Let's Party: The Waste Management Phoenix Open And 3 Other Traditional PGA Tour Stops Have Been Granted "Elevated Status" For 2023
GolfWeek - The PGA Tour is set to announce a further four tournaments with elevated status for 2023, Golfweek has learned. The additions will bring to 13 the total number of Tour events designated as “elevated,” meaning the presence of the game’s biggest stars will be guaranteed as they compete for lucrative purses of at least $20 million. The Tour plans to communicate specifics on the events to players later this week.
In August, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced the first nine elevated events for the 2022-2023 season. Those were the Players Championship; three FedEx Cup playoff stops (FedEx St. Jude Championship, BMW Championship, Tour Championship); the three invitationals (Genesis, Arnold Palmer, Memorial); the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play; and the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
The four additional tournaments to be elevated this season are the WM Phoenix Open, the RBC Heritage, the Wells Fargo Championship and the Travelers Championship, according to five sources familiar with the discussions. Several sources said the Tour is still in the process of finalizing negotiations with the events. A spokesperson for the PGA Tour declined to confirm the details or to comment on potential announcements.
In case you missed it, a few weeks ago PGA Tour Commissioner laid out a series of changes to the PGA Tour. These were largely spurred by a players meeting called the week before at the BMW Championship and agreeing that they simply gotta play together more often if they're going to keep the PGA Tour on top of the golf world. I was lucky enough to be at East Lake (ty 2k Sports) and wrote about it then:
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Part of that announcement involved 13 events being deemed as "elevated events", with 9 of those events named right then and there. The PLAYERS, the 3 playoff events, the 3 invitationals (Tiger, Arnie's, and Jack's tourneys), the Match Play, and the Tournament of Champions were all no-brainers where generally speaking, anybody who qualified for those events always played them anyways. The remaining 4 events would be named later, and now we know which of those 4 are.
The Waste Management stands out among these 4 as the most exciting by far. It's a home run choice for the Tour. LIV Golf is trying to swerve the PGA Tour on a lot of fronts, and making their events "parties" involving loud music and raucous crowds is one of those fronts. The WMPO is the gold standard for "fun" golf events for the avid golfer and casual sports fan alike. Anyone who has been (present company included) raves about it. Not only is the different environment a blast, but it's an awesome golf course to watch golf. Little to no trees gives you a ton of visibility across the entire property and the desert/mountain backdrop is genuinely jaw-dropping. There's a reason the field here has gotten stronger every year despite Golf Saudi putting the Saudi International up against it, and now the WMPO is going to be top-level. Plus the Super Bowl is in the Phoenix area the same weekend this year. Easy choice.
The RBC Heritage is one of the oldest stops on Tour at a course and location players love. But it's taken a hit over the years because of its spot on the schedule the week after The Masters. The pre-Masters slate has always been a grind with the Hawaii, Cali, and Florida swings all leading up to golf's crowned jewel. That's a ton of golf all over the Western Hemisphere. The PLAYERS being moved from May back to March a few years ago only furthered the heavy workload these guys typically play early in the season. That's led to more and more players leaving the Heritage off their schedule as they take some much-needed RnR. The Heritage being named an elevated event is likely going to irk some players who will need to change things up. That's a shame, but there were always going to be some sacrifices made when the world's best agreed they needed to play more together. Can't please everybody. Huge win for RBC and Hilton Head, which I'll say is another AWESOME place to go watch golf and enjoy some nightlife (s/o Triangle)
The Wells Fargo Championship has been one of the better events on Tour for a while, and it's clear the PGA Tour is a big fan of Quail Hollow and Charlotte. They just played the Presidents Cup there to rave reviews and it's been a major championship site on multiple occasions over the years. It's also more or less served as Rory's home track stateside. Guy has been dominant at Quail and while I'm not suggesting they chose this tournament because of him and his heavy PGA Tour defenses, but I'm sure it made the decision that much easier. Its spot on the schedule in May (aka spread out from the other elevated events) helps too.
The Travelers Championship is maybe the most questionable choice on the surface here. It's clear that they needed to find an event in the middle of the summer that would serve as an elevated event outside of the majors. The Memorial is already elevated the first week of June, the US Open is June 15-18, and the Open Championship is July 20-23. The playoffs start at the St. Jude Aug 10-13, and there's hardly a high level event within those parameters that sticks out. It would seem to me that this really came down to two options: The Travelers and the Genesis Scottish Open. I feel as though there's a lot of value to elevating the Scottish Open, but the event is co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour. They continue to be embroiled with LIV in their own court battle, one that has granted LIV golfers the opportunity to continue to play the DP World Tour while things get sorted. I have to think that that affiliation with the DP World Tour (for now) is the reason why the Scottish Open, a relatively prestigious golf event worldwide, was bypassed for 2023. Maybe that changes when things become a bit clearer, but for now it's the Travelers.
Standing back and looking at the 13 elevated events as a whole, one thing really sticks out. These events are all in the United States. The LIV Golf vs PGA Tour battle has had a bit of a Domestic vs. International feel to it from the start, with tons of former European Tour stalwarts being LIV Golf's staunchest defenders. This schedule leans into that notion. The world's best golf has almost exclusively been played in the United States for decades, and the PGA Tour seems gung ho on keeping it that way.
Regardless, these announcements are a step in the right direction for us, the golf fans. There's no question that the biggest losers in all of this drama has been golf fans, as they've seen the world's best pros become divided. We don't even know if the majors will continue to showcase all of the world's best in one place (I hope it does). This series of announcements at least helps to unify the larger of the two sides to get all of their best in one place.
Waste Management gonna be a helluva time.