Tiger Woods tees off on the 10th hole at Riviera during the third round of the 2019 Genesis Invitational. | Photo by Keyur Khamar/PGA Tour
Riviera Country Club is one of the most iconic courses in the world and Tiger Woods is a playing host this year.
Simply put, Riviera Country Club is one of the most spectacular golf courses in the world.
Currently ranked 18th among Golf Digest’s Top 100 Courses in America, Riviera hosts the Genesis Invitational annually and has been the site of numerous major championships. The U.S. Open returns in 2031, marking the course’s first national championship since 1948, when Ben Hogan triumphed.
The George C. Thomas-designed layout also hosted the PGA Championship in 1983 and 1995, won by Hal Sutton and Steve Elkington, respectively. The course will also host the 2028 Olympics.
Stretching out to 7,322 yards for the professionals, Riviera has bumpy, poa annua greens that seem to cause fits year in and year out.
Kaikuyu grows in both the fairway and the rough. This thick, grabby grass gives players optimal lies in the mown down fairway but causes havoc in the rough, often seizing control of a player’s club face, turning it over, and thus forcing errant shots.
Every hole at Riviera requires precision, accuracy, and strategy, but these holes stand out. Here are the four pivotal holes that will decide the winner this week:
Hole 4 – Par 3, 236 Yards
Photo by Paul Mounce/Getty Images
The 4th hole at Riviera.
The first par-3 at Riviera is an absolute beast, as it plays uphill, into the wind, and the green cannot be aimed at directly. Players must aim to the right of the deep bunker that guards the putting surface, as the adjacent canyon helps direct tee shots onto the green.
The green slopes severely from the front right to the back left, meaning the pin almost always sits in the back of the green. If players do not use the aforementioned slope and go right for the pin, their tee shots will bounce off the downslope and over the green, thus leaving a tricky up-and-down.
At last year’s Genesis Invitational, the fourth hole was the most challenging par-3, playing 0.226 strokes over par. Only two holes played tougher than this hole all week, the par-4 12th and the par-4 15th.
Knowing the par-5 1st hole is a terrific birdie opportunity, plenty of players will fall back to even par or worse after finishing the 4th hole. But any player who makes three here all four days will surely be satisfied and have a leg up on the field.
Perhaps that explains why Hogan called this the “Greatest par-3 hole in America.”
Hole 10 – Par 4, 315 Yards
Photo by Ben Jared/PGA Tour via Getty Images.
The 10th hole at Riviera as seen from a drone before the 2024 Genesis Invitational.
The back nine begins with an immediate decision: should we go for it or lay up?
The safest play is to take an iron off the tee and lay it up well short of the green on the left side of the fairway. That option leaves a perfect angle into this pencil-thin putting surface.
However, should a player decide to pull out a driver, they should hope their tee shot comes to rest to the left of the green. Anything that finds one of the sand traps, or any tee ball that flies over the green, brings about a precarious situation. Players will have difficulty finding the putting surface with their second shots simply because this green is so tiny, and the angles are so tricky. Going for the green brings a bogey—or worse—into play.
But that is the beauty of this par-4, often regarded as one of the best drivable holes in the world. Players can make an eagle if an excellent tee shot warrants an opportunity. And yet, plenty of pros drop a shot because they failed to execute the right strategy or put their tee shots in perilous places.
The 10th played as the fourth easiest hole last year at Riviera, yielding 106 birdies and two eagles. But seven double bogeys or worse were also recorded, tied for fourth most of any hole.
Hole 17 – Par 5, 590 Yards
Photo by Ben Jared/PGA Tour via Getty Images
Tiger Woods plays his shot from the 17th tee during a practice round ahead of the 2024 Genesis Invitational.
The longest hole on the property provides a player with a birdie opportunity if they avoid this hole’s array of bunkers.
Sand traps loom to the left and right of the fairway, meaning accuracy off the tee is paramount.
This hole also plays drastically uphill, meaning only the longest hitters can find the putting surface in two. Although, with Southern California receiving so much rain in recent weeks, the soft conditions make this hole even longer—meaning the biggest of bombers will struggle to get home in two shots.
Consequently, a player’s second shot here is paramount. They must dodge the bunkers on the fairway’s left side, roughly 150 yards from the green. The two sand traps about 50 yards short of the putting surface must also be avoided.
The small green is well protected by a large sandtrap to its right, which swallows up plenty of mishits. It also proves to be a difficult up-and-down.
The 17th was the third easiest hole a year ago, playing 0.305 under par. It gave up five eagles and 140 birdies overall.
Hole 18 – Par 4, 475 Yards
Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Getty Images
The 18th hole at Riviera during the 2022 Genesis Invitational.
A round at majestic Riviera concludes with the gorgeous, uphill 18th, which doglegs from left to right and finishes in a natural amphitheater beneath the clubhouse.
The player faces a blind tee shot as the fairway slopes from left to right, echoing the slope of the canyon it sits beside. Big, tall trees sit to the right of the fairway, and any shot missed in that direction leads to real trouble.
Nevertheless, should a player find the short grass, they still face a challenging approach into an uphill, tiny green with trouble all around.
A miss to the left leaves the player with a downhill chip shot off the sidehill onto a green sloping away from them.
On the flip side, a miss to the right leaves a problematic up-and-down as a player’s ball can ricochet in any direction.
Hence, finding the green in regulation is paramount.
In 2023, the 18th finished as the 6th hardest hole, playing 0.103 shots above par. Seventy-three bogeys were recorded to 39 birdies, so whoever can finish their round on a high note at Riviera will have an advantage over everyone else.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
