Which athletes from Arizona are the most well-known in 2023?
In recent decades, Arizona has emerged as a breeding ground for many professional sports stars, thanks in large part to major metropolitan areas such as Phoenix and Tucson. This has played a key role in bolstering the success of sports betting in Arizona.
Arizona is home to a plethora of athletic talent, boasting notable figures like Phil Mickelson in golf and a lineup of celebrities from MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL.
Yengols.com utilized data from AhRefs.com Keywords Explorer and Google Trends to uncover the most well-known Arizona athletes of the previous year. By combining information from both sources, the website created a list of the Top 10 athletes, with rankings determined by averaging the results. An Arizona athlete was defined as an individual who spent a minimum of 10 years in Arizona during their formative childhood and teenage years, either through birth or upbringing.
Top Athletes from Arizona in 2023
BetMGM Sportsbook Arizona has Mickelson listed at odds of +15000 to win the British Open, taking place at Royal Liverpool Golf Course from July 20-23.
Mickelson rises to the top of the list due to the controversy surrounding LIV.
In the state of Arizona, Phil Mickelson, a six-time major champion, is the most searched athlete with 341,000 searches, greatly exceeding the second-ranked athlete, Brock Purdy, who had 214,000 searches.
Phil Mickelson, a former golfer at Arizona State University and a native of Scottsdale, has a deep connection to Arizona. He earned his first professional victory in Tucson at the former Northern Telecom Open and is a frequent participant in the Waste Management Phoenix Open every February.
Mickelson’s move from the PGA Tour to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour last year caused a lot of controversy. Now, with the PGA and LIV merging, Mickelson’s next steps are unclear.
Purdy made the journey from Perry High School in Gilbert to Iowa State, and eventually landed with the San Francisco 49ers. He was chosen as the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, earning him the nickname “Mr. Irrelevant” for that year.
The Queen Creek native, a rookie selected as the 262nd pick in the draft, quickly proved his worth by leading the 49ers to an impressive 5-0 record in the regular season. He guided the team to the NFC Championship Game, where they unfortunately fell to the Philadelphia Eagles with a final score of 31-7.
Purdy’s 49ers are currently tied for fourth place on Arizona sportsbook apps with +900 odds to win the Super Bowl.
Other Arizona celebrity athletes included in the list are Auston Matthews, a prominent forward in the NHL from Scottsdale (192,000 search volume), Cody Bellinger, a former NL MVP from Chandler (176,000 search volume), and Ryan Fitzpatrick, a seasoned NFL quarterback from Gilbert (111,000 search volume).
Author
Peterson Christopher has transitioned from covering sports and sports betting in Arizona for over seven years at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly, and the Green Valley News to becoming the lead writer at yengols.com.
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