The First Look: WM Phoenix Open
6 Min Read
The PGA TOUR descends on Arizona's TPC Scottsdale once again for the most vibrant event of the season, with hundreds of thousands of fans eager to watch some of the TOUR’s best.
Scottie Scheffler is back in action and will tee it up for a second time in a row in 2025 as his recovery efforts continue from a holiday-season kitchen accident. But he appeared to be in fine form at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, notching a first-event top-10 result.
While the field is chock-full of notables, the 2025 WM Phoenix Open also marks the final event of the Aon Swing 5 stretch for golfers to try to get into The Genesis Invitational.
Here’s everything else you need to know as the TOUR slides back into Scottsdale.
FIELD NOTES: Scottie Scheffler returns after making his 2025 debut at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Scheffler delayed the start of his campaign after cutting himself while making Christmas dinner, but he finished T9 in his season debut at Pebble Beach. He won in Phoenix in 2022 and '23 but finished T3 in his three-peat effort a year ago. … Jordan Spieth is also set to tee it up for the second week in a row after returning from an injury that first arose in May 2023. Spieth finished T69 in his return to action at Pebble Beach after recovering from surgery on his wrist last summer. However, Spieth has a sparkling record at TPC Scottsdale, with five top 10s in eight starts, including back-to-back T6s. … Nick Taylor returns to defend his title from 2024. Taylor finished runner-up to Scheffler in 2023 and won in a playoff last year. Taylor has a win already this season, having captured the Sony Open in Hawaii also in a playoff. … The early FedExCup leader, Sepp Straka, is looking to continue his fine run of golf of late. Straka won The American Express and was firmly in the mix at Pebble Beach despite suffering from flu-like symptoms before finishing T7. … Scheffler is one of three players ranked in the top 10 in the world who are set to go in Scottsdale along with Hideki Matsuyama (who won the season-opening The Sentry and is a two-time winner at TPC Scottsdale) and Wyndham Clark.… Justin Thomas is set to tee it up at a place where he’s found plenty of comfort in his career. This will mark the former FedExCup champ’s 11th time at the WM Phoenix Open, and he’s had seven straight top-20 finishes including four top 10s in his last six starts.
HIGHEST RANKED PLAYERS IN THE FIELD
World Ranking | FedExCup |
1. Scottie Scheffler | 1. Sepp Straka |
5. Hideki Matsuyama | 2. Hideki Matsuyama |
7. Wyndham Clark | 4. Nick Taylor |
15. Justin Thomas | 6. Sungjae im |
16. Sepp Straka | 11. Lucas Glover |
17. Robert MacIntyre | 12. Sam Stevens |
19. Sahith Theegala | 15. Justin Thomas |
20. Billy Horschel | 17. Thomas Detry |
21. Sungjae Im | 18. Nico Echavarria |
23. Tom Kim | 20. Andrew Novak |
SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: Frankie Capan III is set to tee it up for the fourth time this season. He’s found the weekend in each of his PGA TOUR starts in 2025, highlighted by a T12 at The American Express. Capan won back-to-back Arizona High School state championships, including firing a 59 in the final round to clinch his second title. He finished third in the Korn Ferry Tour Points list a year ago to earn his PGA TOUR card. … Luke Clanton is back in action on the PGA TOUR and is so very close to earning full TOUR status. Clanton, the world’s No. 1-ranked amateur, now has 18 PGA TOUR University Accelerated points, but soon to be 19 with him set to spend another week atop of the World Amateur Golf Ranking. If he makes the cut, he would earn another point and could technically pass the 20-point threshold to automatically earn a TOUR card. Clanton finished T15 at his TOUR start, the Farmers Insurance Open. … Star Arizona State University senior Jose Luis Ballester Barrio is set to make his non-major PGA TOUR debut after playing The Open Championship last year. Ballester won the 2024 U.S. Amateur, the first Spaniard to pull off the feat, and is a multi-time All-American at ASU. He’s currently No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. … Multi-time PGA TOUR winners Chez Reavie (best: runner-up in 2018) and Kevin Streelman (best: T22 in 2021) are both set to make their 17th WM Phoenix Open appearances.
SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: The WM Phoenix Open is the final event via the Aon Swing 5 for players to qualify for The Genesis Invitational. … The Aon Swing 5 standings remain the same heading into TPC Scottsdale with Sam Stevens, J.J. Spaun, Andrew Novak, Justin Lower and Lee Hodges currently holding positions. Of the five who earned their way into the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Novak had the best result, finishing T13. … Qualifying for The Genesis Invitational via the Aon Next 10 is from the final FedExCup Fall standings. … The next Signature Event after The Genesis is the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard.
COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 UPDATES: Rory McIlroy’s 2025 PGA TOUR debut couldn’t have been better, as his win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am zipped him directly to the No. 3 spot in the standings. … Sepp Straka, who won The American Express and finished T7 at Pebble Beach, is now No. 1 in the standings, jumping Hideki Matsuyama for the top spot in the early part of the year. … Cam Davis, with his T5 at Pebble Beach, made an impressive move from No. 27 to No. 8… Russell Henley also makes his debut in the TOUR TOP 10 this season, jumping from No. 38 to No. 10 in the standings after he finished T5 at Pebble Beach. … Shane Lowry, who birdied the closing hole at Pebble Beach to finish second alone (Lowry, in fact, made five birdies in his final nine holes Sunday), makes his 2025 debut in the standings at No. 9.
FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.
COURSE: TPC Scottsdale, par 71, 7,261 yards. Opened in 1986, the Jay Morrish/Tom Weiskopf design has been the host club of the WM Phoenix Open every year since 1987.
72-HOLE RECORD: 256, Mark Calcavecchia (2001), Phil Mickelson (2013)
18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Grant Waite (Round 4, 1996), Mark Calcavecchia (Round 2, 2001), Phil Mickelson (Round 2, 2005; Round 1, 2013), Nick Taylor (Round 1, 2024).
LAST TIME: Nick Taylor topped Charley Hoffman with a birdie on the second playoff hole at TPC Scottsdale after an impressive scoring effort to close out the 2024 WM Phoenix Open. Taylor, who had finished second in 2023 to Scottie Scheffler, birdied three of his final four holes in regulation in the final round en route to a 6-under 65. He birdied the par-4 18th twice more to defeat Hoffman in a playoff. Taylor also had a dream-like opening to his week, shooting a course record-matching 60 in the first round. His five-shot lead after Thursday matched the largest on the PGA TOUR after 18 holes since 1983.
Sam Burns and Scheffler, the 2023 defending champion, finished three shots back and tied for third.
How to follow (all times ET)
Television:
- Thursday-Friday: 4-8 p.m. (Golf Channel),
- Saturday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6:30 p.m. (CBS)
- Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
- Special programming alert: Tune in Wednesday, 5-6:30 p.m., to "Live: On the Range from WM Phoenix Open presented by ReliaQuest."
- Get up close and personal with your favorite PGA TOUR stars as they dial in their game at TPC Scottsdale with "Live: On the Range from WM Phoenix Open presented by ReliaQuest," from 5-6:30 p.m. on PGA TOUR YouTube, GOLF Channel and FAST network.
PGA TOUR LIVE:
-- | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
Stream 1 | Main feed: 9:15 a.m.-8 p.m. | Main feed: 9:15 a.m.-8 p.m. | Main feed: 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m. | Main feed: 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. |
Stream 2 | Marquee group: 10:15 a.m.-8 p.m. | Marquee group: 10:15 a.m.-8 p.m. | Marquee group: noon-6:30 p.m. | Marquee group: 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m. |
Stream 3 | Featured groups/featured holes: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. | Featured groups/featured holes: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. | Featured groups/featured holes: 11:45 a.m.-6:30 p.m. | Featured groups/featured holes: 11:15 a.m.-6 p.m. |
Stream 4 | Featured holes: 9:45 a.m.-8 p.m. | Featured holes: 9:45 a.m.-8 p.m | Featured holes: 1-6:30 p.m. | Featured holes: 1-6 p.m |
ESPN BET on PGA TOUR LIVE (Stream 4) | 2-4 p.m. | 2-4 p.m. | 11 a.m.-1 p.m. | 11 a.m.-1 p.m. |
- New for 2025, "ESPN BET on PGA TOUR LIVE" brings unprecedented betting coverage and analysis to six marquee events in 2025, starting with the WM Phoenix Open; learn more about the new streaming partnership and how to watch on ESPN+.
- Thursday-Friday: 2-4 p.m. ET
- Saturday-Sunday: 11 a.m.- 1 p.m. ET
PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+
- Main feed: Primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course.
- Marquee group: New “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group.
- Featured groups: Traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups.
- Featured holes: Combination of par 3s and iconic or pivotal holes.
- Thursday-Friday: 2-8 p.m.
- Saturday: 1-6:30 p.m.
- Sunday: 1-6 p.m.