How will the WM Phoenix Open be impacted by PGA Tour changes?

The WM Phoenix Open is one of golf’s great success stories.

In the past 30 years, it has stared down extinction; harnessed its wild energy; flourished despite the silent boycott of Tiger Woods; invented a stadium experience that is now a bucket list item for golfers across the world; raised gobs of money for local charities, including a record $20.1 million last year; produces one of the best Saturday experiences in all of sports; and is now a six-time PGA Tour Tournament of the Year winner.

We are the Brooks Koepka of PGA Tournaments. There’s no way the new commissioner would relegate us, right?

Nobody believes demotion is possible for our Mardi Gras of golf, a tournament that blows away every non-Major in terms of philanthropy, community engagement and attendance. A tournament so popular that they now limit ticket sales. But nobody knows for sure.

The PGA Tour has a new commissioner. His name is Brian Rolapp. He’s a former NFL executive who was hired for one reason: Money. To maximize upcoming media deals for the wounded sport of golf.

His first swing has drawn significant praise. In 2028, the PGA Tour will split into two different ecosystems. There will be a Championship Series, featuring 20-24 big events that come with $20 million purses. The Challenger Series will be $4 million events that run concurrently and serve as a feeder system. At the end of each season, the top 90 players stay put. The very best will compete in a match-play tournament that will attempt to feel like an NFL postseason. The bottom 30 golfers face relegation. It will represent the ultimate meritocracy in professional sports.

The new schedule will run from February to August, and it will not begin until after the Super Bowl has concluded. In the past, the WM Phoenix Open scored points with the Tour for its willingness and success as a lead-in program for the NFL’s championship game. Starting the Tour in February also constricts the calendar and limits the window of sublime weather conditions in Arizona.

The biggest issue is sponsorship dollars. Of the expected 20-24 Championship Series events, Rolapp said 10 of the 15 scheduled regular-season events in 2028 have already been filled. By all accounts, the WM Phoenix Open has yet to make the cut. Rolapp has also indicated a desire to expand to new and bigger markets like Boston and Seattle.

Remember in 2023, when the PGA Tour announced a series of signature events that required $20 million purses? The WM Phoenix Open made the cut based on standing and reputation. But the number was a big ask in the Phoenix business community, a tournament whose total purse in 2026 was $9.6 million. We were one-and-done as a signature event, although few could tell the difference.

We are now a metropolis fast approaching six million people. The money is here. But is it greater and easily attained elsewhere? And what loyalty will Rolapp show the WM Phoenix Open when he’s been poached from the NFL to do NFL things. Namely, extract every last dollar on the table and under the couch?

Finally: An insidious rash of poor fan behavior is growing inside the sport. It just happened at the U.S. Open where the Long Island crowd openly hated on Wyndham Clark, jeering and cheering for the leader to fall apart in the final round. On Tuesday, Jordan Spieth said that online gambling has become the primary culprit, resulting in fans who are looking to cash bets by disrupting golfers in the moment, at their workplace.

The WM Phoenix Open has straddled that line many times in the past.

Good news is, Rolapp visited the WM Phoenix Open in 2026. He seemed very impressed. He seemed to enjoy himself. He also experienced one of the tamest Saturdays at the 16th hole in recent memory, when too many slow-poke golfers led to huge gaps in action at our infamous/notorious hole. Maybe that’s a good thing.

Bottom line: The WM Phoenix Open has solved, resolved, evolved, entertained and overdelivered for the better part of a quarter century. It would be madness for the new commissioner to mess with a good thing.

Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m.-10 a.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7.

Related

Ryan Fox wins the British Open with birdie on the final holeSam Burns’ strong Saturday takes the lead in a British Open he planned to missWyndham Clark avoids record collapse to win US OpenUS Open: Wyndham Clark fires lowest 36-hole score at Shinnecock for 4-shot leadWyndham Clark seizes on changing nature of Shinnecock to lead US Open2026 WM Phoenix Open raises record $20.1 million for charity