Welcome to the world of “designated” events.
This week’s stop at TPC Scottsdale was the PGA Tour’s first full-field tournament sporting a supersized $20 million purse. The 13 designated events created by Jay Monahan and Co, are a response to the LIV Golf League offering huge purses as enticements to get players to move from the PGA Tour.

Comparing today’s prize money to what was paid in the past isn’t always helpful given the different eras of golf. But it shows you just how far on-course earnings have come in the sport. When you see that Sunday’s winner, Scottie Scheffler, claimed a first-place cheque of $3.6 million — equaling the biggest payday in PGA Tour history — it’s important to recall that it wasn’t until 1999 that any PGA Tour pro earned more than $2.5 million in an entire season.

Even as you scroll down the prize money payout list, consider that anything higher than a 36th-place finish earned more than $100,000. A year ago, 36th place earned just $42,000. The rewards are great for those who contend for the title, but also pretty sweet for anyone making the cut.

Win: Scottie Scheffler, -18, $3,600,000
2: Nick Taylor, -17, $2,180,000
3: Jon Rahm, -14, $1,380,000
4: Justin Thomaas, -13, $980,000
5: Jason Day, -12, $820,000
T-6: Sam Burns, -11, $652,500
T-6: Sungjae Im, -11, $652,500
T-6: Jordan Spieth, -11, $652,500
T-6: Tyrrell Hatton, -11, $652,500
T-10: Wyndham Clark, -10, $485,000
T-10: Xander Schauffele, -10, $485,000
T-10: Rickie Fowler, -10, $485,000
T-10: Adam Hadwin, -10, $485,000
T-14: Patrick Rodgers, -8, $335,000
T-14: Dylan Frittelli, -8, $335,000
T-14: Taylor Moore, -8, $335,000
T-14: Tony Finau, -8, $335,000
T-14: Charley Hoffman, -8, $335,000
T-14: Beau Hossler, -8, $335,000
T-20: Seamus Power, -7, $245,000
T-20: Sam Ryder, -7, $245,000
T-20: Keegan Bradley, -7, $245,000
T-23: Chesson Hadley, -6, $174,000
T-23: Scott Stallings, -6, $174,000
T-23: Adam Schenk, -6, $174,000
T-23: Si Woo Kim, -6, $174,000
T-23: Kirt Kitayama, -6, $174,000
T-23: Jhonattan Vegas, -6, $174,000
T-29: Hideki Matsuyama, -5, $137,000
T-29: Hayden Buckley, -5, $137,000
T-29: Matt Fitzpatrick, -5, $137,000
T-32: Billy Horschel, -4, $109,285.72
T-32: James Hahn, -4, $109,285.72
T-32: Jason Dufner, -4, $109,285.72
T-32: Rory McIlroy, -4, $109,285.71
T-32: Matt Kuchar, -4, $109,285.71
T-32: Zach Johnson, -4, $109,285.71
T-32: Kevin Tway, -4, $109,285.71
T-39: Sahith Theegala, -3, $87,000
T-39: Max Homa, -3, $87,000
T-39: Lucas Glover, -3, $87,000
T-42: Brian Harman, -2, $65,350
T-42: Viktor Hovland, -2, $65,350
T-42: K.H. Lee, -2, $65,350
T-42: Adam Long, -2, $65,350
T-42: Keith Mitchell, -2, $65,350
T-42: Ryan Palmer, -2, $65,350
T-42: Aaron Rai, -2, $65,350
T-42: Gary Woodland, -2, $65,350
T-50: Corey Conners, -1, $48,542.86
T-50: Joel Dahmen, -1, $48,542.86
T-50: Lucas Herbert, -1, $48,542.86
T-50: Tom Kim, -1, $48,542.86
T-50: Justin Lower, -1, $48,542.86
T-50: Erik van Rooyen, -1, $48,542.85
T-50: Brandon Wu, -1, $48,542.85
T-57: Danny Lee, E, $45,600
T-57: Taylor Pendrith, E, $45,600
T-57: Greyson Sigg, E, $45,600
T-57: Webb Simpson, E, $45,600
T-61: Nate Lashley, +1, $44,400
T-61: Trey Mullinax, +1, $44,400
63: Kelly Kraft, +4, $43,800
64: Cameron Young, +5, $43,400
65: Stewart Cink, +7, $43,000
66: Jim Herman, +8, $42,600

The post Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer at the 2023 WM Phoenix Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Trailing tournament leader Scottie Scheffler by one as he played the par-5 13th hole at TPC Scottsdale, Schauffele watched as his drive wandered right into a desert area, eventually coming to rest behind a palo verde tree. As TV cameras showed, Schauffele had no chance of advancing the ball forward with the tree in the way, plus, as CBS on-course announcer Mark Immelman noted, the ball was up against a root.

