Inside the Numbers: Will we get a 10th ace at the loudest hole in golf?
The loudest hole in golf, Bubba Watson's scoring average and the biggest crowd ever at the Phoenix Open. A few things to know about this week's event.
By
Kyle Porter
•
1 min read
The Phoenix Open begins on Thursday. It is one of the most fun, if not most underrated, events on the entire PGA Tour schedule. Gone are the stuffy folks who make golf not fun. Enter the craziest hole in the sport (No. 16) and a bunch of party-going folks who don't know the difference between Paul Dunne and Paul Casey. Who cares though? That's what makes this event great.
Here are five stats to know ahead of this week's event.
564,000 -- This was the attendance last year at the Phoenix Open. Five-hundred sixty-four thousand! That was a new record, and it won't be broken this year. Why? Last year featured Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and the Super Bowl nearby. This year's version will have none of that.
7 -- Shots last year's winner Brooks Koepka was down after 36 holes. It was the biggest deficit ever overcome after 36 holes at this event.
9 -- Aces on the famous 16th hole. There have only been two since 2002. One of them came last year when Francesco Molinari holed out much to the delight of the patrons there.
68.24 -- That's the best scoring average at this event (minimum 10 events). It's held by Bubba Watson who has finished runner up in each of his last two outings here (via Justin Ray).
-14 -- A score of 14 under or better has won this tournament every year since 2000, which means it's almost always a birdie fest. That was proven again last year when Brooks Koepka shot 64-66 on the weekend to finish 16 under and win by one over Hideki Matsuyama, Bubba Watson and Ryan Palmer.
