Q&A with WM Phoenix Open 2025 Tournament Chairman Matt Mooney

By Tom Mackin | photo by Mirelle InglefieldThe day after Matt Mooney and his wife, Anna, moved to Phoenix from their native Mississippi in 2006, they attended their first-ever WM Phoenix Open – on a Saturday, no less. “It far exceeded my expectations,” he says, recalling the energetic atmosphere and lively crowd. A decade later, the real estate investment executive joined the Phoenix Thunderbirds, the fraternal organization that stages the tournament, and this year finds himself running the whole shebang as tournament chairman. It’s a fitting job for the father of three – after all, he’s a pretty decent golfer himself, having played for Mississippi State University as an undergrad.

It’s got to be the 16th hole. I mean, just the marketing impact of that hole, and the fact that it’s become an international bucket-list item, and not just even for golfers, but for sports fans. That is pretty incredible. Take the bleachers down, and it’s a little 160-yard par 3 that looks fairly nondescript. Then you get into tournament week and the value of that one hole goes up pretty exponentially. 

There are two. We’re adding an additional entrance off of Greenway-Hayden [Loop] near Frank Lloyd Wright [Boulevard]. That is going to be helpful during those really busy times, particularly on Friday and Saturday. We’ve also made all of our general admission tickets electronic. By going fully digital, it’s going to give us the ability to be more efficient at our entrances and also be able to track our fans and use that data effectively going forward to make sure that we’re constantly making improvements to the fan experience.

I’m going to say probably 10 times a day. You certainly would think that the law of averages has to be in our favor after last year! You’re in real estate. What’s the most valuable piece of land at TPC Scottsdale during the tournament?

Given the weather’s impact on the tournament last year, how often will you be checking the forecast on your phone this year?

Well, my lowest round ever was 63 and I shot that when I was 20 years old, a long time ago. But if I played the course on Saturday during the tournament, I don’t think there’s any way I break 80.