“I think is going to be exceptional” - Jay Monahan comments on WM Phoenix Open being held on Super Bowl week
This year's WM Phoenix Open and the Super Bowl will be colliding, as both will take place in the same week and the same city as well. Given it being a designeted event, every top Tour professional will show up in the tournament.
Monahan believes the event will be exceptional.
"I think that event, given the uniqueness of the presentation, given the uniqueness of that week with the Super Bowl, I think is going to be exceptional," Monahan said.
It won't be an easy thing to do given the logistical challenges. Monahan said that he wasn't aware of too many events having a relatively small space for a span of five to six days. However, he feels there is an opportunity lying underneath all these concerns.
"And the world is descending on that marketplace, so for us, the opportunity is to have a great showcase that week," Monahan told the press.
"You’ve got a lot of fans that are coming into the marketplace that don’t typically attend or may not attend that event or have attended a PGA Tour event," he further added.
Monahan said that he was getting a lot of emails and messages about the tickets for that week, terming it one of the most "uncomfortable" things he had going on presently.
"We’ve had some pretty compelling finishes there the last several years, hopefully, we have another one this year," Monahan concluded.
Jay Monahan spoke to journalists on various issues on Sunday morning at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He answered on topics ranging from Tour Finance, Greg Norman LIV Golf, and elevated events, to the hosting of the WM Phoenix Open. However, he spoke cautiously on LIV considering the litigation going on.
WM Phoenix Open schedule
The upcoming edition of Waste Management Phoenix will take place from Feb 9 to 12. This will be the second elevated tournament of the season with a purse size of $20 million.
Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion at TPC Scottdale who defeated Patrick Cantlay in a sudden-death playoff.
The 132-player field event boasts big names like defending champion Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffelle, and Sam Burns.
Apart from the increased money, the WM Phoenix Open winner will get 500 FedEx Cup points along with $3.6 million. Last year, the purse was $8.2 million, with the winner taking $1,476,000.
Pat Williams, the 2023 tournament chairman at TPC Scottsdale, expressed his happiness for the event to become the designated event. He said the expectations were going to be high as this would be the best field they've ever had.
"We can’t wait to introduce the rest of the field as we get closer to the 88th edition of ‘The People’s Open,'" said Williams.
The first edition of the Phoenix open was held in 1932 and will be the 88th edition of the event.
All interested players will have to confirm their registration by February 3. The annual tournament will begin on February 9, with the final round taking place on Sunday, February 12, at TPC Scottdale.