Inside Comments by Steve Turcotte

Reliving the WM Phoenix Open

It was business as usual as I made my eighth straight trip to the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. There are always plenty of shenanigans, but I was my usual professional self…taking photos, doing a couple of interviews and of course sitting for hours on the 16th hole. Were there beers involved? You make the call.

This has become an annual event for me and hundreds of thousands of my closest friends. In fact, if you had to look around and guess, maybe 20 percent of the people at the event were there for the golf. The other 80 percent, well, let’s just say they might be wondering what those guys dressed in golf clothes are doing.

I always like to go and watch the Pacific Northwest players taking part in the tournament.

Let’s start with Joel Dahmen of Clarkston, Wash., a former University of Washington player. He was coming off a great tournament the week before and I had high hopes. But he finished at even par and missed the cut. Dahmen still found ways to entertain the crowd wearing a Seahawk helmet as he walked from the tee on 16 to the green and then was a guest commentator on the Golf Channel.

Tacoma native Joe Highsmith didn’t play as well as he wanted but made the cut and finished tied for 54th. I did get a smile from him as he made his way from 15 to 16 when I yelled go Bellarmine Prep – his high school alma mater.

Nick Taylor, a former University of Washington golfer, and Wyndham Clark, a former Oregon Duck both made the cut and finished in the top 40.

But off the course there was the usual action. Some guy named Jack Doherty who tries to cause trouble then hides behind his security guy. Really, you need a security guy? He paid a fan $100 to yell “Jackass” when Mackenzie Hughes took a swing. The POS Doherty hid behind his security guy but still got kicked out and banned from future PGA Tour events. Good riddance A-hole.

But most were there for the fun. They don’t give out the attendance numbers but it was big as usual. The folks were there for the yelling, the drinking and, yes, some were even there for the golf as Chris Gotterup won in a playoff over Hideki Matsuyama. I had money on Matsuyama too. And he led by a stroke going into the final hole. Oh well, that’s the WM Phoenix Open.  I guess. And to answer the earlier question, yes, there were beers involved!

Steve Turcotte is editor of Inside Golf Newspaper. He can be reached at sdturcotte@comcast.net.