On Another Rowdy Saturday in Phoenix, Scottie Scheffler Emerges As Man to Beat

Scheffler leads Jon Rahm and Nick Taylor by two shots as he looks to repeat as champion in the desert.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - It's been said more than once throughout the week: The vibe at the WM Phoenix Open is probably what the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league was after when they invented their widely advertised motto, “Golf, but louder.”

The Saturday atmosphere at TPC Scottsdale, however, is a different level.

“This place can't be duplicated,” Rickie Fowler said after signing for a third-round 67 that left him tied for sixth place. “You can try, but the amount of time and effort that's gone into this over decades to get it to where it is now.” 

Fowler, who is 9 under for the tournament and four shots behind leader Scottie Scheffler, nearly holed his 18th-hole approach shot, sending the crowd into a frenzy. As the former Phoenix Open champion stepped in to tap in his 9-inch birdie putt, he raised his flat stick in the air, hyping up the hoards of spectators -- a bit of a surprise since he was rather stoic throughout the round.

“I don't think anything will ever be what this is,” Fowler said. 

At the famed 16th hole, a tricky front pin location with an awkward in-between distance of 128 yards made for a relatively calm Saturday afternoon—at least compared to last year. That all changed when Jon Rahm, Adam Hadwin and Scheffler came through the Coliseum and lit the place up. 

Hadwin, the last player to tee off on 16 all day, stuck his wedge to a foot and a half. It wasn’t an ace, but it was the closest call of the day, and the beer showers had to come at some point, so fans heaved their commemorative cups (no beer cans for sale this year) and littered the green. 

The celebration didn’t stop there. Rahm curled in his 40 foot birdie putt after blasting his tee shot long of the pin, and the eruption immediately resumed. 

WHAT A PUTT!@JonRahmPGA drains the longest putt of the day on 16 @WMPhoenixOpen. pic.twitter.com/yPIFDfymyh

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 12, 2023

“We felt the chaos going on. I just thought it was best to not give it too much time,” Rahm said. “I didn't want to give the crowd too much time to think about throwing anything else. So even through my routine somebody threw a bottle and I just went up and hit it.”

Scheffler, on the other hand, made par among the chaos, and the result mirrored his overall steady round. 

The defending champion carded a 3-under 68, which gave him a two-shot lead over Rahm and Canada’s Nick Taylor heading into Sunday. On the par-5 third, Scheffler missed a 6-foot birdie putt, but bounced back with a birdie on the 4th. Later on the reachable par-5 13th, Scheffler’s drive found the native area, resulting in a penalty shot and a sloppy bogey. Again, the world No. 2 followed the blip with another rebound birdie on the tough par-4 14th. He looks like the man to beat on Sunday. 

The Phoenix Open, which resumes at 8:55 a.m. local time on Sunday, was exactly what it was supposed to be on Saturday: A completely unique spectacle of both stellar golf and the rowdiest fan environment in the professional game.