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The 9 Most Incredible Moments in Phoenix Open History

The “greatest show on grass” boasts some unforgettable moments, from beer showers to holes-in-ones. Here are our favorites.
Max Schreiber|
Tiger Woods lit up TPC Sawgrass with an ace on 16 in 1997 that forever lives in tournament lore.
Tiger Woods lit up TPC Sawgrass with an ace on 16 in 1997 that forever lives in tournament lore. | Robert Beck/Sports Illustrated

The WM Phoenix Open has built a reputation as the golf tournament where spectators often have one too many. 

But as far as the golf goes, the 94-year-old event, known as the “greatest show on grass” boasts some incredible moments inside the ropes. 

So as the PGA Tour embarks on four more days of dancing in the desert, let’s reflect on some of the WM Phoenix Open’s most memorable moments. 

Tiger’s ace in 1997

The clip will be replayed forever. 

In 1997, Tiger Woods stepped up in the third round to the par-3 16th, before its current surrounding coliseum was built. With fans already in a frenzy, 21-year-old Woods holed his tee shot with a “nice, comfortable 9-iron.”

“Back in ’97, they didn’t have the bleachers like they did around the tee box,” Woods said in 2015. “It was a hill and people were partying. ... The guys who were playing behind me, they had some pretty wet lies. It was a different ballgame back then.”

This was the second ace of Woods’s career, and his third would land later that year at the Spirit Invitational. 

Woods has never won at TPC Scottsdale, but, even with a 14-year absence from the event, he still has multiple notable moments there. We’ll get to more of those later. 

Rickie’s turbulent 2019 triumph 

Before Rickie Fowler succeeded in Phoenix, he failed. 

In 2016, he held a two-stroke lead in the final round heading to the par-4 17th. Then, he pulled his tee shot into the water and fell into a playoff with Hideki Matsuyama. Four bonus holes later, Fowler lost by again hitting into the water on 17.

That hurt. 

“The hard part is having all my friends and family and grandpa and my dad who haven’t seen me win,” Fowler said, tearing up afterward. “I’ll be all right. With how good I’m playing, I know I can win. That’s the hard part.”

Three years later, he got his redemption, though it was still a fight to the finish. 

With a five-shot lead on the par-4 11th, Fowler twice splashed his ball, first with his chip and another after “natural forces” caused his ball to roll back in the water after his drop. Because he had to remove the ball from the penalty area, he was penalized an additional stroke, cutting his lead to one.

By No. 13, Fowler trailed Brendan Grace by a stroke, but he would regain the lead on No. 17 and hold on for the win with his father and grandfather watching in person. He would be the first player since 1983 to emerge victorious with a double and triple bogey or worse in the final round.

“I hope I never have to go through that again,” Folwer said after closing with a 3-over 74 en route to victory.

The one and only par-4 ace

Andrew Magee might have the most memorable T44 in PGA Tour history. 

In the first round of the 2001 WM Phoenix Open, Magee stepped up to No. 17 fresh off a birdie.

With the group in front of him (Steve Pate, Tom Byrum and Gary Nicklaus) on the putting surface, Magee didn’t think he’d reach the green, considering his driving distance averaged 283 yards in 2001 (No. 61 on Tour). 

Magee, though, took a rip that went farther than he expected. The ball rolled onto the green, ricocheting off Byrum’s putter and causing Pate to jump out of the ball’s way. 

“The ball went past me,” Pate recalled in 2021 for PGATour.com. “Tom Byrum was kneeling down reading a putt and the putter head was resting on the ground, and it deflected off of that and it went in.”

Wait, what?

“We all kind [of] looked at one another like, ‘Did that do what we think it did?’” said Jerry Smith, Magee’s playing partner. 

Yes, indeed. The only hole-in-one on a par-4 during an official PGA Tour round. 

“I really didn’t know until I got 100 yards from the green,” Magee said in ‘21. “The crowd is still cheering and clapping and my dad is raising his arms and the Tour official is driving the cart kind of alongside with me, and he goes, ‘Yep, it counts.’ I said, ‘Even if I hit somebody? It’s not a penalty?’ He goes, ‘No, if you hit your own equipment it is, but this is a 1. It’s recorded.’”

Unfortunately, there’s no video of the historic feat, but it’s still an indelible moment. 

Scottie Scheffler’s first of many victories

It’s hard to believe today, but four years ago this week Scottie Scheffler was 71 starts into his PGA Tour career and winless. 

That drought ended and he hasn’t looked back.

Scheffler dramatically earned that maiden title with birdies on four of the final six holes to force a playoff with Ryder Cup teammate Patrick Cantlay. Then, as coverage dipped into the start of the Super Bowl, Scheffler sank a 25-foot birdie on the third extra hole. When Cantlay missed his 11-footer to extend the playoff, Scheffler was a winner at last. 

Scheffler, who successfully defended his title at TPC Scottsdale a year later, is now a 20-time winner, reaching that mark in the second-fewest starts ever (151), behind only Woods.

