Much of the talk heading into this year’s Genesis Invitational has surrounded how the course is going to be set up following the decision to move the event from Riviera to Torrey Pines.
Torrey Pines only recently hosted the Farmers Insurance Open, albeit with rounds played on both the North and South courses. But following the fires in Los Angeles, the Genesis Invitational will now also be played on the South Course.
Fans will be hoping to see some notable tweaks from the two events. Thankfully, Torrey Pines has hosted major championships, so it can certainly play even tougher.
Of course, the tournament comes off the back of a superb week at the WM Phoenix Open. Following that, and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am the week before, it really does feel as if the PGA Tour season is properly underway at long last.
Max Homa names the two best golf courses on the PGA Tour
TPC Scottsdale provided a brilliant stage once again. So perhaps it is no surprise that the venue quickly came to mind for Max Homa when he was asked to describe what makes a great tournament venue.
“Yeah, that’s a really great question because I think last week is the epitome of it. I live in Scottsdale, I never play TPC Scottsdale. One is because it’s very busy so that gives it one, but two, it plays nothing like the event does. And a day at home, I look at more of like the architecture of the golf course more than how the tournament would go. So that’s why TPC Scottsdale’s such a great example,” he said.
“I look at it kind of like a movie where it like peaks at the right time. A lot of talk obviously about TPC Scottsdale is the 16th hole, and it is a really fun, unique hole. You play there without the grandstands, it’s kind of just whatever. But where it fits into the tournament and the round of golf, it is so ideal. So much can happen from the 13th through 18th holes and I feel like it sets up kind of like a movie the whole week or just a round Sunday, you’re kind of like you’re playing holes and there’s scenes and it all is important.
Not like the birdie or bogey somebody makes on five is unimportant, but if you can somehow stay within three on the 13th tee, you can make eagle there, 14’s going to be hard but if you somehow birdie that. Then you get to play, I think 15 through 18 is the best stretch of four to finish we have. So it’s a golf course I wouldn’t really probably write home about, but for the golf tournament I think it’s our best — that and TPC Sawgrass are our best tournament golf courses.
“I know there’s probably better venues in the world that we go to or in the city that we go to each week, but I think that there could be thought to like tournament-based golf courses, set them up so that it has like this climactic finish and I think last week was a really good example of that.”
What Tiger Woods once said about his record at TPC Sawgrass
Outside of the majors, there is no bigger event on the PGA Tour than the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Of course, it features arguably the most iconic hole on tour. Much like the 16th at Scottsdale, the 17th at Sawgrass finds it simply impossible not to deliver some drama each year.
Tiger Woods won the Players on two occasions during his career. But he admitted in 2018 that he never felt that he managed to get a grasp on the venue.
“No, no, it was 12 years between wins here, and so as y’all know, just looking at my record, I didn’t play this place well. I struggled with it. You have to play well here. There’s no way of faking it around this golf course,” he said.
“You have to hit the golf ball well. You hit the ball well here, you’re in correct spots, and you can make birdies, and I didn’t do that. This golf course negates a lot of different things. We’re all playing from basically the same spots off the tees with our approach shots, and that week in 2013, Joey kept hounding me in my ear about the fact that this golf course suits me and you’re going to win here. I mean, he’s been on Fred’s bag twice when he won here, and so he kept saying, kept holding it over my head that Fred has got two wins here and you don’t. I fixed it that week.”
Woods actually only reached double figures under par on three occasions during his career at Sawgrass. But having had five top 10s at the venue, it is hard to agree with his view that he did not play well on the famous course.
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