Riviera Country Club will remain the
host of the Nissan Open through 2006.
Riviera, which has hosted this event
41 times, was created by George C. Thomas,
Jr. and William P. Bell in 1926.
Renowned course architect Tom Fazio
was hired to restore Riviera to George
Thomas' original design, which included
lengthening several holes, enlarging
several greens and adding original
physical features to the course, which
now plays to a par of 71 and a length
of 7,260.
Among the permanent changes to the
historic 77-year-old layout is the
restoration of holes five, seven,
eight, nine, 12 and 13. The holes
were switched back to the original
course design, which was wiped out
by floods in 1939.
Masters champion Mike Weir will try
to etch his name in the record books
this week, as he attempts to become
only the sixth player to win this
event two straight years. Macdonald
Smith, 1928-29; Hogan, 1947-48; Paul
Harney, 1964-65; Arnold Palmer, 1966-67
and Corey Pavin, 1994-95 are the only
players to accomplish that feat.
The Nissan Open gave Jack Nicklaus
an exemption in 1962, when he picked
up his first professional check. Surprisingly,
this is one of the few events that
Nicklaus has never won.
In 1992, a then-16-year-old Tiger
Woods shot a 72-75 to miss the cut
in his first PGA Tour start. Woods
shot 65 on the final day last year
and tied for fifth. Pat Fitzsimons
was the last player to win this event
on his first try in 1975 when he defeated
Tom Kite by four shots.
Legendary Babe Didrickson Zaharias
became the first woman ever to play
in a professional men's golf tournament
in the 1938 Los Angeles Open. She
shot rounds of 84 and 81 and failed
to make the cut at Griffith Park.
That was also the year Jimmy Thompson
won the tournament using a second-hand
putter he had purchased for $1 in
a Pasadena golf shop three weeks earlier.
This event will serve as the final
tune-up for next week's WGC-Accenture
Match Play Championship, where Woods
will defend his title. The best of
the rest on the PGA Tour will compete
in Arizona at the Chrysler Classic
of Tucson, site of Frank Lickliter's
second career title. |