Seemingly, the only play would be to punch the ball out left or right and try to salvage something from there, and even that punch out would be a tricky shot.

But Immelman then relayed to viewers that Schauffele believed he would be standing in an animal hole when playing the shot. And under the Rules of Golf, a player is entitled to take relief without a penalty in such a situation if his or her ball “touches or is in or on an abnormal course condition” or if “an abnormal course condition physically interferes with the player’s area of intended stance or area of intended swing.” (Rule 16.1a)

Cameras captured what appeared to be depressions around the ball. But according to Immelman, when Schauffele made the argument to a first rules official on the scene, he was denied relief. Immelman then said that Schauffele asked to get “a second opinion” and was subsequently allowed to take a free drop.

Schauffele, now playing one club-length left of the tree, had an opening with only 200 yards to the hole. He proceeded to play a punch shot, the ball taking a nice hope in front of the green and then rolling to the back of the green, nearly 54 feet from the hole.

Perfect teamwork ? @XSchauffele and Austin Kaiser dial in an incredible recovery en route to birdie.

Xander is now one back of the lead @WMPhoenixOpen. pic.twitter.com/K3b5tAFyme

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 11, 2023

“That’s a massive break,” said CBS analyst Frank Nobilo. “It pays to know the rules that’s for sure. Take anything after that. Second shot being right that tree could be looking at five, six.”

Two putts later, Schauffele was able to write down a birdie 4 on his scorecard.

“[He] just turned six into four,” Nobilo said.

“My goodness, that is downright robbery,” Immelman added.

Despite his good fortune on the 13th hole, Schauffele struggled coming in, making bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes to finish with a one-under 70 and fall four shots back of Scheffler at day’s end.

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With a final-round bogey-free 65 at TPC Scottsdale, good for a 19-under 265 total, Scheffler beat Nick Taylor by two shots. In the process, he became the 15th player to win multiple Phoenix Open titles, and the first defending champion since Hideki Matsuyama accomplished the feat in 2017.

Throughout the weekend the 26-year-old Scheffler battled insurgent charges from a variety of challengers. But befitting a golfer who won his fifth PGA Tour title in 12 months, the reigning Masters champion saw them off each time to earn a $3.6 million payday in this “designated-status” event with an overall purse of $20 million.

On Saturday, it was Xander Schauffele who briefly joined Scheffler in the lead but slipped back after taking four shots to get up-and-down from a green side bunker on the par-5 15th. It was a mistake he wouldn’t recover from.

Jon Rahm was the next man up. Two back at the start of Sunday’s final round, Rahm’s birdie to Scheffler’s par on the opening hole of the day, courtesy of a short iron that ended four feet from the pin, pulled him within one.

But Scheffler was relentless. Birdies on his second, third, and ninth holes brought him to 16 under, and three clear of Rahm, who with a victory could have become World No. 1 himself. A bogey on the eighth hole slipped the Spaniard back to 13 under, a deficit simply too big to overcome with only nine holes left to play.

7-under in his last 12 holes ?

Co-leader @NTaylorGolf59 is heating up at the perfect time @WMPhoenixOpen. pic.twitter.com/Za8YH8z6vw

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 12, 2023

“I’m not sure I could have done much better the last two days, honestly,” Rahm said. “If you told me early in the week 19-under was going to be winning, I would think they would have won by six or seven because of the wind conditions we had all week.”

It was the unlikely Taylor who proved Scheffler’s biggest challenge. The 34-year-old Canadian who lives in the Arizona desert and plays out of TPC Scottsdale came into the event ranked 223rd in the Official World Golf Ranking, but put on a ball-striking display on Sunday that would be the envy of any player in the world.

Clutch eagle for Scottie Scheffler ?

He now owns the solo lead with 5 to play @WMPhoenixOpen. pic.twitter.com/Htpnb9nIOT

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 12, 2023

Taylor gained 2.22 strokes on the field with his approach shots on his first 10 holes, hitting every green and hitting four approaches inside 10 feet. He made each of them — plus a 40-footer on the sixth hole, the vault from 11-under into a tie for the lead at 16-under.

“I putted great all day, hit a lot of great shots, so I don’t have a lot of complaints,” he said.

