WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN NOTES Event helps tour exceed $3 billion in charity
Golf is the catalyst, but generating charity dollars is the driving force behind the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Those efforts have helped the PGA Tour reach a milestone, as it announced Tuesday that it has surpassed $3 billion in charity giving, just six years after reaching the $2 billion mark.
The Open, hosted by the Phoenix Thunderbirds, has generated $147 million of that total in its 85-year history. It is one of only three events to surpass the $100 million mark.
“From the Thunderbirds standpoint, we are so proud to be associated with the PGA Tour and the players and with the other tournaments that are all part of this,” tournament chairman Tim Woods said. “We’re all in it for the right reasons, and to play a role in reaching $3 billion is absolutely staggering.
“Even if you just take our event and look at the fact that we are going to surpass $160 million this year, but in the last 10 years we have gone north of $80 million, it speaks to the exponential growth we are achieving and also the tour as a whole.”
The Open raised a record $13.2 million in 2019 and was named the tour’s Tournament of the Year for the second consecutive year and fourth time in the past five years.
In announcing the milestone, tour commissioner Jay Monahan cited the excitement generated last year at TPC Scottsdale when Special Olympian Amy Bockerstette teamed up with tour pro Gary Woodland during a pro-am event and made a par with a bunker save on the iconic par-3 16th hole. It has been viewed nearly 44 million times across various platforms. It has been featured on NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News, the Today Show and countless other platforms beyond golf.
Bockerstette will be reunited with Woodland for Wednesday’s Annexus Pro-Am.
"It’s truly a pleasure to thank our fans, sponsors, tournaments, players and volunteers for helping us generate over $3 billion for charity and positively impact millions of lives,” Monahan said. “As remarkable as this milestone is, what really matters are the countless stories like Amy’s that every tournament has. Together, we look forward to continuing to reach – and celebrate – millions more.”
Field is filled
Alex Smalley, who completed his career at Duke last year, will be making his PGA Tour debut in a non-major event this week as a result of the qualifying tournament at McCormick Ranch Golf Club.
Zack Sucher, who tied for 36th last week at the Farmers Insurance Open, led the qualifier with a score of 6-under 66.
Smalley, who played in the 2017 U.S. Open as an amateur, survived in a three-for-two playoff after each player shot 67. Patrick Flavin, who plays on the Latinoamerica Tour, also emerged from the playoff. Valley resident Robert Garrigus joined them in the playoff but failed to advance.
Chip shots
❚ Featured pairings for the first two rounds include: 2018 winner Gary Woodland, Xander Schauffele and Cameron Smith (7:50 a.m. Thursday); Justin Thomas, two-time winner Hideki Matsuyama and former Arizona State star Jon Rahm (8 a.m. Thursday); Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson and Andrew Landry (12:05 p.m. Thursday); and defending champion Rickie Fowler, Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Finau (12:15 p.m. Thursday).