WM Phoenix Open suspends alcohol sales, closes entrances after crowd gets too big and rowdy

The Waste Management Phoenix Open is well-known for being the biggest party in golf, with raucous crowds fueled by copious alcohol intake.

But there is apparently a limit.

The third round of the 2024 Phoenix Open saw tournament organizers suspend alcohol sales across TPC Scottsdale and close off entrances to the course, seemingly due to a crowd that simply became too big and rowdy.

Some videos on social media captured the scene, including when one fan decided to flip into a bunker and start doing sand angels:

Those visuals honestly don’t look too out of place at the Phoenix Open. The bad part for all involved was actually outside the course, where enormous lines built up to the point where a crowd pushed through metal detectors and ticket portals to enter the sold-out tournament.

The WM Phoenix Open Twitter account later released a statement saying it was “temporarily” closing its entrances due to “larger than usual crowds.” That presumably meant fans with tickets were unable to enter the event they paid for.

For fans on the inside, the situation grew dire when alcohol sales were halted, per 12 Sports’ Cameron Cox. The fans, unsurprisingly, were not happy and made their displeasure known:

The crowd congestion was bad enough to affect the actual running of the tournament, as Golfweek reports the golf carts used by PGA Tour officials and television crews had to be parked due to increased foot traffic. There was an incident Friday as well, in which a fan had to be hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after falling from the grandstands.

This year’s Phoenix Open was already marred by the weather. Rain on Thursday and lingering frost on Friday have wreaked havoc on the schedule, to the point that they had to finish the second round on Saturday and didn’t begin the third 2:10 p.m. MT.

The final round is now on track for a nightmare scenario of clashing with the Super Bowl.

Play finished up Saturday evening with Nick Taylor in the lead at 13-under, six holes into the third round. He’ll have 30 holes to play on Sunday.