When Scottie Scheffler arrived at the 2022 Phoenix Open, he was, at most, a curiosity.
Golf fans knew of his burgeoning profile, with top-10 finishes in the three previous majors. Some had him highlighted as a gambling value, with sports betting newly legalized in Arizona. But as Scheffler made his way around TPC Scottsdale, he was not serenaded with chants and cheers like the stars of tournaments past. It was still Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth the crowds wanted to see.
“It feels like a lifetime ago,” Scheffler says now, thinking back on those days.
That’s because, in a way, it is. That tournament marked the beginning. Scheffler won a playoff that Sunday against Patrick Cantlay for his first ever PGA Tour title. Everything since has been a whirlwind. Winning, winning and more winning. Thirteen on the PGA Tour alone, plus an Olympic title. Two green jackets in three years. Unquestionably the best golfer in the world.
Throw in the arrest heard around the world at least year’s PGA Championship and Scheffler has ascended to the center of the golfing consciousness, all as his peers have splintered off, either defecting to LIV Golf or addled by on-course struggles.
“When I first started coming and playing this tournament I would walk out on to 16 and not many people would know who I am,” Scheffler said. “But playing the practice round yesterday, people in the crowd are chanting my name and it’s a lot of fun. It’s cool to be able to get in that environment and have people cheering for you.”
Three years after his first win, Scheffler’s rise serves as a reminder of the on-course possibilities at the Phoenix Open.
On Wednesday, during a sunny Pro-Am that went off without a hitch, that was top of mind. Players did not speak of last year’s debacle when overcrowding and a record number of arrests took headlines. They did not focus on whether this year’s fans will be more restrained, as many players publicly hoped for a year ago.
Instead, there was a typical air of pre-tournament optimism.
“It’s really cool to be able to play in front of our fans, and this is a week when we get to play in front of a lot of them,” Scheffler said.
A few minutes later, Justin Thomas — the second favorite behind Scheffler this week — echoed the world No. 1’s refrain.
“Obviously the atmosphere is one of a kind, and one that we all know coming into it and from watching it on TV as a fan of golf as a kid,” Thomas said. “It’s fun, the couple times being able to get myself in contention on Sunday and play in those last couple groups. The energy is very high. It’s a place that I look forward to coming every year.”
That’s true for the stars such as Thomas, because they’re the ones who earn the focus of the most boisterous crowds. It’s also true for the tour’s lesser-known players — the ones who have never experienced a scene like this.
“Grew up wanting to play in the stadium, so it’s a really cool experience,” said Matt McCarty, who was raised in Scottsdale and went to high school down the street at Desert Mountain.
During those years, he was often a standard bearer at the tournament, getting a taste of what it feels like to be inside the stadium on 16. And in the offseason, TPC Scottsdale often served as a practice course for him, mostly at the Champions course across the street. But this will be his first time actually playing the 16th hole — and the rest of the stadium holes — in a tournament environment.
“Really excited,” McCarty said. “… It’ll be a lot of fun.”
It can also be, as Scheffler once proved, the start of so much more.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler players excited for Phoenix Open
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