Final Follow Up On Riviera's 10th: "Fun to watch. Tough to play."

I know, I know, you're in full Bear Trap mode. But before we move to four weeks of Florida golf, a few last things to consider about the much-discussed and dare I say beleaguered 10th at Riviera.

On Morning Drive we discussed the reaction from those who watched the CBS telecast and the criticisms of their announce team, and as I tried to explain, there was a combination of dry conditions, excessive green speed and the tacky changes by the Fazio design team to help Riviera not get a U.S. Open. The perfect storm exaggerated certain misfortunes. Sadly, the hole's reputation seems to have taken a bit of a hit, but don't blame George Thomas and Billy Bell.

In his weekly notes column, AP's Doug Ferguson tackled the question, quoted Ryo Ishikawa (see headline above) and talked to Riviera superintendent Matt Morton.

With all the chatter about so much sand from so many bunker shots building up the green, Morton said the real culprit was a long drought creating firm conditions.

"The main difference is three firm years in a row," he said. "During the Northern Trust Open, it's usually wet and you deal with rain. We're in a drought. You're seeing three years of dry, firm conditions. We've been able to showcase the hole the way members play in the summer."

It began to rain heavily on the back nine Sunday, and when Dustin Johnson and James Hahn reached the 10th hole in the playoff (the second extra hole), it helped slightly to be able to get their flop shots on the green. That said, they were flop shots of the highest quality.

They were indeed. Softer conditions helped, but some mighty young nerves also held up.To confirm that things were a tad silly for a 311-yard hole, here are the day-by-day scoring averages, hole locations and green-in-regulation percentages.

Thursday (back left): 4.201 47%
Friday (middle left): 4.007  60%
Saturday (middle front): 3.880  43%
Sunday (back left): 4.227  57%

All rounds: 4.087 52%

Note that the easiest of the hole locations on Saturday and the one most unprotected by bunkers but also most tempting to players, had the lowest green in regulation percentage.

Fan To James Hahn Before NoTrust Open Playoff: "It's Dustin Johnson, Paul Casey and some other guy."

The golf knowledge of last week's Northern Trust Open fans left a lot to be desired. Pretty much any shot not holed from the fairway earned a light applause (at best), even if it was to three feet on the 240-yard fourth.

Sadly the tournament had nice momentum fan-wise until this year, when fewer everyman's promotions and light local advertising/non-existent local television coverage combined with LA's viewing Super Bowl (the Oscars) to sport tiny crowds. And all at the best spectator viewing course on the PGA Tour. Such a waste, especially with the antics that true golf fans would have found so appealing Sunday.

Either way, the ignorance did have its benefits, as noted by Bill Dwyre in his LA Times wrap of the event. Before the fan ignorance part, there was also this from Hahn, a breath of fresh air who moved from 297th in the world to 86th:

After college, he couldn't make it in golf. So, much of 2006, he sold shoes at Nordstrom in Walnut Creek and Pleasanton.

"I was pretty good at it," he said. "Sold a lot."

He was asked if he is a shoe guy.

"I don't think we can afford Nordstom's," he said. "We are more Foot Locker kind of people."

And there was this from Hahn about his post-round autograph signing and question to a fan, noted by Dwyre and the PGA Tour's DJ Piehowski, and Instagrammed by the tour(!):

A video posted by PGA TOUR (@pgatour) on Feb 23, 2015 at 8:06am PST

Though Hahn's trophy ceremony speech isn't available, AP's Mark Terrill captured a tremendous image (embedded above) to capture the fun that witnesses said was evident.

Golf Central aired this from the post round presser:

James Hahn Salvages The 2015 NoTrust-A-Lead Open

Riviera was tough. Major tough. The firm greens almost reached 13 feet on the Stimpmeter after morning mowings. The poa was turning grey. The old girl required intense precision like never before.

