Video: Drunk, Brawling Fans Send PGA Waste Management Tour Into Chaos
Drunk and disorderly fans sent the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Phoenix Open in Scottsdale into chaos this weekend. So rowdy were the spectators that the event stopped admitting fans and ceased alcohol sales by early afternoon on Saturday. This is the first time the Waste Management Open has had to limit its guests, according to ESPN.
The tour sent out a curtly worded statement just before 2 p.m. on Saturday. “We are cutting off alcohol sales for the remainder of the day,” they wrote. “Unfortunately, several fans don’t have a clue what ‘Please Drink Responsibly’ means and somehow misconstrue that meaning as ‘Let’s Get S--tfaced.’
“You could say we’re managing waste(d) idiots,” the statement concluded.
Golfer Byeong Hun An described the event as an utter “s--tshow,” as drunken fans heckled players and began to brawl with each other on the sidelines. One clip shows two men throwing each other to the ground as a third man tries desperately not to get involved. As they fight, the bloodthirsty crowd cheers them on and records them.
???????????? A fight broke out at the Waste Management Phoenix Open
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) February 11, 2024
pic.twitter.com/hLQPzmvBMI
Weather in Scottsdale was roundly poor over the weekend, with rainy conditions and temperatures in the 40s. That meant the fans were both unruly and dirty, more often than not rolling around in the sodden grass. One widely circulated video shows a shirtless man bodysurfing down a muddy hill as the crowd celebrates his antics.
???????????? TARPS OFF DOWN THE HILL (via addisonbare / TikTok) pic.twitter.com/Q7g6bQckuB
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) February 11, 2024
Though the WM Open often attracts unruly crowds numbering into the hundreds to thousands, this year marked a dramatic increase in thoughtless behavior. Even Paige Spiranac got in on the fun, sharing a video of one fan taking a painful-looking leap into a sand trap. After landing on his neck, the fan rolls over and begins making a sand angel. “I would say he did not stick the landing,” Spiranac joked.
I would say he did not stick the landing pic.twitter.com/Y8bI8Eu9IK
— Paige Spiranac (@PaigeSpiranac) February 10, 2024
Things didn’t get any better on Sunday, either. The crowd chatter was so pervasive that golfer Zach Johnson got into a sidelines argument with a fan, telling him to “shut up” so he could focus on the game. “I’m just sick of it! Just shut up,” Johnson could be seen saying, in a moment seemingly indicative of how all the weekend's players felt.
????????️???? #WATCH: Zach Johnson has had enough of the gallery at the WMPO - ‘SHUT UP’ pic.twitter.com/dJHJ5Kjax6
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) February 11, 2024