It’s always great being back at Riviera Country Club for the Northern Trust Open.
It’s such a beautiful spot and I must thank all the staff at Viceroy Santa Monica, a lovely boutique hotel right on the beach, for the wonderful hospitality all week. It was a pleasure to stay with you and nice to see Ernie Els Wines signature blend on the menu!
Golf-wise, it was a pretty solid week and I left on Sunday evening feeling like I’d kept up the momentum we’d previously got going in the last two weeks of the European Tour’s Desert Swing. Admittedly it wasn’t the best of starts in the first round on Thursday but you don’t have to be far off with your game for that to happen on this classic old layout, with its small greens and tricky slopes. Riviera is definitely one of those courses where there’s a fine line between a birdie putt and a potential bogey.
The important thing was I quickly turned things around, playing some good stuff in the next three rounds and finishing really well on Sunday. Most pleasing of all again was my putting; I’m feeling comfortable over the ball and the stroke is repeating nicely, which was borne out by my stats. Also, my birdie count for the week was 18, a strong number on what is, as I said, a tricky golf course. The aim now is to keep building the momentum and contending for tournament wins as we move into the Florida Swing and beyond.
As you’ll probably know, the first leg of the Florida Swing tees off this week with the Honda Classic at PGA National, one of my favourite stops on the PGA TOUR. It’s a wonderful tournament, a great venue, and being in Palm Beach Gardens is just a short drive from our home here. Of course I also won this tournament back in 2008, so all in all, that’s a nice combination of factors that any player would appreciate.
The course was re-designed by Jack Nicklaus back in 1990 and is one of the toughest we face on Tour all year. The ‘Bear Trap’ holes of 15, 16 and 17 can be really treacherous and the stats will bear (sorry for the pun!) out that some big scores can be racked up over these three holes. The wind plays a huge factor here and looking at the forecast for the week we will be having some warm temperatures with a southerly wind direction, but starting on Thursday a front will come through and the wind will switch direction completely. Once again the tournament team have compiled a great field and I know that the local fans love coming out and supporting the event and watching good golf.
Before all that, though, we started the week at my home club, the Bear’s Club, for The Jake Pro-Am, Jack Nicklaus’ annual charity event raising funds for the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation. It’s an honour and a privilege to support Mr Nicklaus and this wonderful cause. The whole day is always a lot of fun, too.
Okay, that’s it for now. Follow me on Twitter @TheBig_Easy.
