‘A horrible change’ – Rory McIlroy annoyed by major course revamp at $20m event

Rory McIlroy has voiced his disdain about a major course change at the Genesis Invitational.

The PGA Tour event takes place at Riviera Country Club this week, which is widely considered to be one of the finest courses in America.

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Scottie Scheffler has spoken about the course, which has no water or out-of-bounds play but still provides a wicked test.

“When you look at this golf course and you look at it on paper, it seems kind of easy,” Scheffler said this week.

“Then you start playing it… then the golf course just eats away at you over time. I feel like this golf course can be about as frustrating to play as any on Tour, just with the little tricks that it has.”

Pros aren’t happy about change

However, a change to the par-3 fourth hole, which has been extended from 230 yards to 273, hasn’t gone down well with the pros.

Indeed, the hole was considered to be the third-hardest hole back in 2024 as it yielded just 11 birdies compared to 60 bogeys.

Speaking ahead of the event, which starts today and runs until Sunday, McIlroy believes it is ‘a horrible change’.

He said: “I don’t think four plays any differently, you’re just hitting a slightly longer club. I actually think it’s a horrible change.

“Like if you want it to be a 275-yard par-3, you have to change the apron leading up onto the green.

“It can’t be kikuyu, it has to be another type of grass that can help you run it onto the green because again, in the right conditions, you try to fly that ball on the green with a 3-iron, it’s going to land – it’s going to finish up on the fifth tee box.

That’s sort of what I mean by why it’s not a great change.”

US Open champion J.J. Spaun added: “The problem with it being soft is that you can’t really use the Redan as it’s intended to be used by design.

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“But with how soft the greens are, you can pretty much just fly it at the green and it should plug and roll out maybe to the mid-centre or back-centre of the green… three 3s or four 3s there is going to be a pretty good score this week.”

“Hit and hope!

Collin Morikawa also voiced his displeasure at the how little thought has gone into the hole, and dubbed it a ‘hit and hope’.

“It’s too soft, unfortunately, to have a lot of control to say, ‘Man, I’m going to play a tight 5-iron and run it up’,” Morikawa, who won the Pebble Beach Pro-Am last weekend, said.

“I think a lot of us play it left to chip uphill, but with a 3-wood in hand, that cart path on the left honestly comes into play because the dispersion just gets that much bigger.

“There’s not a lot of thought to it other than just kind of hitting the green and moving on, unfortunately.”

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Swede Ludvig Aberg is hoping to defend his Genesis Invitational crown this week having won at Torrey Pines last year after the tournament moved owing to the wildfires in the LA area.

The weather will again play a factor this time around, the course having seen a lot of rain in recent days.

talkSPORT 2 will have live commentary of the $20million Signature Event this week.