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Adam Scott is not a fan of the WM Phoenix Open fan environment. He played it two years ago and returned to play this year, when it was arguably at its worst. He didn't enjoy the atmosphere, which resulted in 54 total arrests by the Scottsdale police and numerous incidents between fans and players and amongst the spectators themselves.
Many people have complained about the event and how things turned out. Weather didn't help, but most golfers didn't enjoy what the fans were doing. Scott, however, believes there may be some reason for this uptick in controversy.
The 43-year-old golfer said via Mirror:
“I think the Phoenix Open is sitting on its own as something like no other. I have only played it twice, two years ago and last week, and there are so many people it’s just noisy, and there are distractions and everyone has got to deal with it."
Scott believes that LIV may have played some role in this trend. He referenced the rebel tour's trip to Australia, Scott's home country, last season. That got pretty chaotic, and the golfer said:
"I haven’t really seen different behaviour elsewhere on the PGA Tour."
He further added:
"Although I would say the fans in Australia at the back end of last year were enthusiastic and maybe you could attribute that to the event in Adelaide and LIV. But that might be drawing a long bow."
Jordan Spieth, Billy Horschel and Zach Johnson in particular had issues with fans. Johnson told them directly to "shut up", and Horschel echoed that sentiment with an expletive. Spieth reportedly mouthed expletives under his breath while fans were jeering.
Whether or not LIV Golf is responsible for this change at the PGA Tour remains to be seen, but Scott mused there might be a bit of a correlation to the rise in fan incidents.
WM Phoenix Open will be different in the future
Adam Scott and the rest of the players who've complained about the WM Phoenix Open fans may have been heard. The sheer volume of controversy and arrests necessitated some change, and it's coming.
Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega said via Mirror:
"The Phoenix Open has an outstanding reputation and has successfully attracted millions of fans over the last 37 years to Scottsdale, without the unruly behaviour that we witnessed last week. I am confident that the Thunderbirds are committed to make necessary changes so the next Open is safe and enjoyable for all."
To their credit, The Thunderbirds also said there would be changes to the event and that 2025 would be much better. Chance Cozby, Executive Director at The Thunderbirds, said:
"Well, we are going to make changes. I think everyone probably agrees that we have a very unique culture of our event and we've been doing this for 89 years. The Thunderbirds were founded in 1937, and this was our 89th playing and I don't think any of us dreamed it would grow to this level of attention and excitement
Those changes will have to be seen, but they're doing what they can to prevent golfers from ignoring the tournament to avoid the fans.
