For Scottie Scheffler, Scottsdale is also a place of remembrance from a time when hardly anyone knew him. A year ago, the then 25-year-old from New Jersey was still a player under the radar – talented, but not a favorite of the masses, not a protagonist of the golfing elite. “No one knew him back then,” said his caddy Ted Scott, who has been with Scheffler on the bag for years, now in retrospect: “No one even thought of him.”
Scottsdale, Arizona, however, was to become the starting point of a relatively unique year: Scheffler’s victory at the Waste Management Phoenix Open 2022 was the beginning of a phase lasting several months in which hardly any of his competitors might even beat him. In the weeks that followed, Scheffler won two more tournaments and finally the Masters in Augusta in early April. It took a few weeks for the whole world to know him, also because he led the world rankings for months before Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland passed in the autumn. Scheffler has been up front once more since Monday morning – following defending his title at the Phoenix Open, a tournament that is not only unique because of Scheffler’s history.
The loudest hole in golf, the unofficial title of hole number 16, became the setting for a number of top players on the PGA Tour this year. Year following year, the organizer in Phoenix builds a steadily growing grandstand around the golf hole, which is more or less in a stadium – that’s how it is there. On the four days of the tournament, beer mugs flew across the field following good shots, the crowd raved regarding sinking putts and once even a speedster dared onto the field. There is nowhere else in golf that has a more stadium atmosphere, and some even claimed that the atmosphere was better than on Sunday evening at the Super Bowl in neighboring Glendale.
Golf can and should get louder, with a younger audience and more events
Scottsdale is not only a special place for Scottie Scheffler, but also for the entire PGA Tour, because a potentially new, modern version of the sport is manifested here: golf can and should get louder, with a younger audience and more events around it Competition. The goal is to manage the balancing act between the tradition and tranquility of Augusta and the wild (and sometimes very drunk) hooting of Arizona. This is one of the reasons why the Phoenix Open is now one of the so-called flagship events, with increased prize money to attract the top players: there was a total of 20 million to be earned, with the winner Scheffler receiving 3.6 million.
The many millions have hardly changed the 26-year-old in the past year. It is remarkable to see the ease with which Scheffler is currently winding his way through golf once more, despite all the difficulties he encountered along the way. Most of his answers to questions at press conferences currently include the word “fun” – it wasn’t always like that. Before his final round at the Masters last year, he had a horrible night out of sheer nervousness, Scheffler admitted at the time. This time he was looking forward to going into the last lap as the leader. Jon Rahm, currently in impressive form, and Canadian Nick Taylor tried to intercept Scheffler, but in the end he won by two shots.
Scheffler now feels comfortable in the position of the favorite who is being chased by the others – a role that he will now assume more as number one once more in the coming months leading up to the Masters, in which some major events are waiting: For the coming week For example, Tiger Woods has announced that he would like to play a non-major tournament once more at the Genesis Open in Los Angeles. At the same time, a long-awaited documentary will be released on Netflix regarding the past year in the Gulf, in which the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian LIV Tour became embroiled in a global dispute.
Scheffler will also be part of the documentary, and filming began just over a year ago. “I think when we started they really didn’t want much from me,” Scheffler said of the shoot during the week. Then his rise to number one began – which has not only focused on Netflix over the past twelve months.
