McIlroy set for Riviera debut this week

Another first in Riviera’s chequered history is “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias playing the 1938 Los Angeles Open here, which made her the first woman to play against men in a professional tournament.

Spieth observed that three of the top-four players always feature in the semi-final matches, pointing out the remarkable consistency by the top-ranked players.

It’s why Jordan Spieth refers to it as one of his top five golf courses in the world.

PACIFIC PALISADES Jerry West used to offer his Lakers tickets as a selling point to help sweeten the pot to convince PGA Tour golfers to play in the Northern Trust Open.

Jones was walking the course previous year and talking to various players about the changes. You never know quite what you’re going to get from him but if he can hole a putt or two he might have a sniff. The 18-year-old Kiwi endeared herself to her countrymen and millions of fans round the world when she donated her entire winning cheque from the New Zealand Women’s Open to natural disaster relief. You can’t really get it above the pin.

“I’m on medication now and all I can do is rest and drink lots of liquids”, Matsuyama, a double victor on the PGA Tour who is one of the game’s most exciting prospects, told reporters via an interpreter.

“It’s going to be a great stretch of golf”, he said.

Rory McIlroy – has a T-3 and T-6 in his first two 2016 starts but this Riviera event will be his first start on the PGA Tour this season. It’s a great golf course.

“Sometimes on harder golf courses, even on a Tour event and it’s a non-major championship, sometimes par is a really good score”.

“I was 12 I think, and I was equally considering USC and Texas”, Spieth said.

Spieth attributed his success to a general improvement in consistency and experience.

“I think I saw a stat the other day that there were more 3-footers missed here than there were anywhere else a year ago, I think by a long way actually”, he said. With hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line including the PGA $250K Best Ball that will award $50K to first place, you will want to pay close attention to the following advice.

“These tournaments that we’ve got coming up, we’ve got some of the strongest fields of the year”, added McIlroy. Feel free to add in your own favorites and blend my picks together on your way to what I hope will be a successful tournament. Haas seemed to be on his way to a repeat when he took a three-stroke lead to the final round a year later, but he closed with a 74 and tied for third, one shot out of the playoff in which John Merrick beat Charlie Beljan.

TV: Golf Channel – 5-8 p.m., 8:30-11:30 p.m. Thursday; 2-5 a.m., 5-8 p.m., 8:30-11:30 p.m. Friday; 2-5 a.m., 1-2:30 p.m., 7-9 p.m. Saturday; 2-6 a.m., 1-2:30 p.m., 7 p.m.-12:30 a.m. Sunday.