PHOENIX — It’s just over two months away but it’s been close to two years since the Waste Management Phoenix Open was the rollicking, rowdy, fun-loving party many know it to be.
The tournament has a new date on the PGA Tour schedule and will have a slightly different name in February but make no mistake, the Greatest Show on Grass will once again return to prominence as the place to see and be seen in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2022.
“It’s going to be bigger and better than ever,” promises Dr. Michael Golding, the tournament chairman for the 87th rendition of the most highly attended tournament on the PGA Tour schedule.
Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas officially committed to the event on Wednesday, the first golfers to do so. Many more player announcements will come in over the next several weeks. Names to be on the look out for include defending champion Brooks Koepka as well as Phil Mickelson, who is scheduled to play in the Saudi International the week before the WM Phoenix Open. Mickelson previously said he hadn’t yet mapped out too many events on his 2022 calendar. He hasn’t played the tournament since 2019. Whether Lefty makes his return or not, the field at TPC Scottsdale promises to have plenty of star power.
“We feel that it’s going to be one of our best fields ever,” Golding said at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, before the tournament’s annual Tee Off Luncheon on Wednesday.
The tournament is a big fundraiser for local charities and the 2022 event marks the 13th year that Waste Management will be the title sponsor. The next event is expected to push the total charitable dollar amount past the $100 million mark since Waste Management came on board.
From left to right: Former Arizona Diamondbacks Manager and current team broadcast Bob Brenly, Waste Management Executive Vice President John Morris, 2022 WM Phoenix Open Tournament Chairman Michael Golding and Diamodbacks CEO Derrick Hall at the Waste Management Phoenix Open Tee Off Luncheon news conference at Chase Field on Dec. 1, 2021. Photo by Todd Kelly/Golfweek
The company is officially changing its name to WM on Jan. 31. The golf tournament will then follow suit and take on a new name as well: the WM Phoenix Open.
“It’s really been as much about us evolving and moving more away from simply Waste Management with recycling, sustainability,” said WM Executive Vice President John Morris. “Starting with the tournament this year we’ll go with WM.”
Tournament week in 2022 will start on Saturday, Feb. 5 with the first-ever Concert in the Coliseum. The host Thunderbirds are always looking to add something new and a concert under the lights on the famous 16th hole by Thomas Rhett and Old Dominion will kick things off in a big way.
“The Concert in the Coliseum I’m super proud about and can’t wait for it,” said Golding.
The tournament for years ended on the first Sunday in February and coincided with the Super Bowl. This is the first year of the NFL’s 17-game regular season, which pushed back all its playoff games a week. That in turn led the Phoenix Open to slide back a week on the calendar to keep the final round on Super Bowl Sunday. But that’s all good with the Thunderbirds.
“I do think that our event is so powerful and so popular that we can withstand going up against the Super Bowl,” Golding said.
Morris, who says he started with WM right out of college, was a regional vice president in 2008 when he made his first trip to the tournament, which happened to be when Arizona hosted Super Bowl XLII.
“I came when the Giants played the Patriots,” he said. New England had its perfect season spoiled by New York just hours after J.B. Holmes won his second Phoenix Open. “I remember getting here on Saturday when it was the FBR [Open] and looking around and calling my wife and saying, ‘This is a cool golf tournament!'”
It still is.
“We’re excited to have our event back the way we know and love it and to bring the community together and host an event that we’re so proud of,” Golding said.