But it’s the thin margins that separate the best from the rest, and Scheffler proved it. From 200 yards in the middle of the fairway on the par-5 13th hole, Scheffler sent his approach to 20 feet, and the slippery downhill right-to-left breaking putt into the bottom of the hole for an eagle 3.

Scottie Scheffler is clutch!

He now leads by 2 after the huge par save on 16 @WMPhoenixOpen. pic.twitter.com/TlGfyvTwdZ

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 12, 2023

The defining moment, though, came on TPC Scottsdale’s iconic par-3 16th hole. No champion had bogeyed that hole in the final round in the last 25 years. But when Scheffler yanked his approach shot left of the green, then sent his subsequent chip 15 feet past the hole, he looked like he’d either defy history or succumb to it.

But once again, it’s the details that separate those at the top of the game.

Scheffler unleashed his fist into the air as his putt dripped with perfect speed into the hole, while Taylor — whose approach shot was unlucky to roll through the green — missed his eight-footer.

“I really felt that was a great swing off the tee there. That wind was just crazy strong. I played enough for it, just obviously not quite enough,” Taylor said. “I would love the chip back on there. It was a tricky chip, but one I would like to do little bit better.”

After following with a birdie to Taylor’s bogey on 17, it was game over. Scheffler was returning to the top spot in the OWGR, replacing Rory McIlroy, who had taken the title from Scheffler last October.

It felt cruel that Scheffler’s win over Taylor looked larger than it was, though Taylor will have some consolation: His $2 million runners-up cheque was the largest pay day of his career.

As for the man who lifted the trophy, and will no doubt hope his victory here will kick-start another early season hot-streak, he proved once again it’s the details that separate those at the top of the game.

“I knew going into today it was going to be a tough day,” Scheffler said. “Jon’s playing some of the best golf in the world right now. Nick’s a fantastic player and a proven winner out here. There were some other names on the leaderboard like Jordan and Xander. There were a lot of guys up there. I knew it was going to take a great round. Nobody was going to give this golf tournament to me. I had to go out and earn it. I was definitely proud of the result.”

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Entering February, the 27-year-old former college player of the year at Stanford had been having a season in which he looked like he was making progress toward a breakthrough first PGA Tour win: eight starts, seven made cuts, five top-20 finishes, 29th on the FedEx Cup points list. It explains why he was among the betting favorites last week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. But after putting together rounds of 71-71 amid the crazy weather conditions on the Monterey Peninsula, he was forced to withdraw in the third round after nine holes with an injury to his left shoulder.

Fast forward to this week at the WM Phoenix Open. McNealy was still nursing the injury but when you’re playing for $20 million in a designated event, well in the words of Dan Jenkins, you got to play hurt. Which is what McNealy attempted in scrapping around an opening 76 at TPC Scottsdale.

Returning to the course on Friday, McNealy started his second round on the 10th tee with a bogey, but bounced back with a birdie on the 11th. His tee shot on the par-3 12th found the front left portion of the green but left him with a 81-foot birdie try. From there, well, a little bit of madness ensued.

From putting it in the water to a chip-in bogey save.

A roller-coaster hole for Maverick McNealy ? pic.twitter.com/FbcvMnR6r1

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 10, 2023

Putting off a green into a water is something amateurs could related to? Chipping in for bogey? Well, that takes a little bit of mental hutzpah.

With pars on the next two holes, McNealy was one over for the round, but he had decided enough was enough. For the second straight week he withdrew because of his shoulder. McNealy is listed in the field for next week’s Genesis Invitational — another $20 million you got to play hurt scenario — but it will be interesting to see what happens.

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The fan takes another swig and points to Rory as he approaches the 13th green. “There’s like a million golfers in the world, and that guy’s No. 1,” he explains. “You gotta shout his name.”

There was no mention of the man currently holding the No. 2 spot or the 54-hole lead for this week, with Scottie Scheffler holding a two-shot margin over Jon Rahm and Nick Taylor after scoring three-under 68 in the third round on Saturday. As fans gravitated towards McIlroy as he worked his way toward the chaos of the 16th hole, the man who was quietly leading the tournament had just teed off on his first hole of the day.

It was the WM Phoenix Open last year that opened the floodgates for Scheffler. This was PGA Tour career win No. 1. A month later, he added wins two and three.

But no matter how high he goes, Scheffler’s cruising altitude is perpetually under the radar.

The Masters last year perhaps encapsulated it best. Scheffler came into the tournament the World No. 1. In his sparsely attended pre-tournament press conference, he was peppered with questions about his status as World No. 1. Had it come sooner than he expected?

