Brendan Steele will tee it up this week in the $7.3-million Waste Management Phoenix Open on the TPC Scottsdale course in Scottsdale, Arizona.

In 10 seasons of play there, the Idyllwild native has posted six top-20s, including four top-10s, two of which were top-5s.

The TPC Scottsdale is a par-71 course with an iconic par-3 16th hole entirely enclosed from tee to green inside a nearly 20,000-seat, football-like stadium.
Boisterous fans are encouraged to cheer and shout the whole time the players are teeing off there, creating an enormous din that is just the opposite of what pro golfers are accustomed to while playing a shot.

It’s all in good fun and the players look forward to it as much as the fans. Many kegs of beer are normally consumed at the stadium hole.

Of course, because of COVID, the experience will be severely attenuated this year. Local health authorities are working with the tournament-organizing Thunderbirds, an offshoot of the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, to determine how many fans will be permitted at the 16th.

In the normal year of 2019, the one-week Phoenix Open raised a record $13.2 million for charities.

Brendan will tee off Thursday at 11:30 a.m. PST and Friday at 7:10 a.m. PST, playing both days with Matthew Wolff and Ryan Armour. Watch him on TV on the Golf Channel and NBC or follow him shot-for-shot on computer or cellphone at PGATour.com.