The status of the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational is up in the air amid the devastating Los Angeles area wildfires that forced evacuation of tournament site Riviera Country Club last week.
The tournament, a PGA Tour signature event hosted by Tiger Woods, is scheduled for Feb. 13-16, and although Riviera had so far not been damaged in the Pacific Palisades fires that reached within blocks of the historic club, the tour informed its membership in a statement last Thursday that it was monitoring the situation.
“At this point, it is premature to discuss the potential impact on the Genesis Invitational,” the statement said. “Although the Riviera Country Club has not been directly affected by the fires, our immediate concern is the health and welfare of those in the affected communities, including all our members who have ties to Southern California. We will keep the membership updated as the situation develops.”
Given the scope of the natural disaster that as of Saturday had consumed about 62 square miles, an area larger than San Francisco, it appears unlikely the tour will stage the tournament at Riviera, with sources telling GGP a move to Sherwood Country Club, located 37 miles from Riviera in Thousand Oaks, was being discussed. READ MORE
Jordan Spieth has been playing golf for a month without pain and plans to return from wrist surgery at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am next month, the Associated Press reported.
“I had some really bad habits for a long time,” Spieth told the AP. “Whether it was something that would have happened anyway or whether anything in my wrist was causing me to not be able to get into certain positions, I don’t have that issue now.”
Spieth underwent surgery Aug. 21 in Colorado. He said he went nearly 12 weeks before he could hit balls, and then another month before he played his first round. READ MORE
Kevin Kisner will serve as a vice captain to Keegan Bradley for the U.S. team at the 2025 Ryder Cup, joining Webb Simpson and Brandt Snedeker, the PGA of America announced last Wednesday.
Kisner, who has never played in a Ryder Cup, will surrender his NBC Sports announcing duties that week. “Kevin is a guy’s guy, bleeds red, white and blue, is a proper locker room guy,” Bradley said. “What I envy most about Kevin is his interactions with the players, his insight to certain players’ personalities, his competitiveness, but really just what happens if Kevin walked into this room right now. He changes the vibe. When you’re in a room with all these Ryder Cup players and everyone is nervous, you need guys like Kevin.” READ MORE
Tap-Ins
Denmark’s Nicolai Højgaard and Chile’s Joaquin Niemann have accepted special invitations to play in the 2025 Masters, Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley announced Wednesday. READ MORE
Tiger Woods finished first in the PGA Tour’s 2024 Player Impact Program, designed to reward players who most drive interest to the tour, Sports Business Journal reported last Monday. Woods won the $10 million prize despite playing just five official PGA Tour events last year and making just one cut (Masters, T60). READ MORE
Last Tuesday’s debut of TGL, Woods’ and Rory McIlroy’s new indoor golf league, attracted an average of 919,000 viewers on ESPN during the 9-11 p.m. ET time slot, according to Nielsen numbers reported last Thursday by Front Office Sports. READ MORE
The DP World Tour has agreed to stage a $5 million Rolex Series tournament at Delhi Golf Club in India in October, the Hindustan Times reported last Friday. READ MORE
LIV Golf announced the sites and dates for its last four tournaments of the 2025 season, including a return trip to Trump National Doral outside Miami the week before the Masters. READ MORE
Compiled by Mike Cullity and Ron Green Jr.