The PGA Tour - The Genesis Invitational

Thursday sees the start of the 100th iteration of The Genesis Invitational, one of the most prestigious and historic events on the PGA Tour. Played at the iconic Riviera Country Club (often called “Hogan’s Alley”) in Pacific Palisades, California, Tiger Woods is the official tournament host, but won’t be playing as he’s still recovering from the disc replacement and back surgery he underwent in late 2025.

As a PGA Tour Signature Event, the elite, limited field (roughly 72 players) will be chasing a massive $4m winners’ purse. It was first played in 1926 as the Los Angeles Open at the Los Angeles Country Club, and the moniker Hogan’s Alley stems from Ben Hogan winning the tournament three times in 1942, 1947 and 1948 as well as the U.S. Open at Riviera in 1948. His dominance was so complete that the course became synonymous with his name. In 1938, Babe Didrikson Zaharias became the first woman to play in a men’s professional tournament here. In 1969, Charlie Sifford became the first Black golfer to win the event. Today, the “Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption” is awarded annually to a minority golfer (the 2026 recipient is Sahith Theegala).

The Genesis Invitational is the “home” tournament for Tiger Woods, as he played his first-ever PGA Tour event at Riviera on a sponsor’s exemption aged just 16. Since 2017, the tournament has been run by the TGR Foundation (Tiger’s charity), and in 2020, it was elevated to “Invitational” status, joining the ranks of the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial Tournament. That all said, Tiger has never won this tournament in 16 professional starts—the most times he has played any event without a victory. Recently, Tiger hinted that the tournament might move from its traditional February slot to August in future years to serve as a FedEx Cup Playoff event.

The course has several characteristics