Although the stakes of performing well this week at the Genesis Open are not higher than any normal week on the PGA Tour, the drama has definitely turned up in the early stages! With Tiger Woods announcing his withdraw from both this week’s tournament and next week’s Honda Classic, the golfing world has been turned on its head. . . again. As for the other players that frequent this blog, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Jason Day, and Dustin Johnson, they are on cruse control until the Masters in early April. Here we go!
Our tournament this week is set at the historic and beautiful Riviera Country Club located just outside Los Angeles, CA. Played since 1926, this tournament is extremely rich in history. Just to name a few highlights through the years, the Genesis Open has seen:
- 1938: “Babe” Zaharias became the first woman to play in a PGA TOUR event.
- 1952: Joe Louis became the first African-American to compete in a PGA TOUR event.
- 1962: Jack Nicklaus won his first professional paycheck, earning $33.33.
- 1969: Charlie Sifford, the first African-American member of the PGA TOUR, won the tournament.
- 1992: Tiger Woods played in his first PGA TOUR event as an amateur at the age of 16.
With such a exciting track record, its no wonder why a great tournament such as this brings the best in the world year after year.
On another note. . . Tiger Woods. Oh man, what a crazy year its been for him already. Just as a recap, Tiger has had to undergo three back surgeries over the past five years with his last occurring at the end of the 2015 season. With this being his third in just a few years, Tiger made it a goal of his to not return to competition until he was completely health and ready to win again.
So fast forward to this January when Tiger made his latest return at the Farmer’s Insurance Open. He failed to make the cut, but he didn’t play that bad, and he was scheduled to play four more events before March. Everyone, including myself was still pretty excited until two weeks ago when Tiger had to withdraw from a tournament in Abu Dhabi due to back spasms. Here we go again! So now all the golf people are trying desperately to make something out of what is going to happen now. Retirement? Fourth comeback? Who knows. All we can say is get well soon Tiger.
Moving back to this week, Jordan Spieth is coming off of his first win of the season at last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and is looking to continue his good play at Riviera, a course that seems to really fit his game. Number three in the world, Dustin Johnson is looking to also bounce off of a good week at Pebble Beach and play well here. This may prove difficult for DJ considering the accuracy required to win at Riviera. As for Jason Day, the world’s number one player, the season has started off quite slow, but again, a strong performance last week could propel him to greatness.
The weekend at Riviera is sure to be a treat! Even if you don’t usually watch golf, this week is a great time to flip the tournament on and watch.
One thought on “Genesis Open, Pacific Palisades, CA (February 16-19)”
Patrick, this is a great blog post. Your passion and excitement for golf is highlighted in your writing, and your golf knowledge is very impressive. Furthermore, you have an ability to explain the PGA tour with such clarity, that even someone with limited grasp on golf concepts (like myself) can understand your ideas. Well-done.
As a side note, I’m also writing a sports blog – mine is about advanced statistics in basketball – so I have a particular appreciation for all things sports.
Admittedly, I don’t have any experience with golf, but I’m trying to learn more about the game. Last summer, my friend and I got tickets to watch day 2 of the US Open in Pittsburgh and I really enjoyed myself. Golf is such a strategic, cerebral game, and I hope to have the opportunity to play it in the future.
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