The Real Star At TPC Scottsdale: The 16th Hole Colosseum
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- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2018-02-02
The 16th Hole At TPC Scottsdale Becomes A Star Unto Itself During The Waste Management Open - Image Courtesy topbet.eu
By Alfie Lau
Look at the stars in the field at the Waste Management Open and it’s hard to look past Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. But the true star of the show, complete with 20,000 drunken cheering fans all week, is the 16th hole, a seemingly benign par-3 that turns into the World’s Biggest Party for a week.
Justin Thomas had the world at his feet as he entered the 16th hole. Sitting at (-6) for his round and just one stroke behind leader Bill Haas, Thomas hit a weak wedge into the front left bunker, chopped out long, more than 46 feet away, lagged up to just under five feet and then missed that bogey putt for a demoralizing double bogey.
“When you’re short sided, elevated green, it really just sucks, to be honest, because there’s nothing you can do,” said Thomas.
As the fans jeered him with each shot, Thomas said he wasn’t seething and with a reachable par-4 in front of him, he played aggressively, only to see his second shot, a chip from just right of the back left pin, go long and roll into the water, en route to a bogey. Three shots lost in just two holes. “I flew it past where I wanted to, so pretty much didn’t do anything correctly on that shot,” said Thomas.
That’s just one small look into what makes the 16th hole so special.
While the tournament opened on Thursday with Haas shooting a (-7) round of 64 to lead by two over a group of five challengers at (-5) 66 led by Rickie Fowler, Billy Horschel, Bryson DeChambeau, Chesson Hadley and Chris Kirk, the better stories all come courtesy of what happens at the 16th hole.
Witness what happened late Wednesday here.
Three retired football legends peel off crisp $100 bills from their wallets and place them at the front of the teebox, just 140 yards from the raucous 16th hole at the TPC Scottsdale. And then Reggie Bush, Bruce Arians and John Elway tried not to embarrass themselves as thousands of drunk golf fans egg them on for what is a normal wedge shot.
Yes, it’s the final act of the Wednesday Pro-Am at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, the Phoenix Suns Charity Shootout, which included fireworks, four skydivers landing just short of the green and celebrities trying to make an ace for $1 million.
Perhaps Bush, Arians and Elway knew that wasn’t going to happen so they found another way to make the shot interesting. Bush led off, hitting it barely past where the skydivers landed. Elway, who was taking a good-natured ribbing from a rapping MC, barely made it onto the green, at a tad over 41 feet away, leaving Arians with a do-or-die shot which he hit well, but must have been heartbroken to see roll to the back of the green, more than 42 feet away.
And with that Elway got to scoop up the cash that he earned the hard way.
Early Thursday morning, Spain’s Jon Rahm, who had a custom-made Arizona State “Rahmbo” football jersey with him last year when he entered the 16th hole, channeled his best Sylvester Stallone imitation by doffing his TaylorMade hat to reveal a white Rahmbo bandanna, reminiscent of the ‘80s action hero.
Rahm hit his approach to 12 feet and canned the birdie. Rahm couldn’t build any momentum, chipping his second into the water behind the 17th hole and making bogey before lighting a fire under himself to finish at (-4) after a sizzling finish, with an eagle and two birdies in his final seven holes.
Rahm, who lives in Phoenix is biased when it comes to the 16th hole. “I think it’s the greatest hole there is all year long. It’s probably the most fun and the most embarrassing you can feel on a golf hole ever. It’s that simple,” said Rahm.
With much less fanfare, Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor carded a (-2) round of 69, which included a garden variety par on the 16th hole after he got up and down from the right front, 10 yards short of the green. Taylor was jeered by the raucous fans who told Taylor exactly what they thought of his mediocre iron shot. “They should have jeered,” said Taylor afterwards, “It was a bad shot, but I got it in for par.”
Taylor said he hasn’t heard anything too crazy during his times playing at the craziness that is the 16th hole in Scottsdale. “I try to drown it out,” said Taylor, who said he has played with Kevin Na several times on 16 and gets to hear the Na Na Na Na (Kiss Him Goodbye) song the 1982 Vancouver Canucks made famous.
As for Friday, with an afternoon start, Taylor expects a lot more silliness, especially with the hot Scottsdale weather and Friday afternoon happy hour. “It will be a gong show for me there tomorrow,” said Taylor. “I’ll get there by 1 o’clock and they’ll be in fine form.”
As for life outside of golf, Taylor looks like he’ll be taking a break on Friday night and going to the Bird’s Nest because he admits that One Republic is one of his favourite bands.
Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin saw a promising round lose all momentum at the 16th hole. Starting on the 10th hole in the afternoon flight, Hadwin got it to (-3) as he entered the Colosseum, only to have his wedge go long, more than 52 feet past the hole. He lagged it to eight feet, but his par putt missed on the right side.
Hadwin would go into the water on the driveable 17th, only to salvage par, but wasn’t so lucky on 18, when his drive landed in the upslope of a bunker on the right side of the fairway. Unable to reach the green, he made bogey, undoing much of the good work he had done before he reached 16. He would finish at (-1) 70 for the day.
Dundas, ON’s Mac Hughes carded a (-2) round of 69, making birdies on all three of the par-5s at TPC Scottsdale to go along with one more birdie and two bogeys. Another Ontario product, Ben Silverman, shot an even par round of 71.
About The Writer:
Alfie Lau has been a contributor to Inside Golf for several years and is making his annual pilgrimage down the coast for the PGA TOUR's West Coast Swing. He can be reached at www.twitter.com/AlfieLau