Granted, some of the 2015 Northern Trust Open difficulty came from contrived elements. The fairway widths were down to nothing, with a few laugh-out-loud-to the naked eye landing areas (1, 3, 5, 8, 12, 15, 17, 18), no doubt the club's desperate last attempt to compensate for not getting the U.S. Open it so wanted and won't get by presenting bacon strip fairways.

That said, the rough surrounding those fairways was entirely manageable and rarely the hack-out stuff we saw at Torrey Pines a few weeks ago. But with all sorts of elite and rising players fighting for the lead and a chance at history, the same story of late emerged: elite players unable to hold leads. Or even elite players unable to make 5 on par-5s from the fairway...with a wedge for their third shots.

There is no nice way to encapsulate the 2015 Northern Trust Open antics as anything but a mix of choking and punitive defensive golf wearing the lads down. After three days of defensive golf, names like Garcia, Goosen, Furyk, Singh, Cabrera, Spieth, etc... flirted with taking command but ultimately fell victim to the many perils of Riviera's setup. For lovers of last-car-standing golf it must have been gratifying. But knowing the history of many events at this storied event, the inability for anyone to take hold of Riviera and separate themselves will make James Hahn's win a peculiar one in L.A. Open NoTrust Open lore, salvaged by his clutch playoff birdies to edge Dustin Johnson and Paul Casey.

Mark Lamport-Stokes, writing for Reuters:

Best known for his "Gangnam Style" moves at the 2013 Phoenix Open, James Hahn announced himself to a much wider audience by winning his first PGA Tour title at the Northern Trust Open on Sunday.

Doug Ferguson of AP added an Academy Award component to his lede:

Too nervous to look, too stunned to dance, James Hahn won the Northern Trust Open for his first PGA Tour title Sunday by holing a 25-foot birdie putt on the third extra hole at Riviera.

In a wild finish off Sunset Boulevard just as the Academy Awards was getting started, Hahn wound up with the trophy against a field of far bigger names to earn his first trip to the Masters.

Jason Sobel tries to answer the inevitable question: who is James Hahn?

Hahn was the tournament’s low-budget indie answer to those blockbuster hits. He’s never won a major, isn’t romantically linked to any starlets and didn’t jump straight to the PGA Tour from college.

No, less than a decade ago, this dude was a shoe salesman.

True story.

He was 24 years old and waiting for his golf career to take off. Before it did, he took a job working in the salon shoe section at two Nordstrom’s stores – one in Walnut Creek, the other in Pleasanton.

“I sold a lot of shoes,” he says now with a smile. “I was pretty good at it.”

It won't mean much to non-Angelenos, but back nine leader Sergio Garcia hit quite possibly one of the worst drives I've seen a professional strike in some time, leaving himself 10 paces behind Dave Stockton's infamous drop-kick hit in 1974 with a tiny persimmon driver. Stockton roped a three-wood in to the green and made birdie to beat Sam Snead. (Sergio did see the plaque but as you might surmise, did not stop to read what it said.)

On 18 @TheSergioGarcia was 10 paces behind the Dave Stockton plaque. pic.twitter.com/OphvzTtJHB

— Geoff Shackelford (@GeoffShac) February 22, 2015

The video highlights...starting with Golf Central's report.

Hahn's gutsy wedge shot and birdie on the second playoff hole that reminded us these guys are good.

And the clutch winning putt from the third playoff hole.

Can Retief Goosen Survive One More Day Of Riviera's Major Test?

Since Riviera will never get a U.S. Open again, the ownership that sends governing bodies running for the hills can take heart in watching the 2015 Northern Trust Open field struggle. Retief Goosen's 22-putt third round was a thing of beauty if you enjoy watching persistent patience pay off. Goosen took body blows at the 12th, 13th and 15th, but cashed in with a nifty holed wedge at the 16th followed by an exhibition of his sneaky power in reaching the par-5 17th in two.

