Tiger gives tourney a boost in prestige
With a past linked to Ben Hogan and a future closely tied to Tiger Woods, things look bright at Riviera Country Club. Other than the weather. On a cool and rainy Wednesday in Southern California, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced that beginning next year, the Genesis Open hosted by Woods will become an invitational, putting it on the same level as tournaments tied to Jack Nicklaus and the late Arnold Palmer.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have won those two events,” Woods said Wednesday of the Memorial and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. “For me, it’s been so special to be able to walk off those greens and see those two gentlemen there, and to be able to have this event in that same breath as the two guys that I looked up to my entire playing career. It’s just very special.”
With the elevated status, the tournament’s 2020 field will shrink from 144 to 120, the total purse will increase to US$9.3 million from $7.4 million, and the winner will receive a three-year PGA Tour exemption rather than the two-year exemption awarded most weeks.
“Just like Jack and Arnie, who did so much for the game in their eras, Tiger has done so much for the game in his,” said Canadian Adam Hadwin Wednesday of the announcement. “He brought so many people into the sport that wouldn’t otherwise be interested in the game, and he brought a lot of eyes to what we do. Good for him, he’s done a lot of great work outside of the golf course too with his foundation, so it’s exciting.”
Unlike Hogan, whose name became synonymous with Riviera after amazingly winning three times here over a twoyear span (1947, ’48 Los Angeles Opens and ’48 U.S. Open), Woods is yet to pick up the winner’s trophy at this storied course. The 14-time major champion was born in nearby Cypress, Calif., and made his PGA Tour debut at this tournament in 1992 as a 16-year-old amateur when it was known as the Nissan Los Angeles Open. Twenty-seven years later he hopes to finally conquer it.
“There’s no secret to this golf course,” Woods said. “It’s right in front of you, but it’s hard.”