There is no PGA tournament as infamous as the Waste Management Open, and after an explosive Sunday performance that matched the Phoenix-area tournament’s raucous vibe, the long-hitting Chris Gotterup is its fitting new champion. However, Waste Management was not without controversy, as Japanese superstar Hideki Matsuyama dealt with extraordinary crowd noise that disrupted a number of his shots down the stretch. Matsuyama, notably a sporting and respectful competitor, did not lodge any sort of complaints, but numerous members of the golf world raised their own concerns.
Regardless of the controversy surrounding the tournament’s conclusion, Gotterup’s victory, which came on the first playoff hole, is the most recent indication that the 26-year old American is quickly joining golf’s elite. Over the past two years, Gotterup has four PGA Tour victories. Over that same stretch, only Rory McIlroy (five wins) and Scottie Scheffler (14 wins) have hoisted more trophies. Gotterup’s win in Arizona vaulted him to a career best number seven in the Official World Golf Rankings. The win at TPC Scottsdale was Gotterup’s second win of the season in just his third start of the year. He was also victorious at the Sony Open in Hawai’i last month.
However, as far too often has been the case over the last couple of years, the play of some of the world’s best golfers has been overshadowed by the behavior of fans. The Waste Management Open has always been one of golf’s most vibrant events, and the PGA Tour, which is not exactly an organization noted for its devotion to revelrous spectacle, has embraced the party culture as a once-a-year reprieve from the occasionally stuffy atmosphere of its other tournaments. Although the tolerance of rowdier behavior has no doubt succeeded in popularizing the Waste Management to an incredible extent — recent years saw over 700,000 attendees over the four days — it has perhaps been allowed to reach too extreme an extent.
As its reputation as the southwest’s answer to Mardi Gras has burgeoned, many of the tournament’s attendees seem more concerned with drinking until they can no longer stand than actually watching golf. Of course, at many other sporting events such a conflict is commonplace, but golf occupies a unique gentlemanly niche in the world of sports. The events surrounding the controversy this weekend concern this dichotomy. Overserved spectators, evidently still gripped by the competitive conclusion to the weekend’s proceedings inside the ropes, began heckling Matsuyama at inappropriate times. On multiple occasions, Matsuyama was forced to back off his ball right as he began to set up to swing. Two notable incidents occurred on the 18th hole during regulation and then later on the first playoff hole. On both occasions, Matsuyama was visibly rattled. On the 18th, as he was about to strike a par putt to win the tournament, a loud shout from the crowd forced him to hold up and reset his putt, which he proceeded to miss. Then, on the tee box of the playoff hole, a sudden loud noise interrupted Matsuyama’s downswing. With his rhythm disrupted, the 2021 Masters Champion proceeded to hook his drive into the water hazard, effectively ending his chance to win.
Incidents like these have plagued the Waste Management Open over the past few years. Debates over whether the fun had gone too far came to head in 2024 when multiple competing golfers called on the PGA Tour to reign in what they perceived as a near free-for-all. The events of this year’s edition will likely force the PGA Tour to consider how much they value the tournament’s atmosphere. In a professional golf landscape that now features LIV Golf, a league that embraces a party-like atmosphere at nearly all of its events, the Tour has been wary of overcorrecting and potentially losing access to a younger generation of fans that idolizes the Waste Management.
Regardless, it would seem to be in the PGA Tour’s best interest to put on a tournament in which the focus is on actual golf and the excitement it produces. The 2026 edition of the Waste Management Open once again resulted in more headlines on its controversy than the tight finish and rising star it produced.
