Genesis Open Tees Off

PGA Tour’s Best Players Put Riviera’s Historic Course to the Test This Week  

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

It’s that time of year again—time for the golf world to turn its attention to the historic course off Capri Drive for one of the PGA Tour’s premiere events.

This week, Riviera Country Club is once again playing host to the Genesis Open, which starts today and, barring inclement weather, concludes Sunday.

There are many intriguing storylines leading into the 2018 edition of the L.A. area tour stop, not the least of which is whether Dustin Johnson can defend his title – a feat accomplished only seven times in the 92-year history of the tournament.

First played in 1926 and then  called the Los Angeles Open, it is the tour’s fourth-oldest event outside of the majors.

Riviera, which was given the monniker “Hogan’s Alley” after the legendary Ben Hogan won there three times in the 1940s, is hosting the event for the 56th time (all but two times since 1973) and grounds crews have been hard at work for over a month preparing the greens and fairways for the wear and tear of a week’s worth of championship-level golf.

A testament to the challenge Riviera presents to even the most accomplished golfers is how 14-time major winner Tiger Woods, the best player of this generation, has fared. He has never won here in 10 tries (twice as an amateur and eight as a professional), making it the only PGA event he has played at least three times without winning. Woods, whose  TGR Live is hosting the tournament for the second straight year, is playing the event for the first time since 2006 when he withdrew after shooting rounds of 69 and 74. Rory Sabbatini won that year at 13-under par.

The purse is $7.2 million—the winner pocketing nearly $1.3 million and 500 FedExCup points.

One of the sport’s most unique and famous holes, the Par 4, 475-yard 18th at Riviera spells doom for even the most accomplished players and it’s at that storied green nestled below the clubhouse where the championship is often won or lost on Sunday afternoon.

Scottie Scheffler of Texas won the Collegiate Showcase on  Monday to earn the last spot.

Gates open at 6 a.m. today and tommorrow and at 7:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. The first two rounds will be broadcast live on the Golf Channel and the last two rounds will be on CBS (1-4 p.m. Saturday and 12-3:30 p.m. Sunday).

Guests are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance online. For offers including youth, student, veteran and complimentary military tickets, visit GenesisOpen.com/tickets. Shuttles run 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and tomorrow and 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday from downtown Santa Monica to Riviera. The pick-up and drop-off location is on Wilshire Boulevard between Second and Third Streets. The shuttle will drop guests at the tournament’s main entrance on Longworth Drive.

Parking is available in downtown Santa Monica structures S1-S8. Uber riders will be dropped off/picked up at 1450 Allenford Avenue.