In 2024, the Phoenix Open saw 54 arrests, taking its party atmosphere a step too far. This year, the tournament struck a balance.
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Twodaysaftertheconclusionoflastyear’sPhoenixOpen,tournamentorganizers—knownastheThunderbirds—flewtoLosAngelestomeetwiththePGATour’sadvisorycouncilforfeedback.
PlayersontheadvisorycouncilhadalreadymovedpastthePhoenixOpeninpreparationforthatweek’sGenesisInvitational,buttheThunderbirdsknewtheyhadtoactquickly.Theirtournament—carefullycultivatedintoaneventwithoutparallel—wasatriskoflosingitsprestige.
Foryears,thetournamenthadgrownwithoutrepercussion.Itsexpandingstaturebroughtonlymorefun.Butin2024,thebubbleburst.Fifty-fourattendeeswerearrested,threetimesmorethaneverbefore.Rainturnedhillsidesintomudpits,creatingovercrowdingindryareas.Playerssparredwithfans,thenusedreporterstoamplifytheircomplaints.
“TheThunderbirdsprobablyneedtodosomethingaboutit,”ZachJohnsonsaidatthetime.“I’massumingthey’reashamed.”
Allofthatwasthecontextwithwhichthisweekbegan.As
