Tiger’s debut in 1992 – A Game Changing Moment

Tiger Woods’ connection with Riviera is a natural one. It’s an hour away from where Woods was born in Cypress, California. As a kid, he attended the Los Angeles Open at Riviera with his father. Most notably, it was where he made his first PGA TOUR start as a 16-year-old amateur.

Watch Sam Snead reflect on Tiger Woods’ PGA TOUR debut from Riviera in 1992

The association to Riviera has only deepened throughout Tiger’s professional and philanthropic career. In 2017, Tiger became the host of the Genesis Open, with proceeds from the tournament benefiting his TGR Foundation and its work in empowering students to pursue their passions through education. Two years later, the tournament was elevated to The Genesis Invitational, featuring an increased prize purse and an exclusive field of top PGA TOUR professionals starting with the 2020 tournament.

As tournament host of The Genesis Invitational, Tiger joined Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus to host annual invitationals on the PGA TOUR calendar. The elevated status of The Genesis Invitational celebrates not only Tiger’s accomplishments on the course, but also his legacy off the course.

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS
The Genesis Invitational continues a longstanding tradition of professional golf in Los Angeles. Debuting in 1926 as the Los Angeles Open at Los Angeles Country Club, the tournament was staged at various courses around the Los Angeles area before finding its permanent home at The Riviera Country Club. For a century the tournament has played host to iconic moments, legendary champions and defining chapters in the game of golf. In this special series, we look back on a century of tournament history and Celebrating 100 years of memorable golf stories.