Scottie Scheffler is the trendy pick to win everywhere he plays. As the World’s No. 1 golfer, perhaps that’s not breaking new ground.
For all of his success, however, Scheffler has yet to win at Riviera Golf Course in Los Angeles.
In fact, the four-time major champion has finished in the top 10 just twice (T7 in 2022, T10 in 2024) in six tries on the course. His third-place finish last year at the Genesis Invitational was achieved at Torrey Pines in San Diego, with the tournament calling an audible due to damage caused by the wildfires in Los Angeles.
Scheffler will look for that elusive victory at Riviera Golf Course when he tees off at the Genesis Invitational on Thursday. The Tiger Woods-hosted tournament features 14 of the top 15 golfers in the world and serves as the PGA Tour’s second signature event of the year.
A stacked field notwithstanding, Scheffler is keeping his eyes on the course.
“Well, I think when you look at the golf course, it’s a great golf course. I think it challenges us in some different ways,” Scheffler said of Riviera GC. “Then I think you have a lot of history here, and it’s a golf course that’s stood the test of time.
“The golf course has changed and evolved than when it was first built and I think it’s evolved for the better and it still challenges us to this day, which is pretty cool. Like I said, greens got a lot of slope. The rough is a whole new challenge for us this week. Yeah, it should be fun.”
Scheffler, 29, didn’t have much fun in the first round of last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am before catching fire on Sunday. He recorded three eagles to highlight his sizzling final round, extending his streak of top 10 finishes to 18. His run began last March at the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
For Scheffler to have fun this week, he’ll need to solve the par-4, 479-foot 12th hole — and he knows it.
“Well, it typically plays into the wind unless you’re off really early in the morning and the wind is blowing the other way,” Scheffler said. “But typically you’re playing the hole into the wind. The green goes like this in most spots. If you land it in the right bunker, it’s probably going to plug. If you hit it left of the green, it typically rolls off into the rough. That’s basically if you hit the ball in the fairway. It’s also a really challenging tee shot, too, and it’s like 500 yards. So there’s a few things that make it quite difficult.”
Scheffler, 29, has 20 PGA victories.
