Scottie Scheffler’s incredible top-10 streak ends; scottie still stymied at Riviera
Scottie Scheffler’s run of 18 consecutive top-10s ended at The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, and scottie left Los Angeles with a familiar sense of frustration about the venue. The World No. 1 rallied late in the final round but finished tied for 12th after a dramatic week at the George C. Thomas design.
Riviera’s long, strange history
Riviera Country Club, a George C. Thomas design, is one of golf’s great cathedrals. The course has hosted U. S. Opens and PGA Championships and, since 1973, has played host to the PGA Tour’s LA Open, now the Genesis Invitational. A long list of golfing greats have triumphed there: Hogan, Snead, Watson, Nelson, Mickelson, Couples, Faldo, Els and Scott. But the venue has also confounded some of the best players of their generations.
Tiger Woods and Riviera woes
Jack, Tiger and Rory are among the greats who have been unable to get it over the line at Riviera. Tiger Woods has made 15 starts at Riviera, including his PGA Tour debut as a 16-year-old amateur in 1992. He has made 10 cuts but just three top 10s, including a runner-up finish to Ernie Els in 1999. Woods has called the result frustrating and has pointed to the unpredictability of Poa annua greens; in 2024 he said the course had been “very comfortable visually” but for some reason he “just haven’t put it together at this event other than one time with a chance. ” Nicklaus had two runner-up finishes at Riviera but never won, and Rory McIlroy’s T2 Sunday was his best finish in Pacific Palisades. Max Homa in 2023 said, “It makes absolutely no sense, ” about Woods being unable to win at Riviera, and Adam Scott in 2023 described Woods as “a really great iron player” and called the situation “a little bit inexplicable. ”
Poa annua greens and conditions
Players and observers have pointed to the bumpiness of Poa annua greens and to course characteristics that demand control of spin and trajectory while attacking small, tricky greens—features that in theory should suit great iron players but have nonetheless produced odd results. Conditions were difficult on Thursday at this Genesis Invitational, with wind kicking up and Poa annua greens getting bumpier in the afternoon.
Scottie’s week: stumble, save, surge
Scheffler arrived at Riviera with a checkered history: he missed the match-play cut at the 2017 U. S. Amateur and missed the cut as an amateur at the Genesis Open in 2018. As a professional he entered the week with four top-20s at Riviera but had never finished within six shots of the lead. He also arrived riding an 18-consecutive top-10 streak, the longest streak by any golfer in the modern era and the longest since the tour began keeping official stats in 1983.
The damage began early. Scheffler opened with a three-over 74 and found himself walking the cutline; in the first round he went 5-over through 10 holes when play was called for the day on Thursday. He made a few birdies in the wee hours of Friday to finish 3 over in his first 18 and holed a par putt on 18 on Friday to make the cut. He rebounded with a 3-under 68 in the second round and a 66 on Saturday.
Scottie’s closing surge falls short
On Sunday Scheffler’s final round began even-par through seven holes before he rattled off six birdies in his last 12 holes, including a back-nine 31 and a 6-under 65 for the day. He hit a 21-foot putt on the 18th that needed a birdie to get into the top 10; the putt stopped an inch in front of the hole. That margin, and late moves by others, left Scheffler in a tie for 12th and ended his streak of 18 straight top-10s and his run of eight straight top-four finishes.
Leaderboard shifts and key moments
Jacob Bridgeman began Sunday with a six-shot lead that grew to seven at one point and the 26-year-old hung on for a one-shot victory. Down the leaderboard, Tommy Fleetwood vaulted past Scheffler after an eagle hole out from 173 yards on No. 15, and Cameron Young birdied his final three holes to move past Scheffler. Those events combined to drop Scheffler to T-12 and close his historic streak.
“I don't know, this place and I have like a weird relationship, ” Scheffler said after holing a par putt on 18 on Friday to make the cut. He added, “I've never been one to quit, so it's not really – I mean, I'd feel pretty silly to quit in a PGA TOUR event, ” and noted that getting early tee times on fresher greens and less wind helped: “It's easier playing in the morning than it is late in the day. Took advantage of it. Then I had another solid day today. ”
Scheffler is expected to next start in two weeks at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, followed immediately by THE PLAYERS Championship; he has won both events twice.
For now, Riviera retains its mystique: a George C. Thomas course where legends have won and where, for some of the game’s best, an answer remains elusive.
