Scheffler wins back-to-back Waste Management Opens

On the weekend of Feb. 10-12, Scottdale held its annual Waste Management Open. The event is considered one of the biggest golf tournaments on the PGA Tour. It usually brings in numerous celebrities and over 700,000 total attendees over the four days the tournament takes place.

Day one of the tournament was exciting. It started with a frost delay on the course which pushed back all the tee times and affected the rest of the tournament. On the first day, there were some exciting moments as Jason Day finished day one shooting six under par, which is a great way to start out the tournament.

Another notable mention was John Rahm who finished -3 on the day. Scottie Sheffler, last year’s winner, also finished -3.

Another big storyline from day one was the two Canadians: Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin who finished -5 on day one right behind Day.

Day two was a whirlwind of a round, as many people were trying to make the cut. Some notable names that eventually got cut on day two were Tommy Fleetwood, Patrick Cantlay, Colin Morikawa and Francesco Molinari.

Some of the best rounds of the day were Jordan Speith shooting -8 on the day and launching his way up the leaderboards near the top. Scheffler proved why he is one of the best in the world and shot a -7. Rory McIlroy shot four under to end up making the cut. McIlroy also went on to average the longest drive distance in the tournament, which is remarkable to watch considering his smaller stature compared to other golfers.

Another big group of the day was Justin Thomas, Sahith

Theegala and Phoenix local Joel Dahman. Thomas shot -3 while Theegala, the story of last year’s tournament, shot -1. Dahman shot -3 to keep up with Thomas, but because he shot so poorly on day one, he was only at -1 and barely made the day two cut.

Day three was delayed again because the final groups of day two had to finish their rounds. When day three did start, Sam Burns shot -7 and propelled himself into the top ten.

Scheffler continued to lead the leaderboard by shooting -3, however, Taylor and Jon Rahm were right on his tail setting themselves up for an amazing final round.

Rickie Fowler, another former winner, shot -4 trying to keep up with the leaders and setting himself up to make a late push.

On day four, Super Bowl Sunday, the groups were set and the ones to watch were the leaders: Scheffler, Taylor and Rahm. Rahm tried to stay with them, but later fell behind and never neer caught up. He finished at -3 on the day and -14 in total. It then became a two-horse race between Taylor and Scheffler.

Going into the final day, Taylor was down two strokes and already had ground to make up. In the end he was unable to do so, finishing at -17 overall and -6 on the day. Scheffler finished -6 as well on the day and shot a -19 overall, securing the win. Scheffler is now a back-to-back winner of the tournament after winning the Waste Management Open in 2022.

Another performance to note was Thomas, who finished fourth after shooting -6 on the day and ending at -13 overall. Beau Hossler, who was even heading into the last day, shot -8 and moved to 14th place. Scheffler’s performance also moved him up to No. 1 in the world, putting him past McIlroy.