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Golfer Zach Johnson was not having a good time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open this weekend. Fans, on the other hand, had themselves a little too much fun!
Videos from the tournament made the rounds on social media showing attendees sloppily stumbling throughout the course after downing boatloads of booze. It got so bad that the event was forced to stop selling alcohol altogether.
A bartender dove deeper into that decision, saying, “They told us to stop serving alcohol… when we were extremely busy. The Scottsdale Police Department and the Scottsdale Fire Marshall told us to stop, and they stopped letting people in because there was almost half a million people on the course at that one time.”
He says that security just stopped checking tickets at the gate.
The scenes became dangerous at times as tournament goers slipped and slid around the walkways, and in some instances, actually out on the course.
I would say he did not stick the landing pic.twitter.com/Y8bI8Eu9IK
— Paige Spiranac (@PaigeSpiranac) February 10, 2024
The behavior of those intoxicated fans would soon trickle into the heads of golfers.
Zach Johnson threw a temper tantrum
Johnson, and a few others, were spotted arguing with the crowd as fans began to get more and more unruly.
It seems he’s not all that interested in running it back in that environment again.
After the tournament, he spoke with a reporter about his experience. He didn’t have much nice to say.
“This tournament has been inappropriate and crossed the line since I’ve been on Tour… You have people falling out of the rafters, you have fights in the stands… How do you reel it in?
“I think the Thunderbirds probably need to do something about it. I’m assuming they’re ashamed. At some point, somebody’s either gonna really, really get hurt or worse.
“If I were to say if I’m gonna come back, I’d probably say no… I’m done. I’m done with it.”
Johnson, and a number of others, are hoping to see a change from the PGA Tour’s designated party course. We’ll see what steps are taken over the next year.