Well, it lived up to it’s reputation yesterday at the Northern Trust Open! Truly one of the best finishing holes in all of golf, it gave us another jolt of electricity that will live on for many, many years in the history books. And lucky were the 10,000 or so fans that were hugged tightly around the green in the amazing amphitheatre setting.

This golf course and it’s 18th hole should be on every golfer’s bucket list. Sitting down in a beautiful ravine like small valley, the surrounding rim is dotted with some of the most beautiful estates in the world; looking down on a pristine piece of land that we golfers are lucky that a golf course landed there. And this course is truly loaded with amazing golf holes that are carved beautifully into the natural landscape…..The course starts with an easy par five that with today’s length off the tee is now more like a long par four. Jack Nicklaus once had to hit a driver to the par three #4. The famous #6 par three has the bunker in the middle of the green. Honestly, #9 may be one of the greatest and toughest par four’s on the planet, as you hit to a tiny two-tiered green, while both drive and second shot are hit uphill. Then, the best driveable par four on tour comes to you at #10. #’12 and 13 are very tough par four’s that wind through the trees, and fit perfectly into the natural shape of the land. #15 has consistently been the hardest hole on the course and was again this year; it slides left to right, and the green has four different sections.

But even with all this splendor over the first 17 holes, the 18th is the one we talk about. It is naturally one of the best holes in the world, and amphitheatre setting makes it even more special for the fans. The tee shot must clear 50 feet at about 190 yards from the tee in order to get you to the fairway. The fairway slopes left to right, and the right side is filled solid with the natural eucalyptus trees that reach upwards of 150 feet into the sky. The green then sits back a little to the right, so the hole truly plays as a dogleg right. And it is 480 yards uphill!! So you favor the left side but if you get in the left rough – forget it! You are on a sidehill lie in the thick kukuyu grass, and many, many bogeys have resulted. But if you slide right, then the trees get you….. So if you get it in the fairway, you have accomplished ½ the battle because the green complex area is a treat into itself. This green slopes pretty severely from back left to front right. Any ball that hits on the slope left of the green does not bounce onto the green because of the kukuyu. But if you push your second shot right of the green, you could go bounding down the slope away from the green. And most fun of all, thousands of people are sitting on the magnanimous hillside amphitheatre setting, and then even more just above in the skyboxes. Missing the green means you will have some sort of awkward stance because of the sever slope, and the grass is so difficult and thick.

But we saw two stars – one an old-timer with 40 wins and one a member of the new breed just on his second year on the tour – handle it with amazing grace on Sunday – and when it mattered most! Both Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley hit great drives, and then solid shots to the green. But they had to make their putts to force a playoff, and to the joy of the thousands there, they both made them. Bill Haas was over at the driving range warming up for a potential playoff (the range is only about 100 yards from the 18th green), and when the first roar came ripping out of the amphitheatre; he knew then that one of them had tied him. But then a second roar erupted equally as loud as the first one – the playoff would have three…….Man, it doesn’t get any better than that!! Drama and accomplishment when it mattered! Never in the history of this great golf course have two players in the same group, and the last group of the day, come to the last hole both needing birdie to tie, and both of them do it! The lore of Riviera and #18 just went up a few more notches!!

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