Riviera's 'horrible change'
Changes to the par-3 fourth hole at Riviera Country Club caught the ire of Rory McIlroy — but before a week's worth of data has been collected.
Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Ben Crenshaw are just a few of the players who have won multiple major titles and played many of the world’s iconic venues. And those experiences and knowledge are reflected in the courses they have built worldwide.
Rory McIlroy, now a career Grand Slam winner, has not followed in the footsteps of major winners who became course designers, but that also has not stopped him from having an opinion on golf course architecture.
At this week’s Genesis Invitational, which returned to Riviera Country Club after relocating in 2025 due to the Pacific Palisades fires, McIlroy took aim at the quirky par-3 fourth hole.
For years, the 236-yard hole was one of the most difficult par 3s in the world and annually played over par when the PGA Tour visited. While hard, the fourth was not unfair.
