SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2021 will likely look different for fans, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While PGA Tour events are being held, and have been since June, they are taking place with no fans and it is not currently known when PGA Tour events will have fans again.
According to tournament chairman Scott Jenkins, most hospitality venues for the tournament will not be constructed. These venues for the late January/early February tournament are usually constructed in the fall.
"Due to continued health challenges surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the landscape at the Waste Management Phoenix Open will, unfortunately, look different this year. This week, we notified our suite holders that most of the hospitality venues that create our event’s incredible tournament atmosphere will not be constructed," Jenkins wrote in a release.
Jenkins says it's "not prudent" to construct the hospitality venues as of now.
For right now, the Waste Management Phoenix Open is pivoting to an event that will have fewer fans and fewer venues.
Organizers are not currently planning to build the iconic and nationally recognized 16th "stadium" hole, but that could change. There are options to revisit that decision as late as November, or build it in a smaller form, 12 Sports' Cameron Cox learned.
"‘The People’s Open’ just would not be the same without our fans, so it is our every intention to have fans at the Waste Management Phoenix Open during the week of February 1," Jenkins wrote.
