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USA Today
29-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Jin Young Ko, Rose Zhang lead list of notables who missed the cut at 2025 Ford Championship
Jin Young Ko, Rose Zhang lead list of notables who missed the cut at 2025 Ford Championship CHANDLER, Ariz. — It's the best field the LPGA has had so far in 2025. The 2025 Ford Championship started with every one of the top 10, 19 of the top 20 and 40 of the 50 players in the Rolex Rankings. After 36 holes, nine of those top 10 golfers have advanced to the weekend with six in the top 10. The cut Friday came in at 4 under, and that meant quite a few notable names didn't secure weekend tee times. It also meant time to turn in the keys to the vehicles that the Arizona Ford Dealers made available for free for all the players in the tournament. Notables who missed the cut at 2025 Ford Championship The lone top-10 player to end her week short is eighth-ranked Jin Young Ko. She rallied late Thursday with a birdie-eagle finish to get to even par but didn't parlay that into a much-needed low second-round score. While she did eagle the 17th hole Friday, she also carded three bogeys and two double bogeys to shoot a 1-over 73. Georgia Hall shot 4 under Friday, but her 2 over Thursday round did her in this week. Stacy Lewis had a similar week, opening 3 over and then going 5 under but she too came up short. Anna Nordqvist, who played college golf up the road at Arizona State and who was recently named the European captain for the 2026 Solheim Cup, shot consecutive 72s to finish even par. Rio Takeda won the Blue Bay LPGA three weeks ago, the last event before this week, but scores of 69 and 75 will keep her away from the weekend. Rose Zhang, playing in her first event since finishing her most recent term at Stanford and just her second this season, shot 73-71 to finish her week even par.
USA Today
26-01-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
The 2025 WM Phoenix Open will be different. Here's what is planned to make it safer
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The WM Phoenix Open is less than two weeks away. Tournament organizers have promised big changes for the 2025 event, the first one since the Open descended into drunken chaos last February and narrowly avoided dangerous crowd scenes. The 2024 WM Phoenix Open was a low point in the golf tournament's 90-year history. It ended with a record-high number of arrests, was so badly overcrowded that Scottsdale police said it nearly became a disastrous 'crowd crush event' on its busiest day, and nearly 3,000 tickets had to be refunded when fans were turned away as event runners tried to stem the chaos. The disruption irked fans, professional golfers and local leaders alike. Some questioned whether they would return. What is the WM Phoenix Open doing to make the 2025 golf tourney safer? But Tournament Chairman Matt Mooney vowed 2025 will be different. He promised a slew of changes to prevent a repeat of last year, which range from axing the use of physical tickets sold by third-party vendors, adding a second entrance near the 18th hole and doubling the size of walkways that became severely congested in 2024. The big question is whether the promised changes will be enough to win back disillusioned fans. Mooney declined to provide any 2025 ticket sale figures to The Arizona Republic but said his 'approach to the tournament for 2025' is 'better, not bigger.' "We've been working closely with the PGA Tour, Scottsdale police and fire, ... and our other valued partners to make impactful changes for 2025,' Mooney said about the changes. The 2025 tournament will take place from Feb. 3-9 at TPC Scottsdale with tournament rounds Feb. 6-9. Fans can buy tickets at the WM Phoenix Open website, where they are selling for $75 for Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and $125 for Friday and Saturday. Admission to the course for Monday and Tuesday events is free courtesy of a promotion from Arizona Ford Dealers dubbed "Ford Free Days". Will fans, golfers give the Phoenix Open another shot in 2025? Thousands of fans who made it into the course last year were turned off by the long lines and overcrowding. And thousands of others were left incensed when they were turned away at the gate as tournament runners tried to reign in that overcrowding. The 2,800 people who bought their tickets on the Phoenix Open website were able to get refunds, but those like John Christensen, who bought his ticket elsewhere, were just out of luck. Christensen attended the WM Phoenix Open every year with his father, but he told The Republic that family tradition ends this year. 'We were treated absolutely shamefully,' Christensen said. 'I do not plan to go back.' It's not yet possible to gauge how many fans agree. The Phoenix Open stopped announcing attendance figures in 2019. 'We do not share ticket sales figures or make attendance comparisons to previous years,' he wrote in an email. 'With that said, we do reiterate our 'Better Not Bigger' approach to the tournament for 2025 and look forward to welcoming golf's greatest fans for a world-class experience,' Mooney said. Professional golfers such as Billy Horschel began questioning last year whether they would return to the Phoenix Open as drunken fans disrupted their game and heckled the athletes. 'It's been talked about amongst players about, if this would continue to escalate over the next few years, you could see players not want to come here,' Horschel told The Republic in 2024. 'That's an unfortunate situation.' But the chaos of 2024 hasn't kept top golfers from signing up to play in the 2025 tournament. Horschel himself is already booked to play this year, according to Mooney, who named about a half-dozen golfers who have signed up early to play in 2025. 'The players and the PGA Tour have been great to work with, and we have received positive feedback about our plans for 2025,' Mooney told The Republic. Our early commitments include defending champ Nick Taylor, two-time WM Phoenix Open winner Hideki Matsuyama, Wyndham Clark, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth (and) Billy Horschel.' Mooney added that there are 'many others to be announced soon.' What will be different about the Phoenix Open this year? One of the biggest changes this year will be the addition of a second entrance to the course near the 18th hole, on Greenway Hayden Loop, just south of the original. Historically, there's been only one way to enter the course, which contributed to dangerous crowd congestion in 2024. There will also be numerous changes in ticketing. Specifically, they include: No more physical tickets. All will be digital. Third-party vendors like Vivid Seats and StubHub will no longer sell tickets. They can now only be bought on the WM Phoenix Open website. No more 'good-any-day' tickets, the passes that could be used anytime during tournament week. The Open will only sell passes for specific days. And there will be a slew of changes made inside TPC Scottsdale for the 2025 WM Phoenix Open. They include: Walkways on the course will be twice as wide. The slimmer walkways jammed up when the 2024 event became crowded. A redesigned Taylor Morrison Fairway House at the 12th hole. It will include "more accessible viewing areas, along with expanded space for upgraded concessions." Changes at the Desert Oasis BBQ and Beer Garden near the seventh hole that event runners say will provide fans with elevated views of multiple holes. 'Every year, (the tournament runners) review the previous tournament and look for ways to improve," Mooney said.
