The WM Phoenix Open is known for being the most raucous event on the PGA Tour, with huge numbers of fans attending each year and bringing a boisterous atmosphere to proceedings. As a result, the event is very familiar with some wild scenes down the years, including streakers and topless pros.
However, the 2024 event, which was won by Nick Taylor, was marred by multiple occasions when things went too far, including players remonstrating with fans and brawling among supporters.
As the fallout from the event continued, the executive director of the group that puts on the event each year, The Thunderbirds, has promised changes will be made in future editions.
Chance Cozby appeared on the Golf Channel’s Golf Today to discuss the controversies with Todd Lewis and Rex Hoggard, and vowed there won’t be a repeat of the unruly scenes at that were all too frequent at the 2024 event.
“We’re going to make changes… Saturday at the WM Phoenix Open in 2024 is going to end up being a turning point for our tournament and our organization to make our event better." - Thunderbirds Executive Director Chance Cozby joins @ToddLewisGC and @RexHoggardGC. pic.twitter.com/dXQgt82BuCFebruary 12, 2024
He said: “We’re going to make changes. I think everybody probably agrees that we have a very unique culture of our event. This was our 89th playing and I don’t think any of us dreamed that it would grow to this level of attendance and excitement.”
The huge attendance on Saturday combined with poor weather led to a decision to temporarily shut the gates and stop alcohol sales after the grassy hills and walkways became unusable.
Cozby defended that move, adding: “The fine line was when we just felt like we were really at a point on Saturday where our fans could not move around the golf course and at that moment the right thing to do was to take the steps that we did.
“The flow of people simply could not flow, and we knew that we needed to make an operational decision at that point to get people off the golf course.”
Cozby also revealed discussions have already taken place on a path forward. He continued: “We spent five or six hours on Saturday afternoon as the course was steadily flowing outward. We sat as a leadership team and evaluated, just kind of brainstorming what our next steps are.
"There’s no time off. We’ve got 365 days to fix this. I think you will see a complete operational change in how we manage really our Friday and Saturday, but the entire week.
"We’re very proud of what we’ve built. I think we’ve been tournament of the year on the PGA Tour last five of seven years, but we don’t like what happened on Saturday, our fans don’t like what happened on Saturday and so nothing is off the table."
Cozby then hinted at what specifically could change, saying: “We are going to look at our general ticket admission exposure and how many are out in the marketplace. We’re going to look at our complete security plan and just how we operate.
“Saturday at the WM Phoenix Open in 2024 is going to end up being a turning point for our tournament and our organisation to make our event better.
“We learned so much and we know that we need to make improvements. We owe it to our fans, we owe it to the PGA Tour players that come and support this event and we’re not going to let this happen again for all these reasons.”