As Doug Ferguson writes, that final birdie at 17 meant Goosen made only two back nine pars, leaving the two-time U.S. Open champion at -8 and two clear of Graham DeLaet.  But with U.S. Open style golf the hoped for field separation did not happen Saturday, meaning 13 players lurk within four shots, including Sergio Garcia, J.B. Holmes, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Jim Furyk, Dustin Johnson, Ryan Moore and Angel Cabrera.

The combination of Riviera's greens playing as firm as anyone can remember and speeds around 12.5 feet on the Stimpmeter after mowing means the course has players on the defensive. As happens on such a grueling test, some appear to be imagining trouble that doesn't even exist on Riviera's largely straightforward design.

Goosen's closest pursuer is aware of the continued patience that will be required Sunday. Jason Sobel at GolfChannel.com reports:

On a course he calls the best non-major venue all year, he could be primed for that first victory – not that he’s getting ahead of himself.

“Patience more than anything, not getting ahead of myself,” he said of what he needs to do. “I've slept on either leads or final-group pairings before and I know laying in bed, you're thinking about what a win can do and this and that. I'm past that now in my career.”

The many third round highlights from PGA Tour Entertainment:

Video: Sergio Garcia's "Top 3" Recovery Shot

Usually recovery shots aren't worth your time and this one may have been a lot more magnificent in person than it appeared on television. Still, the only thing more shocking that Sergio Garcia's ball dropping down in Riviera's 10th green bunker as Ryan Moore about to play: Sergio pulling off a recovery and par faced with no obvious opening along with a hanging bunker lie. And a three-iron in his hand.

His Northern Trust Open post-third round comments:

Q.  Have you ever had a better 4 than the one on 13?

SERGIO GARCÍA:  Yeah, I would put it in my top three.  I would say so. I've had some beauties I guess.

Q.  Your caddie said you had a 4‑iron out of the trap ‑‑

SERGIO GARCÍA:  3‑iron.

Q.  How would you describe the gap you had to hit?

SERGIO GARCÍA:  Unfortunately I had the TV tower, which if I would have been off the bunker, it would have been nice.  It would have given me a better angle.  But because I was in the bunker ‑‑  if I took full relief off the TV tower I was going to be up against the lip so I had pretty much no shot.

I probably had a couple yards, I would say between the TV tower and the trunk of the tree.  The difficult part about it was that I was in a little bit of a downslope in the bunker, ball a little bit above my feet, having to hit like a low, low cut that went underneath the branchs.  So it just clipped one little branch.

But I was thrilled to, I mean, I would have been happy with five, so four was a bonus.

Adam Sarson Tweeted a drawing to show off just how improbable the par was.

Artist's rendering of Sergio's par on the 13th at Riviera: pic.twitter.com/Gu6FFEOUQ1

— Adam Sarson (@Adam_Sarson) February 21, 2015

The video:

Video: Ryan Moore Almost Aces Riviera's 10th

Ryan Moore came very close to the first par-4 hole-in-one since Andrew Magee at TPC Scottsdale.

Several of you noted that CBS's Ian Baker-Finch criticized the reaction of the ball after clipping the cup. He was referring to the 2009 changes to the hole by the Fazio Design crew that deepened the run-off and which have tainted the hole's reputation this week when combined with the amazingly firm, fast conditions. I wrote about the changes back then.

Anyway, what's done is done. The shot can still be savored:

Time For Our First Thomas-Spieth Mega-Millennial Match-Up?

Doug Ferguson reports on the one-shot Northern Trust Open lead held by old guy Retief Goosen, the two-time U.S. Open champion who has not won since 2009.

Ferguson notes it's no coincidence Goosen's playing well over a Riviera layout sporting firm greens that have players scratching their heads.

"It's been such a long time since I've last been in contention," Goosen said. "Who knows how my game is going to hold up? But I'm feeling good. My back is feeling great. So if the nerves can hold, just continue to make good golf swings and make a few good putts, who knows?"

Yet with only three shots separating Goosen from Jordan Spieth and one stroke from Justin Thomas, the youth-obsessed and history-wise are longing for a rematch of their 2012 NCAA Championship final match at Riviera.

