Winning the WM Phoenix Open Takes a Special Kind of Player

It takes a certain kind of player to win the WM Phoenix Open.

In most tournaments, such analytic generalization typically refers to a specific set of technical assets. There are events where we maintain that only the longest hitters can contend, others where it requires precision iron play or a red-hot putter.

This week, though, I’ve always believed it’s more about a player’s attitude than anything else. It’ll take a player who embraces the atmosphere at TPC Scottsdale and enjoys showing off in front of the massive crowds.

Don’t take my word for it, though. Ask them.

“You’ve got to deal with the environment here, but it’s something you’ve got to embrace,” said two-time champion Scottie Scheffler. “It’s a lot of fun. I think a few times a year being able to play with this big of a crowd is pretty special for us as players.”

“I’ve missed fans,” another two-time winner, Brooks Koepka, said in 2021 after a COVID year devoid of spectators. “Just being around fans is something else. I love it. I’ve played my best golf with fans, so just need to find something when they’re not there.”

Rickie Fowler has never shied away from the spotlight. After winning here in 2019, he explained, “Yeah, this one is a little more special. It’s not just the normal event. I love the atmosphere here, I love the fans. They have always been great to me.”

Attendance figures are rough estimates here, at best, but it’s fair to suggest the number of people attending this tourney will range from “a whole lot” to “the population of Arizona.”

Unlike raucous crowds anywhere else, most folks aren’t too concerned with the guys plying their craft inside the ropes. It’s almost like those pesky professional golfers are getting in the way of the festivities.

It’s easy to be uncomfortable and perhaps more importantly, tough to get comfortable when you’re trying to focus on making birdies in the middle of a house party.

Because of this, it might be the one event where Strokes Gained: Personality is the greatest determining factor.

That doesn’t, however, mean that only one type of person can thrive here.

Just as SG: Off the tee can be dominated by a player who hits it insanely long or uncannily straight, a guy who handles the environment can be a cocksure bomber who struts down the fairways or an introverted sort who flies under the radar.

The aforementioned Scheffler, Koepka and Fowler each fit the first of those criteria, as do Phil Mickelson and Gary Woodland, both of whom have triumphed here over the past decade-and-a-half.

Hideki Matsuyama, Nick Taylor and Webb Simpson all check that second box, though the one commonality between them is that they’d all won multiple titles before winning in Phoenix, so they weren’t trying to do something they’d never before accomplished.

In fact, since 2015, only three players have made this tournament their maiden PGA Tour victory. Two of those – Scheffler and Koepka – were burgeoning superstars, on the verge of winning major championships and being among the best players of their generation.

The third, Thomas Detry, won by a touchdown in runaway fashion last year. He remains the greatest outlier on this winners’ list in recent memory, though if we take his post-victory comments at face value, he similarly embraced this unique environment.

“It’s a different tournament than the average PGA Tour event,” said Detry, who left for LIV Golf at the beginning of this year. “People are just loud, but it’s fun. It’s part of it. It’s just a constant loud noise, and it doesn’t really affect us. We love it. When we hear sound, it just means someone got a good shot and beers [are] probably flying.”

The problem with the acknowledgment that it takes a certain something to win this event is that such information still isn’t massive help to bettors. There’s no data point on the PGA Tour website which suggests a low resting heart rate when thousands of people are buzzing in your backswing.

My suggestion instead is to stick with players who have contended here in the past and undoubtedly players who compete here on an annual basis. If there’s a player who’s never finished top-40 in several attempts, he probably struggles with the atmosphere around him; if there’s one who skips this tourney more than he plays it, chances are he doesn’t embrace it as much as others.

None of which means a player can’t show up for the first time and win here, but it’s one event where it pays to examine course history and inspect player comments about competing here. That attitude could make all the difference this week.