After the events of Pebble Beach, the 2025 Waste Management Phoenix Open is the next event held on Feb. 6th-9th. This also means the one-year anniversary of the 2024 disaster that happened last year. The result being that 54 fans were arrested by the end of the day with a total of 211 being kicked out. What happened, why did it happen, and are there plans to keep it from happening again? We check in with a detailed look at the Phoenix Open rule changers worth noting.
Major Rule Changes for Phoenix Open
Course Conditions
During the 2024 WM Open, many things conspired together to create such a disaster. Right before the event, there was a large deluge that set everything in motion. Conditions on the course were muddy creating slippery conditions for players and fans alike. It created hazards for the players, but for the fans, it meant they had to crowd around anywhere dry unless they wanted to get stuck in the mud. Some videos went viral at the time of spectators slipping down hills leading to chaos.
Fan Behavior
A major contributor that fueled the biggest issues for the event was alcohol consumption. This combined with the crowding led to the crowd being a bit unruly. The Waste Management Phoenix Open is a bit less muted than other golf events, most of which not usually encouraging more than the polite golf clap. At the WM Open fans can cheer and boo all they want between shots, the only qualifier being that fans are expected to be quiet when a player is standing over a ball. At various points, the players were being heckled by fans to the point where one player, Billy Horchel, ended up biting back. That was on top of him not having the best game that day having four bogeys.
These attitude issues were a problem on every hole. Then there were the people who got injured during the event. One woman who was drunk at the time ended up falling twenty feet from the stands and had to be taken away by ambulance. She was fine but still had to go to the hospital, and in response, all alcohol sales were halted. Finally, the event that went viral was the fight that broke out between two fans.
New Rules and Setup
In response to what happened the Thunderbirds, and the Scottsdale Police Department have worked together to create a better environment.
- To address issues of foot traffic an additional entrance was installed, this will help ease crowding in future events.
- Food and alcohol vendors have been relocated around the venue.
- Alcohol sales will also be limited to two drinks per transaction.
- This will be the first year when all tickets are digital only, and as part of that a rules and conduct section has been added to the tickets as a reminder. Repeated violations will get spectators booted from the event.
- Getting into fights or running onto the course will now result in immediate ejection from the venue with no warning.
A full list of rules and regulations can be found here.
Things are shaping up to be much calmer this year at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. For those worried about the weather, there is nothing to fear this year. Last year’s rain was a chance encounter and this year the weather is looking fair. Will these measures work to curb the issues from last year? Only time will tell.
Main photo credit:
© Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images