In the field this week, the world No. 1 looks to make it 21. 

Tiger and the rulebook

The 1999 Phoenix Open yielded one of the oddest moments—and rulings—of Woods’s career. 

In the final round, Woods pulled his tee shot on the par-5 13th hole behind a boulder. And with the path to the green blocked, Woods wondered if rule 23-1/3 could be utilized, which allows “spectators, caddies, fellow competitors, etc., to assist a player in removing a large loose impediment.”

When Woods was granted permission to move the rock, he needed help. 

“I said, ‘You can have all the help you want,’” Orlando Pope, the rules official that day, recalled in 2023. "[Woods] turns back and looks at the crowd and they just start screaming and yelling. And before I knew it they’re running over to move the boulder.”

In typical Woods fashion, he went on to make birdie. He finished third that week, three strokes behind champion Rocco Mediate. 

The desert’s king 

Eight of Johnny Miller’s 25 Tour wins came in a desert: Four at the Tucson Open, two at the Bob Hope and two in Phoenix, earning him the “Desert Fox” moniker. 

Miller won the 1974 Phoenix Open and then went back-to-back, torching the field in ’75 for a 14-stroke victory. His 24-under 260 was the second-lowest 72-hole total in Tour history at the time. Mike Souchak originally set the record in 1955 with a 257.

"(Miller is) the greatest golfer in the world, there’s no doubt about it,” Jerry Heard said that week after finishing runner-up. “I never thought I’d see anyone greater than [Jack] Nicklaus, but I believe that if Nicklaus is at his best and Johnny is at his best, Johnny would win now.”

Miller went on to a become a two-time major winner, a Hall of Famer and one of golf’s legendary broadcasters. And when he retired from the booth in 2019 after 29 years, he chose the Phoenix Open for his goodbye. 

Cleanup on aisle 16 (2022 edition)

The energy in the par-3 16th’s coliseum is palpable, especially during the weekend rounds.

And perhaps, the peak of the hole’s rowdiness came four years ago. 

In Round 3, Sam Ryder aced the hole—its first since 2015—sparking a beer shower from its nearly 20,000 fans in the grandstand, causing a 10-minute delay in play.

It was a sight to behold. 

A day later, it was deja vu. Carlos Ortiz made an ace and another beer shower ensued; however, Ortiz said he was hit with one of the flying cans. 

The madness didn’t end there. Shortly after Harry Higgs and Joel Dahmen incited the masses by ripping off their shirts following a couple of pars.

That certainly wasn’t golf etiquette, but rules typically go out the window on No. 16. 

“The beer getting thrown on the green is more just inconvenient for pace of play’s sake and obviously dangerous, people getting hit and whatnot,” Justin Thomas said after that year’s final round. “The loudness, the yelling, that’s a part of it, it’s all fun and games. Some people like it, some don’t ... I enjoy it. It’s a cool opportunity. But the beer throwing gets a little dicey sometimes.”

Tiger’s yips

When Woods returned to the event in 2015 after a 14-year hiatus, things didn’t go as planned. 

The then-14-time major winner, battling the chipping yips, shot a career-worst 82 in Round 2, which was previously an 81 at the 2002 British Open, the only other time he failed to break 80. Woods also missed 36 greens in those two days and was 5-for-18 in converting up-and-downs.

Woods would miss a PGA Tour cut for just the 13th time in his career. 

Afterward, Woods opened up his address the media by saying, “I’m just doing this so I don’t get fined.” Marshawn Lynch of the Seattle Seahawks used the same line a few days earlier at Super Bowl media day, which was also in Phoenix.

Brooks’s first

Speaking of that year’s Super Bowl, it was the Seahawks vs. the Patriots. This year, it’s the same matchup, albeit in Santa Clara, Calif. 

And who won that year on the links, leading to the big game? Brooks Koepka, his first on the PGA Tour. 

He seized the lead with a 50-foot eagle putt from the fringe on the 15th hole Sunday and never looked back. When Hideki Matsuyama missed a birdie to force a playoff on the 72nd hole, Koepka was a champion. 

In 2021, Keopka would win again at TPC Scottsdale, rallying from a five-stroke deficit in the final round, shooting 65 with a chip-in eagle on No. 17. 

This year Koepka makes his second start since leaving LIV Golf and being reinstated by the PGA Tour. 

With the Seahawks and Patriots again set to duel on the gridiron, will history repeat itself for Koepka at TPC Scottsdale?

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Max Schreiber
MAX SCHREIBER

Max Schreiber is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, covering golf. Before joining SI in October 2024, the Mahwah, N.J., native, worked as an associate editor for the Golf Channel and wrote for RyderCup.com and FanSided. He is a multiplatform producer for Newsday and has a bachelor's in communications and journalism from Quinnipiac University. In his free time, you can find him doing anything regarding the Yankees, Giants, Knicks and Islanders.

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