Rickie Fowler closed with three straight birdies today to take a one shot lead going into the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at the TPC Stadium Course in Scottsdale, Arizona. I know; I was there (because I live nearby). Rickie has shot 66, 66, and 67 on the par 71 course for a three-round total of 199.
But it may be quite a dog race tomorrow for the championship. Three players are tied in second place at 13-under par 200 total: Jon Rahm, a new sensation on Tour and former local student at Arizona State University, Bryson DeChambeau, with unorthodox ideas about the golf swing and golf clubs, and local Chez Reavie. But only one shot back of these three are three others who include crowd favorite, three-time winner of the this event, also a former ASU student, and superstar Phil Mickelson. Rahm also turned it on down stretch with five birdies in the last eight holes.
The weather was spectacular, at 80+ degrees without a cloud in the sky and hardly a breath of wind. This is why we live in this paradise, that is, if you can stand the summer heat. The weather forecast for tomorrow is more of the same. We aren’t complaining.
This tournament is famous for the huge fan turnout and some rowdy crowds due to the one-of-a-kind par-three 16th hole that is surrounded by covered grandstands three levels high. Those stands on this little nine-iron shot hole holds 16,000 people.
There is no tournament like it in the world. It’s called “the greatest game on grass.” It seems every year there is a new record attendance. Today was no different, with 217,000+ fans. In my day, all tournament officials on the PGA Tour said about 40,00 fans was max any golf course could hold for a pro tournament.
And this tournament, more than any other, proves former PGA Tour player Deane Beman right about his stadium golf course design that he brought to the PGA Tour in the 1970s-1980s as our commissioner. With bowl-U-shaped perimeters around the greens, it provides for so many spectators to be able to view the play without having to use those old periscopes that existed in my day. What a difference. Hats off to our former PGA Tour commissioner (about twenty years). I don’t think anything has ever moved the PGA Tour forward more than Deane Beman’s stadium golf course design.
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