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The WM Phoenix Open will take place this week from February 9 to February 12. It is one of the oldest PFA Tour events. This year, the competition will be celebrating its 88th anniversary and 36th at the TPC Scottsdale Stadium course.
The PGA Tour brought some significant changes this year to compete with the new rival LIV Golf, which has poached several PGA Tour superstars in the last year. The Tour announced 17 elevated events, which will have an increased purse size this year.
The Waste Management Phoenix Open is also one of the 17 designated events with a purse size of $20 million. Earlier, it was $9 million. Given that the top-ranked players need to play in most of these designated events, the "People's Open" can expect it to be high profile and star-studded.
The defending champion Scottie Scheffler received a check for $1,476,000 in 2022 for his first PGA Tour victory. This year, the winner's share has multiplied more than double to $3,60,000.
While most top PGA professionals will feature in the event, Adam Scott and Will Zalatoris will remain absent as players are allowed to skip one of the designated events.
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy will play his first PGA Tour event of the year. Eight of the top 10 players will be present at TPC Scottsdale. The OWGR race has become interesting, with Rahm being in fantastic form this year and Scottie Scheffler giving stiff competition to McIlroy.
Missing faces at the WM Phoenix Open
Since many golfers defected to LIV last year, they have been banned by the PGA Tour from featuring in their events. World No. 4 Cameron Smith is the highest-ranked golfer absent from Scottsdale this year.
Veteran Phil Mickelson is another prominent face missing from the WM Phoenix Open. It is not due to his ranking, which has dropped as low as 254. The six-time Majors winner had stopped coming to the Phoenix Open long before joining the LIV. The three-time winner last appeared on TPC Scottsdale in 2018, making his record 30th appearance at the event.
Other significant names absent from the tournament consist of the likes of Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Pat Perez.
Unlike last year, this year's WM Phoenix Open will not feature any amateur players. Charley Hoffman, Taylor Montgomery, Davis Thompson, Ricky Barnes, and two-time tournament winner J.B. Holmes are the five pros who received the 2023 sponsor invitations.
Field and Schedule details of WM Phoenix Open
The WM Phoenix Open will have an expanded field of 136 players compared to the traditional 132. Tournament director Pat Williams feels they are ready for the challenge, however, if the round doesn't get concluded on time, we can expect the cut to be made on Saturday morning.
The first two rounds will be telecast on the Golf Channel. The remaining two will be telecasted initially on the Golf Channel before switching over to CBS.
In all probability, the tournament will conclude by 6 p.m. (E.T.) on Sunday, 20 minutes before the Super Bowl event, which will take place just 30 miles away from Scottsdale in Glendale, Arizona.
