As a student of the game from an historical standpoint, five-time major champion Rory McIlroy has an appreciation for playing in a tournament like this week’s Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.
The event returns to its home in Pacific Palisades, Calif., after a one-year hiatus because of the fires there and the Los Angeles area. McIlroy, ranked No. 2 in the world, was asked at a news conference why Riviera, established 100 years ago, has stood the test of time.
“I think the green complexes are a big part of it,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, we haven’t been here in a year, obviously, and I just, I don’t know why I was surprised but some of the movement and some of how much break you have to play on a lot of the putts out here, it just, I don’t know why I didn’t remember but it’s like wow, this is — so the greens provide a challenge in themselves.
“Then you get a little bit of wind and it starts to swirl in this valley a bit and it starts to play pretty tricky,” he continued.
The native of Northern Ireland knows something about playing in windy conditions. The course conditions could change, McIlroy asserted, if the tournament at the iconic golf club was moved to later in the year, possibly August, as part of widely discussed changes to the PGA Tour’s annual schedule.
“This week it doesn’t matter if you hit it in the fairway or not,” McIlroy said. “It’s actually a benefit sometimes if you do hit it in the rough because the ball’s not going to come spinning back on you.
“So if you do get it in August where the greens are firm, there’s more of a consideration of strategy off the tee especially, and it starts to make the guys think a little bit,” he continued. “It certainly becomes a much more strategic golf course in that way. … but even if you moved it a little bit later in the year there just to have the opportunity to have better weather and firmer conditions, that would be a good thing.”
McIlroy, 36, made his first start of the PGA Tour season last weekend at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He tied for 14th after rounds of 68-67-72-64 for 17-under par.
He felt like he shook off a little bit of rust.
“Felt like I learned quite a bit about my game last week, played well for a lot of it,” McIlroy said. “Obviously made some big numbers which kept me from being right in contention on Sunday, but I feel like there’s enough good in there to be encouraged going into this week.”
McIlroy has won 29 times on the PGA Tour, most recently the Masters Tournament last April to complete a career Grand Slam and end his 11-year major drought.
He returned to Augusta National Golf Club to do “some filming” for promotional purposes. He has plans next week to play a round with his father, Gerry, and Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley.
“It was cool to get up to the champions locker room and see my nameplate alongside the other two champions that I share a locker with,” McIlroy said of his first visit back to Augusta. “Yeah, it was somewhat nostalgic. I wouldn’t say it was emotional but definitely there was nice memories. Yeah, different feels the first time staying on site without having to need a member there. There’s a lot of perks you get with being a champion.”
