Golf fans from around the world know the Waste Management Phoenix Open for its host course, TPC Scottsdale, and the infamous par-3 16th hole.
Nearly 20,000 fans gather at the 16th hole each day of tournament week to watch the best golfers in the world take on an otherwise-benign par 3 by PGA Tour standards. However, the threat of 20,000 people booing you after missing the green, or the promise of 20,000 people lavishing praise on you with a great shot, makes the hole a different animal.
On nine occasions, a player has hit the greatest possible shot at the par-3 16th at TPC Scottsdale, making a hole-in-one there during the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Hal Sutton made the first ace there in the third round in 1988, and Francesco Molinari was the last to do it in 2015 during the third round.
Tiger Woods had the most unforgettable hole-in-one on the hole in 1997.
TPC Scottsdale and the Waste Management Phoenix Open decided to honor those nine players with a monument behind the tee at the 16th hole. Erected in 2019, the monument is a metal sculpture, along with a plaque listing the names of the players to make a hole-in-one during the competition.
The metal sculpture itself is shaped to look like the par-3 16th seems from above during tournament week, with all of the grandstands and skyboxes surrounding the hole.
Several spots are left open on the monument for if and when someone makes the next hole-in-one there.
