Rowdy fans and fun interactions with the players are part of what the WM Phoenix Open has become known for in recent years, but this year, it went to concerning levels with many saying things at the golf tournament got flat out out of control.
Officials with the WM Phoenix Open said Thursday that anyone who was not able to get in Saturday should email orders@wmphoenixopen.com.
Images of crowded walkways and chaotic golf fans are defining the 2024 WM Phoenix Open, which is held at TPC Scottsdale.
Saturday proved to be the tournament’s breaking point.
"We've been here for years in a row and it's always an amazing time. But yesterday was almost [on] the dangerous side," said Jon, who was visiting the tournament from Canada on Sunday.
This year, organizing officials say it was the rainy weather and mud that caused the problems; those conditions led to densely packed groups of people trying to avoid getting soaked on Saturday, which caused overcrowding.
A growing bottleneck at the Open’s main entrance forced organizers to forgo ticket-checking to ease the pressure. At one point, the gate was closed entirely for several hours, and some food and alcohol sales were paused.
"Oh, it was a mess. There were so many people, you could barely walk around," said Sam Zozaya, who was visiting from Nebraska Sunday.
Now, newly released numbers from the Scottsdale Police Department show just how chaotic the tournament and concert series were this year: there were 54 arrests made, three times as many as last year. There were also twice as many ejections.
"We're going to look at it, we'll sit down, there's always an after-action plan that's drawn up," said Scottsdale Fire Capt. Dave Folio.
ABC15 asked Folio about whether they will make any changes for next year to the event, including perhaps putting in a second main entrance. He said it was too early to say and deferred to tournament organizers The Thunderbirds and the PGA Tour.
But Folio defends the actions they took on Saturday.
"The command decisions that were made on that specific day were to save lives, so," said Folio.
We reached out to The Thunderbirds on Monday but did not hear back from them. Their statement over the weekend stated, “safety is our top priority.”
Many ticket-holders turned away at the gate on Saturday are still looking for compensation, which The Thunderbirds say they are still looking into.
"I had a friend. His tickets weren't expensive though so, at least his were cheap, but if you had an expensive ticket, I'd be very frustrated,” said Zozaya.
