The 123rd United States Open was such a success last week at Los Angeles Country Club that the United States Golf Association is bringing it back to L.A. in the next decade, as Cal Golf News reported recently.
The USGA announced on Wednesday, three days after Wyndham Clark defeated third-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland by one stroke to win at LACC, that Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades will play host to the 2031 U. S. Open.
“We are so grateful that the USGA will return the U.S. Open to our club in 2031,” said Megan Watanabe, Chief Executive Officer at Riviera, who made a pitch to the USGA to hold the event at a smaller venue. “Over a six-year period, we will showcase our championship course to the world.
“ … Merion (Golf Club in Haverford, Pa., host of the 2013 U.S. Open) is probably about the same size we are. My thinking is if they can do it, I think we can do it.”
Riviera, designed by famed golf course architects George C. Thomas Jr. and William P, Bell, opened in 1926 and the 7,322-yard, par 71 course hosted the U.S. Open once before, when the great Ben Hogan claimed the title with a record score of 276.
Hogan also won the Los Angeles Open at Riviera in 1947 and 1948 and the course became known as “Hogan’s Alley.”
The L.A. Open, which dates to 1926 when Harry “Lighthorse” Cooper won the title, is now known as the Genesis Invitational and is played annually at Riviera, which is located just off Sunset Boulevard.
Riviera also will be the site of the 2006 U.S. Women’s Open on its centennial anniversary, and in addition the course will host the golf competition in the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. The club last hosted a major championship when Steve Elkington of Australia defeated Collin Montgomerie in a playoff in the 1999 PGA Championship.
In addition, Hal Sutton won the 1983 PGA Championship at Riviera and Hale Irwin claimed the U.S. Senior Open there in 1998.
Tiger Woods played in his first PGA Tour event as an amateur, the 1992 Los Angeles Open, when he was a 16-year-old sophomore from Cypress in nearby Orange County. Woods shot 72-75—147 and missed the cut by six strokes.
Famous members at Riviera included Humphrey Bogart, Gregory Peck, Walt Disney, Dean Martin and Katherine Hepburn.
Los Angeles Country Club will host the U.S. Women’s Open in 2032 and the U.S. Open again in 2039.