“I don’t really think that far into the future,” he said. “I guess I would say that I always believed in myself, and I believed I could perform on this stage.”

By the end of the week, Scheffler had a green jacket to prove it. If three rounds at the WM Phoenix Open is any indication, history may well repeat itself this year.

All the talk heading into the tournament was McIlroy and Jon Rahm — each sporting two wins in their previous three starts. Scheffler, the defending champion, duly opened with rounds of 68 and 64 to give him the 36-hole lead. Had that perceived disrespect of the media overlooking him once again placed a chip on his shoulder this week?

“Not really,” he said. “I would probably have to agree; they’ve been winning tournaments.”

Scheffler’s polite manner is relentless. His golf game is ruthlessly effective.

Scheffler’s trusty fade was failing him during the early part of his third round, but he didn’t seem to mind. He pulled two of his first three drives left and fanned the other out to the right, but played the stretch one under. It was perhaps one too many. His three-putt par, courtesy of a short missed putt on the par-5 third hole, felt more like a bogey. No matter. On the next hole, the par-3 fifth, he stuck his tee shot to 15 feet, and dropped the putt for birdie.

There was only one point during the day that Scheffler’s lead was threatened. Xander Schauffele, who finished T-3 here last year, started the day at eight-under, but had climbed to 11-under through the 13th hole. When Scheffler bogeyed, they were briefly tied.

No matter. Scheffler stuck his approach shot to four feet from 212 yards on the next hole and made the putt. Schauffele, a hole ahead, left his third shot from a greenside bunker on the par-5 15th hole in the bunker, then missed a short par putt. Scheffler’s lead hadn’t just been restored. It had been enhanced.

The crew of Netflix’s much-anticipated golf show “Full Swing” is on site this week, laying the groundwork for a second season. They’ve been trailing media darling Max Homa, who comes into Sunday T-14.

It was a similar story last year. The crew focused much of its time on Tony Finau during the early part of the season and only showed a passing interest in Scheffler up until that point.

“When I originally signed up for it, I don’t think they wanted very much from me,” he said. “Then all of a sudden I started winning tournaments and they were like, ‘we need a lot more stuff now.’”

Scheffler may well win again this week. But once again, it’ll be Saturday that better tells the story of Scottie Scheffler. He’s the player who just keeps showing up and doesn’t mind if you notice or not.

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That’s not the vibe this week at TPC Scottsdale.

“It feels just like another week, to be completely honest,” said Xander Schauffele, who shot an opening-round 67. “I’m assuming most of the guys aren’t really thinking about the payout when they’re playing golf, but I can’t speak for everybody.”

When you have as much of it as these guys do, it’s not a few extra million (OK even if that means they’re playing for a $20 million purse) that gets the juices flowing any more than usual. Yet that doesn’t mean players aren’t operating in the comfort zone this week. The WM Phoenix Open brings with it its own unique set of challenges: Larger and louder crowds. Stadium seating. And on Thursday, some strong gusts.

“I’ve seen a lot of wind conditions, but this was one of the toughest stretches I’ve played out here,” said Nick Taylor, who led the morning wave with an opening-round 66.

“It was hard,” said Rory McIlroy, who shot two-over 73. “So it really felt like my ball was getting lost in those left-to-right winds pretty hard and just never really got a handle on it.”

Wind in many ways is golf’s great equaliser. It disproportionately punished golfers with more skill, because those golfers hit the golf ball higher, and often with more spin. It means they need to work harder to keep their ball under the wind by altering their technique, and when they don’t, it sends the ball veering wildly away.

Add the massive, raucous, heckling crowd and it may not have tension of a major championship week, but it did present a certain chaos befitting its newly-minted “designated-event” status.

As for how players deal with it?

“It can go one of two ways,” McIlroy explained. “You can embrace it and try and enjoy it or try to shut yourself away.”

The “embrace it” mantra was common among pros, and in practice, it means pros would actively try to engage with the crowd. Players are interacting with them lightly between shots, and not fretting about trying to hush them into silence like they may during other weeks. Accept the unique challenge for what it is, and lean on your pre-shot routine when the time comes to hit the shot.

“It almost becomes white noise,” Schauffele said. “I’d say 16 would almost feel creepy if it was completely quiet, which is impossible anyway. You’ve just got to enjoy the experience.”

In many ways, it gives this event an identity. It may not have the prestige and carry the same pressure of a major championship, but in its own way, it’s just as unique.

