Police reveal stark figures from chaotic Phoenix Open

Labelled the ‘Wasted’ Management Phoenix Open, Arizona’s showpiece in 2024 will live long in the memory.

Nick Taylor’s dramatic play-off win over Charley Hoffman was not the reason, though.

As chaos erupted at TPC Scottsdale, disruption on both sides of the ropes caused tournament hosts to announce a ‘complete’ overhaul will take place before next year’s event.

Billy Horschel and Zach Johnson were caught in heated altercations with spectators, while Jordan Spieth was put off during his backswing.

From the stands, one fan performed a ‘snow angel’ in the bunker, with others streaking on the fairway and sliding down mud hills.

And Scottsdale Police have now confirmed the extent of the rowdy scenes at the PGA Tour event, as the number of arrests tripled from 2023.

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According to Aaron Bolin, a Scottsdale police spokesperson, officers arrested 54 people between February 5 and February 11.

That was compared to 18 last year, while no arrests were made at ‘the people’s open’ in 2022. The exact charges they were booked on is not immediately available.

Bolin added that 211 fans were ejected from the event, over twice as many as last year, and 73 people were removed for trespassing.

The figures, from the Arizona Department of Liquor License and Control, do not include arrests involving underage drinking violations, as 653 calls for service were made.

Taylor Davidson, a Phoenix resident, told the Arizona Republic that security did not check her bag or scan her ticket.

“I’ve never seen that many people in one place in my entire life,” Davidson said.

“It was a lot crazier from what I saw this year. Last year, I did more walking around, too — like in the general area. And I mean there were a lot of drunk people, but this year was definitely a lot worse.

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“There were a lot of people non-responsive, stumbling all around, falling. I’ve seen many, many videos of people just going completely limp.”

Meanwhile, Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega has called for “necessary change” to the tournament after facing heavy criticism.

“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,” he said.

“I am confident that the Thunderbirds are committed to make necessary changes so the next Open is safe and enjoyable for all.”

Chance Cozby, executive director of the Thunderbirds, the civic organisation that hosts the event, has promised the chaos of last week will ‘not happen again’.

“We are going to make changes,” he said. “There’s no time off, we have 365 days to fix this.”

“Saturday at the WM Phoenix Open in 2024 is going to end up being a turning point for our tournament and our organisation to make our event better.

“We learned so much and we know that we have to make improvements. We owe it our fans, we owe it to the PGA Tour players that come and support this event, we are not going to let this happen again.”

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.