Fellow Texan Jordan Spieth will be walking in the shadow of legendary fellow Lone Star golfer Ben Hogan when he tees up in this week’s Northern Trust Open at the Riviera Country Club in suburban L.A.
It was 74-years ago Hogan won the then L.A. Open in 1942 and then after World War 11 Hogan captured the event again in 1947 and 1948.
In 1947 Hogan set a then Riviera course record of score of 280 while in 1948 he also captured the U.S. Open at Riviera and leading many to begin calling the club ‘Hogan’s Alley’ and after Hogan bettered his own 72-hole winning record by five shots.
“I knew it was one of the few Hogans Alleys. I knew the tree line. I knew of it dipping down into the valley and just kind of being played down in this valley and then kind of working its way back up 18,” said Spieth.
Ben Hogan tees off in the 1950 L A Open at Riviera
“I had always seen pictures of the first tee box. I always thought it was such a cool shot, and obviously up the 18th, as well.
“It’s one of the very few with the history that it has, past champions, not only just the champions, but just those who have walked these fairways.”
Spieth is yet to win the American west coast and with Rory McIlroy in the field the 22-year old would dearly love to capture a second PGA Tour title this season.
“Fen for me to win on a golf course that I consider one of the top few in the world, I mean, that’s always a goal. Yeah, it would be pretty amazing,” he said.
“Last year, it was a crazy finish and it kind of taught me a little something about this golf course is that you just never know exactly what’s going to happen at Riviera coming down the stretch. I was thinking I needed to birdie 18 for a playoff. And my approach shot landed on the fringe. If it lands on the green, I’ve got probably about 18 feet for birdie, which I’m going to make.
“It lands on the fringe and it sticks, so I have to chip it. And from there, I lot a little aggressive with the chip, not wanting to leave it short, make sure you fly it far enough, and I ended up missing about an eight-foot par putt that I thought, you know, obviously was important but I didn’t think it would have been to get into a playoff.
“Turns out, with I think Dustin and Sergio bogeying the 17th, a little downbreeze, it ended up — I ended up one out of the three-way playoff.
“So a little bizarre, but that just kind of teaches you how it works sometimes. Sometimes it’s not birdies to win. Sometimes on harder golf courses, even on a TOUR event and it’s a non-major championship, sometimes par is a really good score. Unfortunately it’s rare, but fortunately, it happens here. So it would mean a lot to win this tournament.”
