Ticket packages for the 16th hole stadium are being offered to a limited number of previous suite holdersGETTY IMAGES
The host organization for the PGA Tour's Waste Management Phoenix Open is "still determined to have a good-sized crowd" at TPC Scottsdale's famed 16th hole for the four days of the event, but it will be "significantly scaled back -- and no doubt quieter -- than in recent years," according to Tod Leonard of GOLF DIGEST. Scott Jenkins, the Thunderbirds’ Chair of the tournament for '21, said yesterday that plans "remain in place to build a one-story structure to accommodate fans at the 16th, though it will be noticeably smaller than what has essentially been a three-story stadium around the hole." Jenkins added that ticket packages are "being offered to a limited number of previous suite holders." Jenkins also said that the Thunderbirds "continue to work with the PGA Tour and state and local health officials to determine what is an acceptable number of fans at this year’s tournament." Jenkins: "It’s fluid. I’ve stopped trying to predict the future in our COVID world. We’d love to have fans. We’re the ‘Peoples' Open.’ We also understand that the safety of our fans, players and volunteers is the most important thing" (GOLFDIGEST.com, 11/30).
NO FANS AT FARMERS: In San Diego, Jeff Sanders' notes the Farmers Insurance Open in January "will be staged without spectators" at Torrey Pines (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/1). GOLFWEEK's Todd Kelly noted the Farmers Insurance Open is the fourth event on the Tour's '21 calendar, a week after the American Express, which previously has announced that it would not host fans. The Sentry Tournament of Champions, Jan. 7-10, is the "first event in the new year," and a "limited number of fans will be allowed on site there." However, the second event on the docket, the Sony Open in Hawaii, "will be contested without fans at Waialae Country Club" (GOLFWEEK.com, 11/30).
A SCALED-DOWN CLAMBAKE: GOLF DIGEST's Leonard noted the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (Feb. 11-14) and the Genesis Invitational in L.A. (Feb. 18-21) have "not made announcements about their 2021 plans, but it is highly unlikely that they would be able to allow fans, given that their cities are currently in the most restrictive of California’s COVID-19 tiers and coronavirus cases are at their highest levels in the state since the pandemic began" (GOLFDIGEST.com, 11/30).
