Published April 2018
Bubba Watson wins in a tear
Ben Hogan, same chance of winning as Lloyd Mangrum
welcome with excitement and joy
Official tour match in February every year
Every year in February, we welcome this month with a pleasant sense of tension and overflowing joy.
That's because the group's flagship, The Riviera Country Club (RCC) in Los Angeles, USA, hosts official USPGA (Professional Golf Association) tour matches. It is the pride of RCC and the ultimate joy for the Riviera Group that we continue to be a part of this tournament where the world's best athletes compete for supremacy.
The Genesis Open has a strong field of players this year as well, including defending champion Dustin Johnson, who maintains his world No. European Tour overall champion Tommy Fleetwood and two-time European Tour winner Kiri were also in attendance.
made the tournament exciting
Tiger Woods' participation
The topic of this tournament is, of course, Tiger Woods' appearance for the first time in 2006 years since 12. RCC is also where Yuiger made his first appearance on the PGA Tour. "Nissan Open" held in 1992. His sensational debut at the age of 15 at the time is a vivid memory for us at Riviera.
Since then, Tiger has achieved the name of superstar, but for some reason he has yet to win the RCC. Throughout its 90-year history, RCC has many legendary stories, but ``that course that Tiger Woods is not good at'' is also a piece of RCC trivia.
Tiger's participation after making a comeback from injury really made this tournament a big hit. The gallery was packed with people waiting to see the Tiger, and it was as crowded as it was on the final day of the preliminaries. Unfortunately, he did not make it through the qualifying round, but Tiger Woods is still a huge presence in the golf world. We can't help but hope for Tiger's victory at RCC.
①The 18th green watched by a large gallery
② Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, and Tiger Woods played in the same group on the first day.
③ Winner Bubba Watson ④ Maintenance staff who have been involved in this tournament 40 times
⑤ Autographs of past winners lined up
⑥Professional Shigeki Maruyama becomes NHK round reporter for the first time. Since he has participated in this tournament at RCC 14 times, his report from the player's perspective was truly impressive.
⑦ Before the tournament, 80 people perform maintenance
displayed in a museum
list of greats
This year's winner is Bubba Watson. In a crowded field where the top teams were rapidly changing, Watson was moved to tears after sinking the winning putt. Watson was at one point on the verge of retiring due to his health, but this victory was his first in two years and his 2th in total. What is noteworthy is that three of those wins were at RCC. In the past, only two players have won three races at RCC: Hall of Famer Lloyd Mangrum and Ben Hogan. It was the first such feat in 100 years.
At RCC, renovation work to turn the entire clubhouse into a museum is nearing completion, and Bubba Watson's name will be engraved alongside other legends on the ``List of Great Men'' that will be displayed at the museum.
Once again this year, we were able to witness the moment when a new legend was born.
Meet the next legend
Efforts made for this purpose
Rory McIlroy, who participated in the series consecutively, described the RCC as a ``thinker's course,'' meaning ``a course that requires mental strategy that cannot be defeated by brute force,'' and Padraig Harrington said, ``I'll definitely try Riviera once because it's a learning experience.'' He is said to have persuaded the young players, ``You should appear in the competition.''
In order to live up to this reputation and maintain the quality of the course as a tournament hosting course that produces high-level battles, a high level of course maintenance is required.
Each year's competition is a series of new challenges for us. We will continue to make efforts.
To witness the next legend.