Golfweek's Adam Schupak on how that match continues to be a source of discussion between two of the tour's young stars.

As if Justin Thomas could ever forget what happened at Riviera Country Club’s 15th hole in their match at the 2012 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship, Jordan Spieth was happy to remind him.

“He’s sent me like three different pictures of that hole already,” Thomas said.

Flashback to when Spieth of Texas holed his second shot to all but ice their head-to-head match and help the Longhorns edge Thomas’ Alabama team 3-2 in the match play final.

“4-iron, rolled around the back of the green and went in,” Spieth recalled at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. “He hates when I bring that up.”

Earlier this week, PGATour.com's Sean Martin profiled Thomas and his Kentucky upbringing as a self-described golf geek who has already made a huge impression on the West Coast swing.

Earlier this year, he played in a final group on the weekend of three consecutive events – Sony Open in Hawaii; Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation; Waste Management Phoenix Open – and has three top-10s in nine TOUR starts.

Golf Central talked about Spieth and Thomas and wheeled out this footage from their NCAA finals match.



Spieth hit a 375-yard drive on the 18th Friday, aided by Riviera's glorious buggy paths, not something you usually see on a world-class course:

When Does A Masterful Short Par-4 Become A Silly One?

I always have thought the short par-4 10th's character was so strong that it could survive the Fazio-inspired over-meddling that has quietly taken so much of the nuance out of Riviera in recent years.

Northern Trust Open round one ShotLink "scatter chart" (Click to enlarge)But in recent years the effort to make the famed hole more difficult, combined with dry weather and the outstanding maintenance work by Matt Morton's team, the 10th spilled over the edge this year.

The 311-yard hole averaged 4.201 during round one play of the Northern Trust Open. For a hole of that length to average so much over par in perfect weather? Red flag.

A damp, cloudy morning followed by very little afternoon breeze should have let some of the world's best score. But too often good shots or almost great shots were excessively penalized by the combination of factors both manufactured and accidental. With a drought and ideal turf-growing weather coming into Northern Trust Open week, the course has never looked better and the greens very firm for February. That's a testament to the shrewd practices. However, this little bit of added firmness when combined with the lowering of evolved bunker edges and the practice of rolling the surrounds has tipped the scales. The 10th hole's risk-reward dynamic has shifted to mostly risk and little reward for taking chances. On a strategy-driven hole that is the centerpiece of the tournament, this has not been a positive evolution.

Bubba Watson talked about the shifting dynamics of the 10th following his round.

Q.  Talk about your strategy on 10, seems like it's playing one of the hardest holes out here.
    BUBBA WATSON:  Yeah, the green, the nicest way to say it, it's very difficult.  The green is very difficult, and I don't know how to play it.
    So today, we hit 4‑wood, and I just tried to hit it over that bunker towards those trees so I could have an uphill chip to the hole.  Somehow made the putt today but I was just trying to play to the center of the green, get par and get out of there.
    As we can see, throughout the years, that hole is very, very difficult and par is a great score there.

    Q.  How long have you played here, ballpark?
    BUBBA WATSON:  That's a great question.  I've never missed, I don't think.

    Q.  Have you noticed that green getting ‑‑
    BUBBA WATSON:  Nine years.

    Q.  Have you noticed it getting a little more severe, edges and firmness, things like that?
    BUBBA WATSON:  It seems that way, but that's ‑‑

    Q.  Everyone's got to play it ‑‑
    BUBBA WATSON:  I'm not saying that.  No, no, it looks that way to me but I mean, it might just be because I'm so scared to death of the hole.  It just looks worse and worse ‑‑ as I get older, it looks worse.  It's very difficult.
    We've heard rumours that because of all the bunker shots, the sand makes it build up, but who knows.  Yeah, definitely, it's a very difficult hole.

