{"id":476802,"date":"2026-02-19T00:31:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T00:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/476802\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T00:31:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T00:31:08","slug":"rivieras-only-weak-spot-fourth-hole-now-can-play-over-270-yards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/476802\/","title":{"rendered":"Riviera’s ‘only weak spot,’ fourth hole now can play over 270 yards"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES \u2013 Ben Hogan once called it, \u201cThe greatest par-3 hole in America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, it\u2019s the longest par-3 on the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n

Riviera Country Club\u2019s par-3 fourth hole, George Thomas\u2019 take on the famed Redan hole at North Berwick, was lengthened nearly 40 yards, from 236 to 273 ahead of this week\u2019s Genesis Invitational.<\/p>\n

The concept of the Redan is a hole that requires a longer club to a green set at a 45-degree angle that slopes front to back. There is typically a large bunker in front of the green, another, more penal bunker behind the green, and a big, kicker slope that helps feed balls toward middle and back hole locations.<\/p>\n

The recent changes to Riv\u2019s No. 4 not only saw added length, but the tee box was moved about 30 yards right to accommodate the new tee box for No. 18, thus eliminating much of the classic Redan angle. There were also some modifications greenside to help promote more ball movement on the ground, though as Rico Hoey, a Riv member while at USC, notes, the kikuyu rough and soft conditions around the putting surface (this week especially) continue to hinder the true Redan style.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure it\u2019s going to change much,\u201d said Jordan Spieth, who led Texas to the 2012 NCAA Championship at Riviera and has two top-10s as a pro on the layout. \u201cInstead of a 2-iron or hybrid, you\u2019re hitting 3-wood. It was always kind of a crapshoot if you were going to hit the green anyway. \u2026 It\u2019s the only weak spot on the course, in my opinion, but it\u2019s just this time of year. When we played the national championship (in late May), you could land a 4-iron on the right and have a chance to funnel the ball back there.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0900.png\"<\/p>\n

Two years ago, the last time Riv hosted the Genesis, No. 4 played 0.204 shots over par, ranking it third toughest for the week. It yielded just 11 birdies, while the pros hit the green just 15% of the time and played it to a combined 49 over. Surprisingly, there were no doubles made.<\/p>\n

Typically, what makes the hole most challenging is that the greens are Tour-level fast and firm, so tee shots landing on the green have difficulty holding. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want it to be a 275-yard par-3, you have to change the apron leading up onto the green,\u201d Rory McIlroy said. \u201cIt can\u2019t be kikuyu, it has to be another type of grass that can help you run it onto the green because again, in the right conditions, you try to fly that ball on the green with a 3-iron, it\u2019s going to finish up on the fifth tee box.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week, however, even with guys hitting lumber in \u2013 Hoey hit mini-driver into the wind late Tuesday with the hole playing about 270 \u2013 the rains have made conditions receptive enough to allow hope for hitting and holding the green on the fly.<\/p>\n

Still, that probably only negates the distance gain and doesn\u2019t make things any easier.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo long,\u201d Nico Echavarria said. \u201cIt\u2019s just unnecessary to have a par-3 that long.\u201d<\/p>\n

McIlroy, above all, didn\u2019t mince words: \u201cI actually think it\u2019s a horrible change.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2013 Ben Hogan once called it, \u201cThe greatest par-3 hole in America.\u201d Now, it\u2019s the longest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476803,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-476802","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}