IT’S SHOWTIME AT PHOENIX OPEN
Mickelson and Rahm share spotlight at TPC
Golf comes with style at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
The pairings have subtext. The play is intense. And the fans strike a balance between savvy and sauced up.
Bill Hass jumped out to an early lead Thursday at TPC Scottsdale, shooting 7-under (64), and 10 other players were within three shots.
But zoom in on the 16th, “the most exciting hole on the PGA Tour,” where 16,000 fans packed into the grandstands, boozing and bellowing, cheering and chugging.
Jon Rahm recognized the opportunity to blend spectacle with sport and swapped his hat for a headband that would have given Sylvester Stallone a flashback.
“I’ve heard a lot of nicknames in the last year and ‘Rahmbo’ is one I’ve always loved and tried to encourage,” he said.
Rahm’s group included Phil Mickelson, the man he could eventually supplant as the No. 1 Sun Devil on the PGA Tour.
Rahm is challenging to become the top-ranked player in the world, but while he might have passed Mickelson on the course, it’ll take time before he matches Lefty’s popularity in Phoenix.
Mickelson famously was never able to climb higher than No. 2. He’s currently 49th, but fans in his rowdy gallery didn’t care. They screamed for him shot after shot. “You the man, Phil!” He touched the bill of his cap. “Nice shot, Phil!” He turned and smiled. “Go, Phil!” He gave a thumbs-up.
And when a “Ti-GER! Ti-GER!” chant broke out on 16, it was quickly booed down, then replaced by cheers when he matched Rahm by dropping a short birdie putt.
“You don’t see many times two people birdie that hole,” Rahm said. “And when it’s me and Phil, both kind of hometown people, it’s great. You could tell (the fans) were excited. Once I made mine, he made his own on top of it. It was a great feeling.”
Xander Schauffele took third billing after the ASU stars, but he was gracious.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “… I definitely tried to feed off the vibe they were giving those guys.”
Rahm finished at 4-under, in a fiveway tie for seventh. Schauffele came in 3-under. Mickelson, however, is dozens of names down the board at 1-under.
“I think we all want Phil to be in contention again,” Rahm said.
If this group was a Hollywood blockbuster, it came immediately after an indie Oscar contender.
Hideki Matsuyama led a trio that included Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson, the men he’s beaten in playoffs to win this tournament the last two years.
The crowds keeping up with these three seemed smaller and were certainly less vocal than the Rahm-SchauffeleMickelson supporters, but the proximity of the pairings allowed spectators to split time between each and see some of the most tense moments of the opening round.
Simpson, whose group started on the back nine, was behind as they approached Hole 8. Fowler was 4-under. Matsuyama was 2-under. Simpson, meanwhile, was even.
He came strong off the tee at the par-4, 481-yard hole, trying to get to the left side of the fairway for a chance to get to the green in two. Instead, he put it under some trees.
Simpson tried to blast out, but his shot appeared to bounce off a camera and hit a spectator in the face. The fan was carted away and taken to a hospital for evaluation after spending several minutes on the ground. He was responsive and in stable condition, but additional information wasn’t immediately available.
Simpson took a drop about 70 yards from the pin, ending up on grass next to landscaping near the cart path. He then hit a beautiful, high-arching shot that stopped 18 feet from the pin.
He narrowly missed the putt, and the chance to get up and down, before tapping in a gimmie for bogey.
Fowler went into the clubhouse at 5under, tied with four others for second. Matsuyama finished 2-under. Simpson finished the day 1-over.
His luck on No. 8, however, wasn’t as bad as Rahm’s on 17.
After a nice drive on the 348-yard par 4, he hit “a horrible chip, and it chipped in the water.”
He bogeyed the hole, then hooked his drive on the 453-yard, par 4 18th hole and slammed his club to the ground, leaving a dent in the grass.
“You guys know me by now,” he said. “I mean, I was clearly frustrated.”
It looked like carryover from one hole to the next, but he said that wasn’t the case.
“It was more frustration,” he said, “because when I try to hit a ball that hard off the tee, it never goes left, and that one went to a really bad sport on that hole.”
But Rahm had plenty of good luck, too. He got out of the bunker with a shot that seemed to go straight up like a helicopter to avoid a band of rough in the trap. The shot went 120 yards to the green, and he made par.
His real good fortune, however, was on No. 2.
“I landed on Xander’s ball somehow, which is kind of hard to do,” he said. “I got a good break there because that ball could have gone way over the green like his did, so I tried to feed off that positive break. … My ball could have ended up 30 yards past the pin and not a chance to make par, I’m like, ‘It’s a good break. Take it like it is, and keep hitting good shots, and something good is going to happen.’”