Tiger Woods’s Stats: Riviera’s Past Horrors Explored

The Riviera Country Club is one riddle that Tiger Woods could never solve! Over the last three decades, the GOAT has made several records at Torrey Pines and beat most of the courses; however, Riviera CC remains undefeated for the 82-time PGA Tour winner.

There were a couple of times that Woods could have won a title at the Pacific Palisade in California, but in the end, either he shanked the last hole or could never gear up to dominate the Riviera Country Club. Though there were some top finishes he had, what were those?

Tiger Woods’s indifferent play at Riviera Country Club

1992 and 1993: The Riviera CC holds a special place since it was the hometown of the 48-year-old and the place where he played his first PGA Tour event in 1992, the Los Angeles Open. At that time, the 17-year-old failed to make the cut with 72-75 rounds and deemed it a “learning experience.” The next year, as an amateur, Woods was seven strokes away from making the 54-hole event (cut short due to weather), and ended up missing the cut.

1997 and 1998: Three years passed, and Woods returned to Riviera as a professional in 1997. Woods carded the first round of 70 and finished 3 under 281 at T20, 11 strokes away from the lead. The next year, Woods returned to the Nissan Open. The event, however, didn’t return to Riviera as the U.S. Senior Open was hosted there. Woods was nonetheless defeated by Billy Mayfair in the playoffs.

1999: For the next seven years, the 15-time major champion never missed a single edition at Riviera. His best score in Riviera was in 1999, when Woods was coming off as a champion from the Buick Invitational but failed to convert it into a win and shanked the last hole, finishing 12 under 272 tied at second.

2000 and 2001: In one of the best seasons of his career, in 2000, Woods won three majors and six different events, although he yet again could not win at Riviera. He finished T18 and had the second-worst finish of his 2000 season at the Nissan Open. In 2001, Woods attained his iconic ‘Tiger Slam’ in April after earning his fourth major. However, Woods did not enter the top 10 at Riviera and finished T13 with 279 posts under his name.

2002 and 2003: Woods had to miss the 2002 game at Riviera as he was recovering from the flu. However, when he came back in 2003, the Jupiter resident carded his second-best finish of fifth spot at Riveria with a closing round of 65.

The worst performance by Woods at Riviera CC

2004, 2005, and 2006: In 2004, Woods started with 2 over 72 on the first day but carded 64 for the last round and positioned himself at T7 with 10 under 274. Woods hitting over seventy Riviera shouldn’t be shocking, as it’s sort of a norm for him. The next year, Riviera faced an unexpected obstacle of weather, which turned the game into a 36-hole only. Woods finished T13 with a closing round score of 70. In 2006, he had to withdraw from the event because of his health.

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2018: From 2008 to 2017, Woods did not play at the event for a decade. But when he came back at the 2018 edition, Woods was named the host of the event and had it on the same Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus‘s hosted events. However, the host could not make a cut and cited, “I’ve just got to play more tournaments.”

2019 & 2020: In 2019, Woods started with 70 in the first round, but a round later, 65 kept him at T15 as he then closed the game with a round of 72. The next year, Woods’s finish at the Riviera CC was the worst in his career. He scored 11 over 295 and finished T68. In 2021, Woods missed playing at Riviera as he was met with a near-fatal accident.

2023: Last year’s performance was better than before. Woods started with 69 under; the next three rounds were 74-67-73. In the end, Woods finished 1 over 283. He was tied at 45 on the leaderboard and still could not make Riviera his.

In the 2024 edition, the 48-year-old is at T49 after round one with 1 over 72. Will Tiger Woods break his bad luck at Riviera and claim it as his? Only time will tell!

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