{"id":486747,"date":"2026-02-24T02:07:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T02:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/486747\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T02:07:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T02:07:12","slug":"impossible-matt-fitzpatrick-criticizes-rivieras-famed-and-controversial-par-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/486747\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Impossible:’ Matt Fitzpatrick criticizes Riviera’s famed (and controversial) par-4"},"content":{"rendered":"

No. 10 at Riviera<\/a> has drawn its fair share of criticism (and praise) from golf\u2019s best in recent years. <\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy said the 315-yard par-4 \u201cstinks.\u201d<\/a> Max Homa said it is \u201ceither the best hole in the world or the worst.\u201d<\/a> Jon Rahm said it could be his \u201cfavorite hole\u201d on the course. Collin Morikawa called it the \u201chardest hole\u201d on the famed property. Tony Finau went the other way, praising the \u201camazing\u201d hole. <\/p>\n

On Friday at the Genesis Invitational,<\/a> another star added his name to one side of the debate over George C. Thomas\u2019 famed short par-4. <\/p>\n

After making an easy birdie at No. 10 during Thursday\u2019s opening round, 2022 U.S. Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick had a different experience on Friday.<\/p>\n

The pin placement during the opening round was in the back right, which allowed Fitzpatrick to make a stress-free birdie. But on Friday, the in was in the middle and just three paces from the left edge. Fitzpatrick lost his tee shot out to the right, leaving him 47 yards to the pin. After surveying his options with his caddie, Fitzpatrick elected to play his second shot well left of the pin. The thinking was that Fitzpatrick would either give himself a long birdie putt or the ball would roll down into the collection area and he\u2019d have a chance to get up-and-down for par. But he missed his spot and ended up dumping his second into the greenside bunker. His third shot was no easier than his second. He blasted out over the green and into the collection area. He pitched up and eventually tapped in for bogey, which was one of only two bogeys he made while firing a five-under 66.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great round. Felt like I played really solid. Just bogey on 10, the world\u2019s most impossible golf hole. I\u2019ll leave it there,\u201d Fitzpatrick said after his round. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really want to talk about it too much, I\u2019ll just get wound up. But it\u2019s hit and hope, let\u2019s leave it at that.\u201d <\/p>\n

Fitzpatrick wasn\u2019t the only one in his threesome to get bitten by Riviera\u2019s short par-4. Both Aaron Rai and Garrick Higgo also made bogey. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe all made bogey. I said, \u2018great bogeys, guys,’\u201d Fitzpatrick said. \u201cI got a laugh out of everyone, which was good.\u201d <\/p>\n

In 2023, McIlroy said that he believes the kikuyu grass that runs up to and around the green is the issue. He suggested either re-grassing that area so the ball can run up or making the green a bit softer. As it stands right now, in McIlroy\u2019s view, there is no skill involved in the hole. <\/p>\n

In Fitzpatrick\u2019s mind, No. 10 at Riviera breaks one of the most important rules for a hole. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t think it\u2019s a fair golf hole, so I\u2019ll just leave it at that,\u201d Fitzpatrick said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

“><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No. 10 at Riviera has drawn its fair share of criticism (and praise) from golf\u2019s best in recent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486748,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-486747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486747","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=486747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}