FROM SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. While a golf tournament can't compete with the Super Bowl in the flash and hype departments, it can still draw big numbers. The 83rd annual FBR Open kicked off last Monday at the Tournament Players Club in Scottsdale as the hoopla around the Super Bowl started nearby. The open, one of the city's largest annual events, went on to garner a record-breaking attendance of 538,356 people, this despite chilly temps and rain. According to The Arizona Republic, Saturday's number alone (170,802) marked the largest group ever to gather for a golf tournament in PGA history.
Many media outlets are attributing the tournament's spike in attendance to the Super Bowl. Whatever the reason, the temporary population influx led to many a local traffic jam. The PGA hosted the Birds Nest (its version of an outdoor nightclub-esque party) nightly for thousands of post-tourney fans. Located on 82nd Street and Bell Road, the event ran till 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, resulting in thousands of people leaving just as Super Bowlers were headed to the nightly corporate parties.Corporate-sponsored tents abounded at the tournament, with most gathered in a horseshoe shape around the 16th hole, long known as the FBR's most raucous. When we stopped by the Salt River Project's sprawling bilevel tent on Friday to check out the scene, Tom Lehman missed a hole-in-one by several inches, prompting a two-minute standing ovation from the tens of thousands of fans who witnessed it.
Many media outlets are attributing the tournament's spike in attendance to the Super Bowl. Whatever the reason, the temporary population influx led to many a local traffic jam. The PGA hosted the Birds Nest (its version of an outdoor nightclub-esque party) nightly for thousands of post-tourney fans. Located on 82nd Street and Bell Road, the event ran till 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, resulting in thousands of people leaving just as Super Bowlers were headed to the nightly corporate parties.Corporate-sponsored tents abounded at the tournament, with most gathered in a horseshoe shape around the 16th hole, long known as the FBR's most raucous. When we stopped by the Salt River Project's sprawling bilevel tent on Friday to check out the scene, Tom Lehman missed a hole-in-one by several inches, prompting a two-minute standing ovation from the tens of thousands of fans who witnessed it.
