WM Phoenix Open review: Gotterup won the biggest moment. The crowd lost it.
TPC Scottsdale always brings noise. This year it brought a finish worthy of a signature event… but a stark reminder...
TPC Scottsdale always brings noise. This year it brought a finish worthy of a signature event… but a stark reminder that the “People’s Open” is fast becoming the “Shameful Open” and still hasn’t learnt where the line is.
WM Phoenix Open (Final) — Top 10
1 Chris Gotterup -16 (Won in playoff)
2 Hideki Matsuyama -16
T3 Scottie Scheffler -15
T3 Michael Thorbjornsen -15
T3 Akshay Bhatia -15
T3 Nicolai Højgaard -15
T3 Si Woo Kim -15
8 Jake Knapp -14
9 Matt Fitzpatrick -13
T10 Viktor Hovland -12
T10 Pierceson Coody -12
T10 Ryo Hisatsune -12Chris Gotterup beat Hideki Matsuyama on the first playoff hole to win the WM Phoenix Open, after a Sunday 64 that was as ruthless as it was controlled.
Gotterup’s Sunday was elite
This win wasn’t a scrape. It was a takeover on the final turn of the Indy 500.
Gotterup made nine birdies and birdied five of his last six holes to force the playoff, then “one more for good measure” to finish the job. That’s the profile of a player who isn’t waiting for permission anymore.
And it fits the arc. Since winning the Genesis Scottish Open in July 2025, the baseline has shifted. The DP World Tour write-up from that week framed it as nerve held under pressure, not a heater. Now, the PGA Tour season is starting to look like a statement too: CBS reported this Phoenix win as his second victory in three starts, after taking the Sony Open.
Upper echelon talk isn’t hype anymore, when the closing stretch keeps repeating, Gotterup is the real deal. Oddly, his casual approach to his game and swing reminds me of the late Fuzzy Zoeller.
Matsuyama’s 18th collapse, and why the noise matters
Hideki Matsuyama had history in front of him: a chance to win at TPC Scottsdale again.
Instead, he bogeyed 18 in regulation to lose his lead, then found water with his tee shot on the playoff hole.
He was “struggling off the tee” all throughout the 4th round, only finding 3 fairways, and this carried over to two major errors on the 18.
Now, the fan behaviour. There were plenty of shouts on critical swings late Sunday. Hideki was a victim twice, once in the green as he was about to putt and again on the tee in the playoff, right on his downswing. How much did they contribute to his duck hook, into the hazard.
Scheffler’s “Rounds 2–4” run was frightening.
Scottie Scheffler’s week was split clean down the middle.
He opened with a 73 that had him staring at a missed cut and sparked plenty of noise of its own. Golf Monthly noted it was his worst round in over two years, and he skipped the media afterwards.
Then he played like Scottie Scheffler again. The PGA Tour’s own Round 2 wrap recorded his 65 to extend the Tour’s longest cuts-made streak. From there, he kept coming, finishing T3 at -15.
He didn’t win, but he reminded everyone: if the opening round is merely “normal”, the rest of the field is negotiating for second.
Thorbjornsen: eagle adrenaline, then the hard lesson at 16 and 17
Michael Thorbjornsen had the surge moment fans remember. The eagle on 15 felt like the hinge swing of the tournament.
But Scottsdale’s finish isn’t just about shot-making. It’s about shot selection when your pulse is doing laps.
His final-round scorecard shows exactly where it got away: he made bogeys on 16 and 17 (after the eagle on 15) and signed for 67 to finish one back at -15.
That’s not a condemnation. It’s a marker. He’s talented enough to grab a tournament by the throat; the next step is learning how to keep your hands steady while doing it.
Crowd problem
Phoenix can be loud without being intrusive. But when heckling becomes performative, engineered for clips and “content”, it stops being atmosphere and starts being interference. The Tour needs to keep treating that as a competitive integrity issue, not a PR headache.
Profit & Loss — WM Phoenix Open
Assumptions used (standard unless specified): - E/W terms: 1/5 odds, Top 10 places - Stakes shown are total outlay per bet
Pick Odds Bet Type Finish Stake Return P/L
Jordan Spieth 6.6 £1 Win-only Top 10 CUT (+3) £1.00 £0.00 -£1.00
Si Woo Kim 32/1 £1 E/W (Top 10) T3 £2.00 £7.40 +£5.40
Harry Hall 100/1 £1 E/W (Top 10) CUT £2.00 £0.00 -£2.00
Total staked: £5.00
Total returned: £7.40
Net P/L: +£2.40
Running season P/L:
Prior (after Farmers): -£13.00
This week (Phoenix): +£2.40
Season total: -£10.60Next: Pebble Beach, then Riviera, the season tightens up fast.
Now the calendar turns into the grown-up stuff.
The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (12–15 February) is the first Signature Event of 2026, with the Sentry not contested this year. Rory McIlroy is back and set to defend his title as part of a loaded field.
Then it’s Riviera for The Genesis Invitational (19–22 February).
McIlroy will feel he’s got work to do on both sides of the Atlantic. Scheffler is trending hard again. Gotterup is converting like it’s routine, and Patrick Reed has been piling up DP World Tour wins, including the Qatar Masters, to start the year at full volume.
Pebble and Riviera don’t reward noise. They reward control. Perfect tests for the players trying to turn a hot fortnight into a season.