The famous par 3 16th hole at the Tournament Players Club in Scottsdale became a colosseum of Kobe Bryant chants on Thursday as players at the Waste Management Phoenix Open paid tribute to the late basketball star, who tragically passed away in a helicopter crash last Sunday, writes ANDRE HUISAMEN.
Justin Thomas, Max Homa and Tony Finau all donned basketball jerseys in tribute of Bryant.
Thomas wore a high school shirt of the five-time NBA champion, while both Homa and Finau rocked LA Lakers jerseys as they made their way across the 16th in-front thousands of fans.
The echoes of ‘Kobe, Kobe, Kobe’ sparked extra motivation into the players with all three of them encouraging the noisy crowd to go louder.
Hopefully more of that will be seen over the course of the weekend.
?? @JustinThomas34 played the 16th in Kobe Bryant’s high school jersey @WMPhoenixOpen. pic.twitter.com/kaggwqInXp
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 30, 2020
More Kobe love from @MaxHoma23, @JustinThomas34 and the fans on No. 16. pic.twitter.com/c4LvvJB4SD
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 30, 2020
❤️ @TonyFinauGolf plays the 16th hole in Kobe Bryant’s Lakers jersey. ?? pic.twitter.com/VAxsNMtOza
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 30, 2020
Mamba Mentality ?? pic.twitter.com/lAlSGXazVh
— Tony Finau Golf (@tonyfinaugolf) January 31, 2020
Christian Petersen/Getty Images