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By Dan Rapaport
SCOTTSDALE — Polished. Tony Finau keeps using the word over and over to discuss one of his Tuesday practice-round partners at the WM Phoenix Open. Pat Perez, 45, has been playing on tour for …

Oh, wait. He’s talking about the kid?!

You’re damn right he is. Preston Summerhays doesn’t look like a teenager, unless you really get up in his face. He’s a solid 6’2”, maybe a hair taller. As he makes his way around TPC Scottsdale, he seems to be moving in slow motion, not all that different then the pros despite being the lone amateur in the field. He’s worn all-business, perfectly tailored pants during every practice round, despite it being near 80 degrees.

Perhaps he’s so comfortable because this isn’t his first time teeing it up with the pros. The 19-year-old Arizona State freshman has played twice before on the PGA Tour—the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot and last year’s Barbasol Championship. Maybe he’s feeling at ease because he lives in the Silverleaf community just a few miles from the course. Or maybe he’s so at home because he’s spent the majority of his childhood rubbing shoulders with the world’s best players.

Summerhays, the 2019 U.S. Junior champion and the youngest player to win the prestigious Sunnehanna Amateur (2020), is the latest product of a powerhouse golf family. His father and caddie this week, Boyd, is a former tour pro/turned instructor who coaches Finau, Talor Gooch and Wyndham Clark, among others. His uncle, Daniel, played eight years on the PGA Tour and finished solo third in the 2016 PGA Championship. His great uncle is former PGA Tour Champions winner Bruce Summerhays. His great-grandfather was the head golf coach at the University of Utah. And his younger sister, Grace, is also a freshman at ASU after she enrolled early this winter.

“It’s definitely helped me become a little bit more comfortable out here,” says Preston, uncannily poised in front of a microphone. “Because of my dad, I have been able to be out at these tour events, quite a few, and get to know some of the guys. [I] have been able to play with a lot of tour players. So I think that is going to make me a little more comfortable, knowing I have played with these guys before and I can compete against them. Yeah, I’d say because I play with a lot of pros, it’s definitely made it a little bit easier.”

Preston estimates he’s played “hundreds” of rounds with Finau, who’s been a mentor since childhood and seen him stretch from a promising young player into one of the best teenagers in golf. Preston is quick to answer your next question: Yes, he’s beaten Finau. More than once.

“He’s way better than I was at that age,” says Finau, who turned pro at age 17. “I mean, way, way better.”

It’s tough to be intimidated when you’ve stared down the literal best golfer in the world. Last year, Jon Rahm, Finau and Summerhays played a round together at Silverleaf. Finau stole the show with a 59, which obscured a rather extraordinary accomplishment by the teenager.

“What people don’t know,” Rahm says, “is that Preston was eight under through 9 that day. He’s definitely a very talented player. He’s only a freshman in college, right? Still has like his whole college career ahead of him.”

Jamie Squire
Winning the 2019 U.S. Junior earned Preston Summerhays a spot in the field at the 2020 U.X. Open.

Indeed he does, and he’s already off the mark in the win column, having finished co-medalist at last October’s East Lake Cup. That strong play early in the season helped get him a sponsor’s invite into this loaded field; he’s the first ASU player to get a spot since Rahm, who finished T-5 as a 20-year-old junior. Rahm remembers the jitters he felt walking through the tunnel between TPC Scottsdale’s 15th and 16th holes for the first time, the raucous crowd awaiting on the “Stadium” par 3, and he’s warned Summerhays what to expect.

“I feel like my game is good to handle this course,” Preston said, “but, I mean, with this atmosphere, I’m definitely going to be a little more amped up than I have ever been, so I just kind of asked them, Hey, how can I kind of control and just ease into my rounds?

“They just said you have to treat it like every other tournament. Even if there are a thousand people watching, it’s going to be the same shot as if you were just playing at home with a friend or just playing for fun. At the end of the day, it’s golf, and it’s all the same.”

The crowd will be louder, and drunker, but this is just the next step in a golf journey that seems destined for the PGA Tour. He was askek whether he had any other realistic job possibilities, or if it was always golf.

Boyd Summerhays (left) takes a selfie with daughter Grace, also a freshman at Arizona State, and Preston in 2020.

“My dad actually didn’t let me play tournaments until I was 10 years old, 10 or 11, which, I mean, that’s a little bit late.” We call that delaying the inevitable.

“He wanted to make sure I played all the sports and got a taste of everything before I fully committed to golf. I would say—I mean, yeah, I was kind of born to be a golfer.”

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