    Q.  Do you look forward to playing it?
    BUBBA WATSON:  No.

    Q.  Can you think of another hole on TOUR that you least look forward to playing?
    BUBBA WATSON:  A bunch of them but that's the worst for sure.

    Q.  In a good kind of way?
    BUBBA WATSON:  No, I don't think it's a good kind of way.  It's just I'm scared to death of that hole.  We thought about laying up today but then I was like, well, that 80‑yard wedge shot is going to be just as tough as somehow getting lucky off the tee.  And today I got lucky off the tee where all I had to do was go over the tree straight up the green.

Geoff Ogilvy was more diplomatic, but did acknowledge that the vibe has changed in his years playing the hole.

Q.  Talk about the 10th.  Is it getting a little edgy with the shaved areas?
    GEOFF OGILVY:  It's a lot tougher than it used to be.  It's hard to criticize such a good hole.  It's a lot harder than it used to be, especially when the pins are at the back like today.  I don't think you can go to the middle section of the green anymore because there's a lot of pitch on the green and how fast it is.  It's one of the top four or five holes we play all year on Tour.  It's a joy to play even when you're putting a five on the card.

    Q.  Balls that go off the green ‑‑ you didn't hit a bad shot?
    GEOFF OGILVY:  I have to think when they try to get more out of a great hole, that's all they are really trying to do.  It's everyone's favorite hole, really and they are just trying to get more out of it.  It's pretty good.  The greens are a lot firmer than we are used to playing.  They were just a bit softer a few years ago.  Now it takes that big first bounce and goes in that bunker really easy.

    It's a really, really good hole and definitely getting harder.

There is still a real delight in watching some of the great shots played here and the dynamic recoveries. Even the players walking off the green will tell you this, or as level-headed types like Paul Casey did after he'd cooled off post round. Still 

But the 10th hole vibe is also changing to one where the spectacle is a tad unseemly, like pulling over to savor a car accident (see embed from round one below). And while that slightly sadistic aura popular with many golfers, the negativity takes some of the genius out of George Thomas's creation and is utterly unnecessary in testing the world's best.

Update on Friday, February 20, 2015 at 10:27 AM by Geoff

**The PGA Tour tweeted a much prettier version of the stats and scatter chart:

Here's how players tackled Riviera's 10th in Round 1. (Red: Birdie; Blue: Par; Black: Bogey or worse) pic.twitter.com/3ByI02sPkM

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 20, 2015

The 2015 NoTrust Open Is Ready And Set For Riviera!

With the demise of the WGC Match Play as a February event, the 2015 Northern Trust Open field at Riviera took a noticeable star power hit.

In 2014, with the match play the week after the Northern Trust Open, the field included 16 of the world's top 30 and 26 of the top 50.

This year, it's 11 of the world top 30 are in the field and 18 of the top 50.

SB Nation has a nice round up of viewing times and tournament notes.

I discussed Riviera's history with Matt Ginella on Wednesday's Morning Drive.

Earlier in the week we talked Riviera's design.

As always, the 10th hole is receiving much attention and now gets long overdue "Live@" coverage starting at 7 am PT and going all day.

Here's the link. DirecTV subscribers can also watch the coverage all four days on their televisions (the PGA Tour and DirecTV just re-upped for give years). 

Golf Nut Dreams Come True: Live@ Comes To Riviera's 10th

For years the loyalists have had to read the tweets about how something crazy happens in nearly every group playing Riviera's 10th.

Finally, thanks no doubt to years of suggestions from Doug Ferguson and someone kicking in some sponsorship money, sources say that PGATour.com's Live@ coverage will focus on Riviera's driveable par-4 during Northern Trust Open play.

Thanks to reader Don for the link and to the Tour for bringing the coverage west.

Play in the Northern Trust commences Thursday at 9:50 am ET. Tee times are here. I'll try to get more on the Live@ broadcast windows.

Update on Wednesday, February 18, 2015 at 06:46 AM by Geoff

**Coverage begins at 10 a.m. ET.