COURSE: Riviera Country Club, 7,349 yards, par 71. Nestled in the rolling hills just outside Los Angeles, Riviera opened in 1927 and remains one of the best at requiring a player to use every club in his bag. Designer George Thomas labored over 15 possible layouts before deciding on one that includes some of the TOUR’s most iconic holes. The par-3 sixth is famed for its bunker in the middle of the green, and No.10 may be the best drivable par-4 in golf. The Los Angeles Open first arrived in 1929, and Ben Hogan’s three wins in an 18-month span – two L.A. Opens and the 1948 U.S. Open – earned Riviera the nickname “Hogan’s Alley.”eventually tying for seventh.
• 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Lanny Wadkins (1985).
• 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, George Archer (3rd round, 1983 at Rancho Park GC), Ted Tryba (3rd round, 1999 at Riviera CC).
• LAST YEAR: Watson ended a 22-month winless drought by shooting 64-64 on the weekend, going from four shots off the lead entering the final day to a two-shot victory. The lefty needed just six holes to make up the deficit, pushing in front with a birdie at No.8 on the way to a front-nine 30. He wound up going the final 39 holes without a bogey, turning in the lowest closing round by a winner in 28 years. It was his first victory since the 2012 Masters, a span of 41 starts that included a runner-up in Phoenix two weeks earlier, done in by two late bogeys. Dustin Johnson (66) took runner-up honors for the second consecutive week.
• STORYLINES: The West Coast Swing wraps up with 10 of the 2014-15 season’s winners thus far in the lineup, as the TOUR still awaits its first multiple champion. Just once in the past 10 years has the schedule gone 14 events without a two-time winner – 2012, when Hunter Mahan won his second in the 15th stop. … The top 50 in the world rankings after Riviera will officially lock up berths for the WGC-Cadillac Championship two weeks hence. Among those trying to hang on above that cut line: Luke Donald and J.B. Holmes. … TOUR rookie Carlos Sainz Jr. will play on the Northern Trust Exemption created to promote diversity. Sainz, who grew up in Chicago, is of Filipino and Peruvian descent.
• SHORT CHIPS: Pat Perez is set to tee it up in his 49th consecutive West Coast Swing event for which he has been eligible, a streak going all the way back to 2008. He sat out the Bob Hope Classic that year – an event he won 12 months later. … With Phil Mickelson sitting out for his kids’ spring break, he’ll finish without a West Coast win for the second consecutive year. ... Riviera is the only PGA TOUR venue Tiger Woods has played at least five times without a victory. Woods made 11 attempts, including two as an amateur, but hasn’t entered since 2006.
