“The People’s Open” field is shaping up to be one of the strongest in tournament history as World No. 4 Patrick Cantlay, World No. 12 Louis Oosthuizen, World No. 19 Harris English and World No. 43 Adam Scott are among the most recent players to commit to play in the 2022 WM Phoenix Open Presented by Taylor Morrison, which is set to tee it up Feb. 7-13 at TPC Scottsdale. The field now includes six players ranked in the Top-10, 14 of the Top-20 and half of the Top-50 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).
“The Thunderbirds take tremendous pride in hosting a world-class field and this year is shaping up to be one of the best ever,” said 2022 Tournament Chairman Dr. Michael Golding. “We’re excited to welcome not only more than half of the Top-10 players in the world and half of the Top-50, but also former WM Phoenix Open champions, Major winners, FedExCup champions and, of course, the next crop of young PGA TOUR superstars in the making. We’re extremely excited to see what they can do at TPC Scottsdale.”
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During his 10-year professional career, Cantlay has pocketed six PGA TOUR victories, most of which came in a whirlwind 2020-2021 season. In last year’s wrap-around season, Cantlay picked up four of those six wins, including back-to-back FedExCup playoff wins (BMW Championship, TOUR Championship), a subsequent FedExCup Title and a $15 million season-long bonus. The incredible run landed him 2021 PGA TOUR Player of the Year honors as well. Cantlay is currently ranked No. 4 in the Official World Golf Rankings – second highest in the field after No. 1 Jon Rahm – and will make his first-ever appearance at the WM Phoenix Open this year.
Oosthuizen will be making his third start at TPC Scottsdale, a course he seems to like as he has finished solo third (2017) and T-11 (2021) in his previous two outings. The South African has nine European Tour titles to his name to go along with a Major championship victory at the 2010 Open Championship held at the Old Course, where he defeated Lee Westwood by seven shots. He had an outstanding 2020-21 season, carding four runner-up finishes, two third-place finishes and eight Top-10s to finish 14th in the final FedExCup standings.
A four-time PGA TOUR winner, English has played in the last 10 WM Phoenix Open tournaments, carding four Top-25 finishes including a third-place finish in 2016. He is coming off arguably his best year on TOUR where he won two events – the Sentry Tournament of Champions and the Travelers Championship. He also placed third at the 2021 US Open – his highest finish in a Major Championship.
A 22-year PGA TOUR veteran and former World No. 1 golfer (2014 season), Scott has 14 PGA TOUR victories, 11 European Tour victories and 31 total professional wins under his belt that include a victory at the 2013 Masters to become the only Australian to win The Masters. Scott played in 19 PGA TOUR events last year making 17 cuts, with his best outing a runner-up finish at the Wyndham Championship.
The star-studded field now features 25 players ranked in the Top-50 of the Official World Golf Rankings, led by Jon Rahm who sits first in the standings and followed closely by Viktor Hovland at 3rd. The other top-ranked players include Cantlay (4), Justin Thomas (7), Xander Schauffele (8), Hideki Matsuyama (10), Oosthuizen (12), Sam Burns (13), Scottie Scheffler (14), Jordan Spieth (15), Tony Finau (17), Brooks Koepka (18), English (19), Abraham Ancer (20), Billy Horschel (24), Matt Fitzpatrick (25), Webb Simpson (30), Talor Gooch (33), Kevin Kisner (36), Max Homa (37), Russell Henley (40), Corey Conners (42), Scott (43), Lucas Herbert (44) and Seamus Power (50).
A field of 132 players will vie for the $8.2 million purse, the $1,476,000 first-place check, and 500 FedExCup points. PGA TOUR members have until 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 4, to commit to play in the WM Phoenix Open. Eligible players are assigned one of 34 PGA TOUR priority ranking categories based on their past performance on TOUR. The field will continue to change as players with higher priority rankings commit to play in the Open.
The 2022 WM Phoenix Open will take place Feb. 7-13 at TPC Scottsdale. “The People’s Open” has been named the Tournament of the Year by the PGA TOUR four times in the past eight years (2014, 2015, 2018, 2019) to acknowledge the tournament’s legendary status as one the most unique events in golf. The 2022 edition will mark the 87th playing of the event (one of the five oldest events on the PGA TOUR) and the 13th with WM as title sponsor.
The Thunderbirds were founded in 1937 with the mission of promoting the Valley of the Sun through sports. The Thunderbirds consist of 55 “active” members and more than 280 “life” members who have helped the tournament eclipse $165 million in charitable giving since its inception in 1932 (through the 2021 tournament). For more information on The Thunderbirds or the 2022 WM Phoenix Open, visit www.wmphoenixopen.com.
