The WM Phoenix Open is one of the premier events on the PGA Tour and the tournament that officially begins on Thursday is being led this year by Brookhaven native Matt Mooney.

Mooney is a member of The Thunderbirds, a civic organization that puts the tournament on in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mooney rose to the position of 2025 Tournament Chairman after serving as the Assistant Chairman last year.

The son of Dr. Spencer and Janie Mooney, Matt played golf at Copiah-Lincoln CC and Mississippi State during his college days. In 2022, he was inducted into the Co-Lin Sports Hall of Fame.

It was at Co-Lin where Mooney started dating his wife, the former Anna Gatlin, also from Brookhaven.

Matt and Anna are the parents of three children, Connor, Kathryn, and Cullen. The Mooneys moved to Phoenix in 2006 and Matt has been a Thunderbird since 2016.

Mooney is the Chief Operating Officer of Parkway Property Investment in his day job.

For the last year though, Mooney has been juggling his own career with the demands of making sure the 2025 WM Phoenix Open goes off without a hitch.

The 2024 edition of the tournament was a memorable one, with huge crowds that slipped and slid in mud that came after a rare desert deluge during the week.

The event is known for the rowdy crowds that make it the “People’s Open,” but gates were closed at one point in 2024 to relieve the crush of humanity that packed the course.

Mooney and his Thunderbird cohorts have been working to make sure the thing they can improve, weather notwithstanding, make for an even better event in 2025.

They’ve opened an entrance near the 18th hole at TPC Scottsdale, which will improve the flow of spectators into the course. The prized location to watch a round is at the Par 3, 16th hole, which has a grandstand surrounding it to create a stadium effect which is unique in golf to this event and course.

In his leadership position, Mooney has been making the rounds with local and national media outlets to tout a WM Phoenix Open field that will play for a combined 9 million dollar purse. Opening rounds will be broadcast on the Golf Network, with Saturday and Sunday being shown on CBS.