‘Terrible change’: Rory McIlroy criticizes Riviera’s controversial par-3

At the most recent edition of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera in 2024, the brutal par-3 4th hole had players squirming. This week the 230 yard hole played a hefty 3.204 stroke average, making it the third most difficult hole on the course. In the fourth round, only 6 of the 51 players hit the green in regulation, with many tee shots held up in the sticky kikuya grass opposite the green.

“Terrible” is how veteran pro Adam Schenk, after missing the cut by four, described the gap in a tweet tagging tournament host Tiger Woods. “Tell them to grow poana [sic] less than 4 for the left 2/3rd of the green, which rewards good shots and keeps the current grass short for the right 1/3rd of the green.”

Two years later, the best players in the world are back at Riv (in 2025, the LA wildfires forced the tournament to move to Torrey Pines), and Schenk, who is not in the field this week, got half his wish. Changes to have carried over to the 4th hole – just not the kind of changes he had lobbied for.

Rather than shortening or changing the grass to make the Redan-style green more accessible, the club has extended the hole by approximately 40 yards, meaning it can now play up to 270 yards, and moved the tee box well to the right of its original location. Riv said it made the changes to better align the hole with designer George Thomas’ original vision, but ramping up an already stiff test has raised the eyebrows of at least a few players, including world No. 2 Rory McIlroy, who characterized the new-look 4th as a “terrible change.”

Asked to explain this, McIlroy said: “Like 15 percent of the field hit the green last time when it was played at the original distance of 230. If you want it to be a 275 yard par-3 you have to change the platform that leads to the green. It can’t be kikuyu, it has to be some other type of grass that can help you get the ball on the green because again, in the right conditions you’re trying to leave that ball on the green fly.” green is with a 3 iron, it will land – it will end up on the 5th tee box.”

Not the hole to have to play stretched out, of course, and that probably won’t happen on cool, damp days or when the wind is blowing hard towards the players. As PGA Tour rules officer Steve Rintoul told my colleague Jack Hirsh in 2024, “I suspect players at the Genesis will see a little bit of everything over the last four days. However, the summer events at Riviera (Women’s US Open, Olympics and the US Open) will provide firmer and warmer conditions where the ball played along the ground and chasing the green will be more effective.”

Rintoul added: “As always, we will evaluate the playability of the hole and gather player input on the design, but our usual strategy is to tiptoe around and make major changes.”

So far, that input has not been particularly positive. Collin Morikawa, who won at Pebble Beach last week, said Wednesday was his first day playing the redesigned 4th and he still had to hit a 3-wood even from pressed tees. “Clap and hope, I guess,” he said. “It’s unfortunately too soft to have much control to say, man, I’m going to play a tight 5-iron and play it uphill. I think a lot of us play it left to chip uphill, but with a 3-wood in hand, that cart on the left really comes into play. … I think it’s just a really long par-3. Not much thought has gone into it other than hitting the green and moving on, unfortunately.”

Jordan Spieth also offered a less than resounding endorsement of the hole, says Golf Channel’s Brentley Romaine“It’s the only weak spot on the track.” Other players came in from far away. Graeme McDowell, who won a US Open on the shores of Pebble Beach, is not in the field but submitted this observation to

Riv’s 4th is now the longest par-3 on Tour, surpassing the 265-yard 11th at Puntacana Resort. Still, both holes are relative compared to the par-3 8th at Oakmont, which played 289 yards at the US Open last summer and drew this dig from Viktor Hovland: “I just think the best par-3s are under 200 yards. [yards]. You might be able to have just over 200, but once you start taking the headgear off on par-3s, I just think it’s a little weird.

Headgear will definitely be coming off this week at Riv’s 4th. Defending US Open champion JJ Spaun played the hole Wednesday with a 3-wood, feeding his shot in from the front right side of the green. His ball came loose to about eight feet from the hole, from where he missed his birdie try but made a stress-free par.

Simple . . . right?

“It’s Wednesday,” Spaun said after his round. “It didn’t really matter today.”