The PGA is back. Technically, it has been back for a couple of weeks already, but most people are not really tuned into the first couple of tournaments. In January, golf has to compete with multiple NFL playoff games each weekend and the intrusion of the ever expanding College Football Playoff schedule.
While last week’s Farmers Insurance Open featured a premier course in Torrey Pines, only a select few diehard golf fans were watching. The rest of the world did somewhat miss out though. Justin Rose posted a -23, 265 for the win and a new record. After setting the Torrey Pines 72-hole course record, his post round interview was somewhat less humble than his fans are used to, but can you blame him? Anytime they have to pull out the record books to scratch out “Tiger Woods” and replace it with your name, you deserve to flex.
Nobody was going to beat Rose last weekend, but then again, not everybody gave it a shot. This weekend, however, all the big names will be in action at the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. Although the season started last month, the WM is the unofficial opener for most fans.
The course is laid out in such a manner to engage fans at every corner. As over 600,000 rowdy fans swarm the course, the fans at home will be treated to the cheers and jeers being cast down from the Colosseum surrounding the green on the par-3 16th.
As the years go by, this tournament continues to gain in popularity. Not only do they lean heavily into making it fan-centric, but the top players like to use this weekend as a springboard for their season. Nobody is looking more forward to this tournament than Scottie Scheffler.
Scheffler has won this tournament multiple times before, so it would be no shock if the world’s top ranked golfer did it again. If he did pull it off, though, that would give him two wins in two starts to begin the 2026 campaign. As special as last year was, he was stuck battling an off season injury at this point in the season and was still yet to even debut.
Others to keep in mind when following along with the action are Brooks Koepka and Hideki Matsuyama as both of them have also won this tournament multiple times in the past. In an environment as rowdy and unique as the Waste Management Open, prior success can be a huge indicator of how one might react to all the excitement.
That being said, this weekend should bring some elite golf from some elite golfers and needs to be on the TV in all golf households (even if the NFL has some big game going on this Sunday). Whoever does end up on top will certainly gain an early confidence boost and graciously don the moniker of “The People’s Champ” for the entirety of a long golf season.
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