WM Phoenix Open 2025 Preview, Picks & Analysis

The WM Phoenix Open returns this week with the tournament organisers promising that the over-the-top scenes we witnessed 12 months ago will not be repeated. With the amount of alcohol served to the vast crowds who turn up at TPC Scottsdale I am fascinated to see how this is going to be achieved.

This is the world’s best-attended golf tournament and there is no doubt that things have got out of hand in recent years. It is one thing to boo players when they miss the green at the par-three 16th, but it is quite another to shower them in beer and throw all sorts of debris at them. One man was arrested last year after jumping over the ropes and diving into a greenside bunker on the 16th, where he proceeded to perform 'snow angels' in the sand.

Let’s not kid ourselves - everybody who enters this event knows exactly what they are letting themselves in for. But most people agree that things have gone too far recently.

Last year, drunken spectators verbally abused players, fights broke out and more than 50 arrests were made and a woman was taken to hospital. At a golf tournament!

Tournament officials eventually closed the gates on the Saturday, denying entry even to ticketholders, and alcohol sales were suspended. In an event to control things this time around the number of fans admitted on Friday and Saturday (the tournaments two busiest days) will be restricted and ticket prices have been increased.

Call me old-fashioned but a simpler solution might have been to ban or restrict the sale of alcohol. When you encourage 200,000 people to spend the day drinking vast quantities of beer the chances are that you just might be asking for a spot of bother, don’t you think?

Some players, sick of the treatment they have received at the hands of drunken fans in 2024, have spoken about boycotting the tournament. Among them were Zach Johnson and Billy Horschel, both of whom exchanged angry words with spectators.

Johnson said "I'm sick of it" before demanding spectators "just shut up". Horschel was angered by someone calling out while his playing partner player Nicolo Galletti was set to hit a shot. Former BMW PGA Championship winner Byeong Hun An said the event was "totally out of control on every hole" in a post on social media.

Surprisingly, Horschel has decided to forgive and forget and will be teeing it up this week. He is a golfer who suffered horribly in 2023. During the Memorial Tournament he faced the world’s press in tears, saying that he was standing over the ball with no clue where it was going. A tough and resilient character, he bounced back in style last season, memorably defeating Rory McIlroy in a playoff with an eagle to win the BMW PGA Championship.

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

He will still be smarting from the treatment he received last year and is most definitely a player to keep an eye on.

When you think of this event there are some golfers who are a natural fit - the likes of Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth spring to mind.

One man you would not necessarily put in that category is Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama. But he thrives at TPC Scottsdale, having won the tournament twice, in 2016 and 2017. 

He has had his injury problems but has made some swing changes and is now back to his very, very best. In winning the season-opening Tournament of Champions he produced some breathtaking golf to win with a total of 35 under par, meaning he birdied almost half the holes he played.

There has also been some early-season promise from Justin Thomas, who has been in the doldrums for a couple of years but is now showing signs of life once more.

Since turning professional in 2013, Thomas has established himself as one of golf’s elite players, amassing 15 PGA Tour victories including two majors at the PGA Championship in 2017 and 2022 and a FedExCup title in 2017. 

Thomas has been PGA of America Player of the Year twice, in 2017 and 2020 and was PGA Tour Player of the Year for the 2016-17 season. He also led the PGA Tour in earnings three times (2016-17, 2017-18, 2019-20). 

He held the top spot in the Official World Golf Rankings for five weeks in 2018 but has now fallen to 14th. 

Returning for his 11th appearance at the Phoenix Open, Thomas has delivered strong performances at TPC Scottsdale, including a solo fourth-place finish in 2023 and tying for third in both 2019 and 2020. Nobody will need to remind him, however, that he has not won since the 2022 US PGA.

Tournament Winners:

It was won in 2016 and 2017 by Hideki Matsuyama, in 2018 by Gary Woodland, in 2019 by Rickie Fowler, in 2020 by Webb Simpson, in 2021 by Brooks Koepka, in 2022 and 2023 by Scottie Scheffler and last year by Nick Taylor.

Form Guide:

Hideki Matsuyama has made a sensational start to the season, winning the Tournament of Champions in wonderful fashion and is a former winner. 

The Course:

TPC Scottsdale is a par 71 measuring 7,261 yards. Designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish, it opened in 1986, was redesigned in 2014 and is a classic PGA Tour stadium-style course. The fairways are pretty generous but there is a lot of sand.

Prize Money:

The total prize fund is $9.2m, with $1.6m going to the winner along with 500 FedEx Cup points.

How to Watch: 

Thursday, February 6, Friday, February 7, Sky Sports Golf, 9pm; Saturday, February 8, Sunday, February 9, Sky Sports Golf, 6pm.

To Win: 

Hideki Matsuyama. Loves the mayhem

Each Way: 

Justin Thomas. Ready to win again

Each Way: 

Billy Horschel. Point to prove

Five to Follow: 

Hideki Matsuyama. Playing wonderful golf

Justin Thomas. Looking more like his old self

Billy Horschel. Has shown true grit

Nick Taylor. Gifted Canadian

Rickie Fowler. Made for this tournament!

Five Outsiders to Watch:

Joel Dahmen. Showing signs of life again

Thomas Detry. Hard to believe he is still without a win

Ryan Fox. Trying to balance life on PGA and DP World Tours

Ryo Hisatsune. Great Japanese prospect

Thriston Lawrence. Can he make the transition?