectators with limited access, perhaps 5,000 each day, but nothing compared to the more than 200,000 that come together each year in the third round on Saturday in a record-breaking event.
Health restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic continue to rage. At Houston OpenSome 2,000 fans a day were allowed access a few weeks ago. And although as he said Jon Rahm Last week, “5,000 is better than nothing”, it will be difficult to experience the atmosphere of other years, especially in the spectacular par three of hole 16, with a stadium-shaped stand with three floors and with capacity for more of 16,000 people.
The golfer from Barrel, who plays ‘at home’ (he was trained in Arizona State and resides five minutes from TPC Scottsdale), will be precisely one of the main favorites to victory and the highest ranked player in the world ranking of all those who compete. As number 2, Jon will seek a triumph that resists him. He wowed on this very stage in 2015, as an amateur, and has never finished below 16th. But he still hasn’t managed to lift the trophy.
Tee times: Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas face off at the Phoenix Open
Rahm It comes after a winless start to the year, but with the most consistent golf. The change of material to play with Callaway It doesn’t seem to have affected his performance in the slightest and he hasn’t come out of the top 10 in any of his last four tournaments on the tour (the last two at the new mark), with one second place and three sevenths in a row. With 44 top-10s in his 96 events in the PGA Tour, the Spaniard will try to continue fine-tuning his game in search of victory, but without losing perspective on his great goal of the season: to reach the majors.
As in 2020, Jon will share the first two rounds with Justin thomas, who arrives at the tournament as number 3 in the world and with options to surpass the Spanish in the classification. It will be your seventh presence in the Waste Management Phoenix Open and be very careful with his connection with this field: in the last two editions of the tournament he finished third tied. And for JT, there are few tournaments that can resist him … (at 27, he already has 13 wins on the circuit).
In addition to other figures such as Xander Schauffele or own Webb Simpson, winner in Scottsdale Last year, Jon will also have to face a rival of those who scare week after week: Rory McIlroy. The Northern Irishman, after a great start to the year in Abu Dhabi where he achieved a tied third place (led for several rounds), he returned last week to U.S to play the Farmers. He was not fine with the putter, but from tee to green he is playing at a high level and will seek his 19th title of the PGA Tour in a tournament in which he competes for the first time in his career.
Waste Management Phoenix Open 2021: dates, times and where to watch on TV
Rickie Fowler, Gary Woodland, Hideki Matsuyama y Brooks Koepka, winners in previous editions of the Phoenix Open, they will also be rivals to consider by Jon. Like players like Harris English, with whom he will play the first two rounds together with Justin thomas and what comes from winning the Sentry Tournament of Champions at the beginning of the year, Si Woo Kim, winner of American Express a couple of weeks ago, or Carlos Ortiz, which was imposed on Houston and played really well last week in Torrey Pines… Except for the final round.
With mild temperatures between 8 and 24 degrees, with no rain forecast and little wind, which will calm down as the rounds pass, the Waste Management Phoenix Open, 19th tournament of the season PGA Tour, is ready for the starting gun tomorrow. It will distribute 7.5 million dollars in prizes and a good handful of points for the FedEx Cup… And for the world ranking, an additional loot that takes on special importance in the year of Ryder Cup.
