Loudest Hole In Golf Gets A Warning

Is Tiger Woods trying to control the crowd at TPC Scottsdale?

The TPC Scottsdale is home to the Waste Management Phoenix Open, a tournament that has embraced its reputation as the most raucous on the PGA Tour schedule.

The stadium 16th hole has become legendary for its atmosphere. Known as "the loudest hole in golf," a name it more than lives up to, the par-3, 16th will have 20,000 spectators camped out to watch. In recent years, players have catered to the crowd and become instant legends (check out the video of Phil Mickelson throwing footballs and Bubba Watson tossing out free Oakley sunglasses).

But this year, when the tournament will be held in Arizona in the same week the Super Bowl comes to town, the option of tossing things to the throng has been eliminated. A sign has been posted at this week's Tour event in Hawaii informing players there will be no sharing (I would LOVE to know who wrote the "Are you kidding me?" on top).

TPC sign

A similar warning will be placed in the locker room at the TPC Scottsdale. Now, this has never been a problem before. In fact, the tournament kind of enjoys its reputation and outlaw vibe.

However, this year Tiger Woods is in the field. Tiger has not played in the desert since 2001, when an orange came flying out of the crowd near where Woods was playing. That was the event that kept him from coming back. He probably never would have returned, but injuries and ineffectiveness have pushed Tiger to 38th in the world rankings.

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Only the top 50 get to play in most of the lucrative WGC events, so Woods needs to get some tournaments under his belt to beef up his resume and stay in the field at places like Doral, where he's had a boatload of success.

Now, what do you suppose the odds are that Woods put in a call to the folks in Phoenix and not-so-subtly suggested they find a way to keep the gallery under control?

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