Fans fuming as WM Phoenix Open set to finish after NFL’s Super Bowl starts on Sunday night.
Ahead of today’s final day of the WM Phoenix Open, golf fans unanimously express a shared sentiment: the renowned PGA Tour event will coincide with the start of the NFL’s Super Bowl on Sunday night.
Darkness fell at 6pm on Saturday evening, resulting in the suspension of the third round of the WM Phoenix Open. At that point, the leaders had only completed six holes.
On Sunday morning, the PGA Tour confirmed that the commencement of the third round at TPC Scottsdale would be postponed until 8am local time because of frost.
It then followed up to say the third round was delayed by a further 15 minutes to 8.15am, before providing a further update that pushed things back to 8.30am.
That is 3.30pm for UK fans with a seven-hour time difference in Arizona.
If all goes to plan the third round will unlikely finish until 11.30am, meaning the final round will unlikely not get underway until around 12pm with the leading groups teeing off until around 2pm (9pm UK time).
The scheduled finish for the WM Phoenix Open will therefore be completed in near darkness on Sunday night, and bang in the middle of the NFL’s Super Bowl, which of course is one of the world’s most popular sporting events, especially for Americans.
Kansas City Chiefs lock horns with San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas at 4.30pm local time in Arizona (11.30pm UK).
The final groups will likely have around six holes to complete by the time the Super Bowl has kicked off.
Perhaps it will be less but much will depend on how quickly the players get a wriggle on.
As it stands heading into the final day of the WM Phoenix Open, Canada’s Nick Taylor holds a narrow one-stroke lead over Sahith Theegala on 13-under par.
Taylor and Theegala will resume by putting out on the par-3 7th.
Scottie Scheffler, the top-ranked player in the world, is attempting to secure his third consecutive victory in the competition. He is currently five shots behind the leader as he starts his third round, having completed seven holes.
If the tournament enters a playoff, a possibility that is likely due to the close rankings of the participants, it might extend into Monday for the conclusion. LIV Golf made a decision to reschedule their 54-hole Las Vegas event a day earlier to avoid any scheduling conflict with the Super Bowl.
The usual schedule for LIV Golf events is to begin on Friday and end on Sunday. However, as a result of the Super Bowl, the circuit funded by Saudi Arabia made the decision to commence on Wednesday and finish on Saturday.
Dustin Johnson, who was once ranked as the top player in the world, emerged victorious in the LIV Golf Las Vegas tournament.
“Golf fans express their response to the coincidence of the Phoenix Open being scheduled at the same time as the Super Bowl.”
Many golf enthusiasts have been angered by the unfortunate overlap between the WM Phoenix Open and the Super Bowl.
“Below are various tweets that we will examine: ”
The PGA Tour is a complete joke, with two consecutive weeks of schedule mismanagement. The transition from concluding a tournament through a press statement to participating in the Super Bowl is truly remarkable and commendable.”
This thing is not finishing by kickoff that’s a given.”
“Brilliant planning PGA Tour, maybe take a leaf out of LIV Golf’s book for weeks like this.”
“Yeah didn’t fancy watching the Super Bowl, cheers PGA Tour.”
“Clown show.”
“Gonna be real tough for the Phoenix Open to end before the Super Bowl starts, but it’ll be a fun Sunday regardless.”
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