FBR Open preview

The PGA Tour heads for Scottsdale Arizona and the FBR Open where big-hitting JB Holmes defends a title he won in a playoff against Phil Mickelson.

FBR Open - 16th green
Fergus Bisset
By
published

Lowdown: The FBR Open in Scottsdale Arizona is famed for the huge crowds it attracts. In 2006 the FBR Open set a PGA Tour single day attendance record with over 168,000 fans on the Saturday. The event also holds the tournament week attendance record at 536,367. Many of the fans make their way to the stadium-style par 3 16th hole. When Tiger Woods made a hole-in-one here back in 1997, the roar of the crowd could be heard 10 miles away. The tournament was known as the Phoenix Open until Friedman Billings Ramsey (an investment bank) took over sponsorship in 2003. Over the years there have been some notable winners of the event – Arnold Palmer won three in a row in the early 1960s, Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller and Sandy Lyle have also lifted the title. Last year, big-hitting JB Holmes defeated the crowd favourite, Phil Mickelson, on the first hole of a sudden death playoff to win the title for a second time.

Preview: Dubai Desert Classic

Venue: TPC Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona Date: January 29 – Feb 1 Course stats: par 71, 7,216 yards Purse: $6,000,000 Winner: $1,080,000 Defending champion: JB Holmes (-14)

TV coverage: Thursday 29 – Live on Setanta Golf from 8pm Friday 30 – Live on Setanta Golf from 8pm Saturday 31 – Live on Setanta Golf from 8pm Sunday 1 – Live on Setanta Golf from 8pm

player watch: Phil Mickelson – The Arizona State alumni is the crowd’s favourite in this event. He won in 1996 and again in 2005. He’ll be looking to kick-start his season here. Zach Johnson – He’s one of the form players on the PGA Tour at the moment following victory in the Sony Open. Look out for him again this week. JB Holmes – It’s difficult to discount the monster-hitting Kentuckian. He won in 2006 and again last year – the course clearly suits his game.

Key hole: 11th. The 469 yard par 4 ranked as the most difficult on the course in the 2008 tournament. There’s a lake along the entire left hand side of the hole and a huge bunker protects the front of the green. The average score on this hole in 2008 was 4.2. Skills required: Concentration. With the huge throngs of boisterous fans swarming along the edges of the fairways it’s easy to become distracted. The man who wins will either harness the crowd’s energy or have his blinkers firmly secured.

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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