Each winter, the best players in golf descend upon the Grand Canyon State to participate in the legendary Phoenix Open. The Waste Management Phoenix Open is conducted on the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale, which opened in 1987 specifically to host this event. The Phoenix Open is famous for its rowdy setting, and for being the most widely attended event on the PGA Tour. The 2020 edition, taking place from January 30 to February 2, coincides with the Coors Light Birds Nest concert series from January 29 to February 1, featuring such acts as Miranda Lambert, G-Eazy, Dierks Bentley and Kygo.

Waste Management Phoenix Open History

The first Arizona Open was held at the Phoenix Country Club in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1932, and then off and on until the mid 1940s. Bob Goldwater Sr. helped keep the tournament alive after it was discontinued from 1936 to 1938, and the 1939 tournament, which featured Byron Nelson defeating Ben Hogan by 12 strokes, was the turning point that made what was by then known as the Phoenix Open into a must-see attraction on the PGA Tour. Some of the greatest legends in golf have made their mark in the Phoenix Open. Arnold Palmer, Gene Littler, Mark Calcavecchia and Arizona State alum Phil Mickelson have all won three times at the event. Other notable winners include Billy Casper, Jack Nicklaus, Vijay Singh, and 2016 and 2017 champion Hideki Matsuyama.

Since 1973, the Phoenix Open has coincided with Super Bowl weekend, leading to some scheduling quirks when nearby Tempe or Glendale hosts the big game. The scheduling conflict has also affected its coverage, leading to a unique agreement where NBC airs the tournament when CBS airs the Super Bowl, and CBS airs the Honda Classic in years where NBC airs the Winter Olympics. The 1976 edition, in which Bob Gilder won his first PGA tournament, was watched by over 22 million people as the lead-out program to Super Bowl X on CBS. In 1997, only a few months before wowing the world at the Masters, Tiger Woods hit a hole-in-one on the 16th hole. In 2019, Rickie Fowler won by two strokes over South African Branden Grace.