Hideki Matsuyama plays an approach during the 2024 Genesis Invitational.
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The Genesis Invitational will be played at a different location next month from its typical host Riviera Country Clubafter the fires that have engulfed Los Angeles in the last two weeks.
The PGA Tour announced the decision Thursday afternoon, saying the Genesis Invitational will be contested “at an alternate location” on the same dates scheduled Feb. 10-16. The decision on the place “will be given in the coming days” statement read.
The Genesis Invitational, which is hosted by Tiger Woods and the Tiger Woods Foundation, has been played at Riviera Country Club, one of the best courses in the world, for the past 26 years and many years before that, dating back to the late 1920s. But Riviera is located in the Pacific Palisades, one of the areas hardest hit by one of the worst wildfires in California history.
The golf club was placed within a mandatory evacuation zone for much of last week, with the perimeter of the Palisades Fire coming within a few hundred yards of the course. Video footage quickly emerged from close-ups of the club with fire and smoke billowing in the background. Fortunately for the club, the course site was spared.
The Palisades Fire was the largest of a series of wildfires to ravage parts of LA County in January. The fire adjacent to Riviera has burned more than 23,000 acres and, as of Thursday afternoon, only 22% abstained.
Woods issued a statement about the fires earlier this week, hinting at the charitable efforts he and his foundation plan to make. Then, on Tuesday night, he was asked about the effect it might have on staging the Genesis Invitational.
“It’s just sad,” Woods said afterward his debut TGL appearancestanding by Max Homa. “Max and I grew up there. We are SoCal kids. To see what’s happened, I’ve known some people who’ve lost everything, so it’s just hard.
“As far as Genesis is concerned, we are trying to figure everything out and make sure everyone is safe and have meetings planned going forward. But right now, we’re not really focused on touring. It’s more about what we can do to help all those who are struggling, who have lost their homes and whose lives have been changed.”
The PGA Tour has routinely brought the world’s best players to the West Coast for the first two months of the calendar year, often culminating in the Genesis Invitational in mid-February, before the tour kicks off in Florida. All this means that the event will have potential homes for this 2025 iteration that are used to host tournament infrastructure and spectators. The last time the Genesis Invitational was held away from Riviera was in 1998, when it was held at Valencia Country Club in north LA because Riviera was hosting the US Senior Open.
In other years, dating back to the 1970s and 1960s, the event has been held at Rancho Park in LA and Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena, but these are both municipal courses unable to host a modern, major sporting event. There is no shortage of elite golf courses in the Los Angeles area, but given how the wildfires have affected large parts of the county, the event may have to be moved outside of the Greater LA Metro Area.
