Can the No. 1 ranking in the men’s golf world change? The pursuit of the confident first place and the second or third place to steal it is expected to heat up the ‘golf liberation zone’ even more.

The WM Phoenix Open (total prize money of 20 million dollars), a special event on the PGA Tour, opens on the 10th (Korean time) at TPC Scottsdale (par 71) in Arizona, USA. The Phoenix Open, the second of the 17 special events, is the first among PGA Tour events held every year, in which all the top three players in the world rankings participate. Among the top 20 players, 18 players, excluding 4th ranked Cameron Smith (Australia) and 8th ranked Will Jaratoris (USA), who are playing at the LIV Golf Invitational, are fierce enough to compete.

There is another factor that will warm up the atmosphere as hot as a major tournament. This is because, depending on the performance, Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland)’s 1st place, as well as 2nd place Scotty Scheffler (USA) and 3rd place Jon Rahm (Spain)’s 1st place recapture is possible. Nosferatu, a social media site specializing in golf world ranking statistics, predicted that McIlroy would be able to keep the world No. 1 if he tied for second place or higher at the Phoenix Open. Schaeffler and Ram predicted that although it was a little more complicated than McIlroy, there was a possibility of returning to first place in the event of a win or runner-up.

McIlroy has maintained his position as the best player in men’s golf ever since winning the CJ Cup in October of last year and rising to No. 1 in the world rankings. At the press conference held on the 9th, after answering “yes” without hesitation to the question “Do you consider yourself the best player in the world?”, “I am doing well now. I am playing a consistent game. He expressed strong confidence, saying, “Now is the best time in my entire golf life.” “If you look at my record, I can’t find any weaknesses. The results of maintaining good performance over the past 18 months speak for themselves.”

After winning the CJ Cup, McIlroy is continuing a good trend by winning the DP World Tour Hero Dubai Desert Classic, the previous tournament. Schaeffler, the challenger, has the advantage of having risen to No. 1 in the world rankings after winning her first win on the PGA Tour last year. “I don’t think being second in the world rankings means you’re second best at golf,” Schaeffler said. If possible, he wants to be number one in the world.” Ram, another challenger, is also in good spirits, winning two wins on the PGA Tour this year alone.

TPC Scottsdale, where the tournament is held, is most famous for the 16th hole (par 3) nicknamed the ‘Colosseum’. Hole 16, in the form of a three-story large stand, is a place where about 20,000 people can watch at the same time, and it is a symbolic place where cheers and booing pour in exceptionally for a player’s shot. The expression ‘golf liberation zone’ also came from here. 온라인바카라

The US media golf channel evaluated that the 16th hole is the symbolic hole of the course, but the 17th hole (par 4) will determine the winner. He cited the example of Sahis Tigala (USA), whose challenge for the championship was frustrated when his ball fell into a pond while trying to put a tee shot on the green at the short 17th hole of 332 yards last year. In fact, it was pointed out that several players fell victim to the pond on the 17th hole. According to the Golf Channel, 8,161 tee shots have been attempted by players on the 17th hole at TPC Scottsdale since the PGA Tour introduced Shot Link in 2003, which aggregates and analyzes players’ game content. Among them, 948 balls (11.6%) landed on the green and 685 balls (8.4%) fell into the pond.