The Genesis: At Riviera, memories of Hogan, Bogart, and a kid named Jaeckel

PACIFIC PALISADES — It may be the best drive in golf. On a freeway, not a fairway. Pebble Beach to Pacific Palisades, 324 miles.  

From one great course, Pebble, to another, Riviera, celebrating its 100th anniversary.

From one historic tournament, the AT&T Pro Am (formerly the Crosby), to the Genesis Invitational (formerly the LA Open). From the place with the Cliffs of Doom to the place known as Hogan’s Alley.

Yes, Ben Hogan had three victories at Riviera, including the 1948 US Open. There is a statue of him next to the practice putting green.

While Pebble has that famous closing hole, the one Colin Morikawa birdied Sunday to take the AT&T, Riviera has a spectacular opening hole, a par-5 from a tee box virtually attached to the beautiful stucco clubhouse. 

Earlier this week at his annual pre-tournament news conference, Tiger Woods alluded to the first hole, an icon that has been unaltered through the decades. Tiger first played Riviera as a 16-year-old amateur in 1992, but through the years as a pro, it’s one of the places where he has never won. Now at age 50 and still recovering from surgery, he remains involved with the Genesis on the tournament board.

We have waited for the next Tiger so long that it’s apparent there is not going to be one. Yet it is also apparent there are stars such as Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, both of whom are entered in the Genesis, which started Thursday. 

It’s a delightful return to Riviera this year after the event in 2025 had to move to Torrey Pines in San Diego because of the damage from the wildfires that swept Southern California.

While the architecture of a course is essential for its fame, so in certain areas—such as here near Hollywood—are the people who have played it. The roll call of those who belonged or played Riviera is a who’s who of the entertainment and sporting world. 

On the clubhouse walls are photos of Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey. Howard Hughes once landed a plane on the course. The late (it would be redundant to say great) sports columnist Jim Murray was a Riviera member and once made a hole-in-one on the sixth, the par three with a bunker in the green.

Murray dwelled on the fact that during a tournament, Humphrey Bogart used to sit for hours under a sycamore tree on the 12th hole with a thermos containing “who knows what?”

Dean Martin was a serious golfer. When he was younger—and we all were younger—his caddy was a kid named Barry Jaeckel, who not only was a fine golfer but the son of an actor, Richard Jaeckel. Barry longed for a golf career and succeeded in playing on the PGA Tour and eventually the Champions Tour. 

If that sounds like something scripted in Hollywood, hey, Riviera always had a connection with people on the silver screen.