Rory McIlroy is fired up! He wants to keep his birdie hunt going and completely eliminate the "Big Numbers" – those really costly errors – that held him back during his Pebble Beach performance. His goal? A first Genesis Invitational title here at iconic Riviera.
And here's the kicker, folks: Neither our world-class man Scottie Scheffler, the world number one, nor the second-ranked McIlroy has yet managed to conquer the historic greens of Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. By the way, this year the club is celebrating its hundredth anniversary – a maiden victory here would certainly make a statement!
The Northern Irishman McIlroy is making his second start of the season on the US Tour here, after securing 14th place at Pebble Beach. However, his scorecards there included three double-bogeys and even a triple-bogey – so things really went awry.
Rory himself commented on Wednesday: "I think I'm still in that early part of the year where you're trying to shake off the rust and find your rhythm. Last week I learned quite a bit about my game; a lot of things were going really well. Of course, those few really high numbers then knocked me out of contention on Sunday. But I'm taking enough positives from it to be optimistic heading into this week. Riviera, of course, presents its own unique challenge, but the fact that I'm hitting a lot of good shots, getting close to the pin, and holing a lot of putts – that simply has to give me confidence, not just for this week, but for the future as well."
Scheffler has never won in his six previous starts at Riviera. Zero titles there! The world number one already has one title this year, which he claimed in January at La Quinta. However, slow starts in Phoenix and Pebble Beach were then simply too much to turn things completely around.
But Scottie? He doesn't let 'what if' thoughts get to him. "The great thing about golf is that we often just get to tee it up again the next week and start fresh," said Scheffler, who absolutely appreciates the old-school challenge of 'The Riv'. He elaborated: "I find it an exciting golf course because there aren't really many water hazards. Nor is there much out of bounds that comes into play. When you look at this course on paper, it seems somewhat easy. Then you start playing and you think: you hit a ball into the rough on hole two and you say to yourself, 'Man, this hole is somehow tough.' And then if you don't hit the fairway on hole three, you think: 'Damn, I don't even know how I'm supposed to get the ball onto the green from here.' I feel like this golf course can be as frustrating as almost any other on Tour. But the bottom line is: if you play clean here, you'll be rewarded for it."
Defending champion Ludvig Aberg is also in a curious
