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Justin Thomas,
iron down the left side here at 10.
Well, there's my first surprise of the day is Justin Thomas with his length and power laying up on the 10th hole, but
He has laid that up absolutely perfect for that angle back to that back pin.
Dennis, what's the environment like down there?
It is really amazing. I mean, there's probably 2 or 300 people up by the green in the corner, and it's completely packed up on the right hand side of the tee box here.
There's probably the better part of a 1000 people already here on property, and we're talking about
before most people get up here in LA. It's a lazy morning in Play usually, but, it is gorgeous out here right now. The wind playing down breeze for the players, so it's definitely gettable.
Next on the tee, tournament host, please welcome Tiger Woods.
In 1992 as a 16 year old amateur.
He made his PGA
Tour debut.
Now at the age of 42 years old, Tiger makes his second start of the season.
And
Just the layup. What's your hair?
That's gonna be just fine at the left hand side. Should be good.
Oh,
Tiger.
Boy, does he look good, but he looks maybe a little bit better. I guess we all did back in 1992.
On the tee from Cypress, California,
amateur Tiger Woods.
On March 1, 1992,
a 16 year old kid named Tiger Woods made his PGA Tour debut at Riviera Country Club.
That crowd was so loud, and it was, like, kinda deafening.
Since then, Tiger has given that crowd much more to roar about. And
Oh, man. Can you believe that?
What a pressure fight.
After seeing it up at the Genesis Open for the first time Pro in 1997,
Tiger backed up 8 consecutive top 25 finishes, including 2 runner ups.
Come full circle. You know, to be a 16 year old teeing up at a PGA Tour event to now, couldn't have ever ever imagined.
He returns this week for the first time in 12 years, this time as tournament host.
Hard to believe that Tiger does not have a win at the Genesis
Open. Couple of runner-up finishes.
Worth noting in 1998, it wasn't here at Riviera.
It's down the road at Valencia Country Club as Riviera got ready to host the senior PGA championship.
99
finished second to Ernie Els.
And now KJ, who laid up into the fairway bunker, John?
Yeah. I think he was expecting that ball to be in the fairway, but it chased into that bunker.
To get it there was a
a really good shot,
and looks like he's gonna walk off of here with a
an easy 4, which
I guess in in all things, hasn't been that easy for a lot of players.
Finished 26 last week at Pebble Beach.
So his game may be starting to round into shape. Does Rivera fit one specific style of player?
I mean,
to me, I would say no. I mean, I think that it's it's really,
as I touched on earlier, it's it's a second shot golf course. Obviously, it's important to hit the ball on the fairway to control the ball, but It's not the recipe for success around here. You have to be a great iron player and you have to putt the ball really well,
to win around Riviera. But I I really don't think that it favors
one particular player. I mean, I think that anyone can get around. It's just all about
strategy and and staying patient with it.
Billy Hurley,
who just
lost a playoff
to Jordan Spieth to get on the player advisory committee. I don't know if you had a chance to see that on Twitter. Yeah. But the video is worth a look. That was a a pretty pretty funny,
campaign, I guess, that they had going, and and Billy did a good job with that. I saw the video the other day,
and and Jordan embraced it pretty well too when they talked to him about it. He laughed about it, and,
I I just saw
Another,
Instagram
photo about Jordan Spieth winning the campaign for
for the PAC chairman. Yeah. Not often do you see
2 people running against each other in a campaign where one endorses the other.
That's right. Pretty creative, though, by Billy Hurley. Here's KJ for 4.
And
Oh. Oh, well.
Not too surprising
because this is one of the most difficult courses to putt from 3 feet.
And we take a look.
5 out of the past 7 years, it has been the number one hardest course from 3 feet.
Tough to read. Sometimes Poana can get bumpy. What's the reason? Yeah. Obviously, early in the morning, they should be in great shape.
But, yes, as the day progresses, you'll get the footprints. The balls will bounce a little bit, and Poaena is a tough surface to putt on. It is a tough surface to read if you're not used to it or familiar with it.
But it's just you know, the these greens at Riviera, I feel like they have a lot of little
subtle breaks and stuff where they where they cut these hole locations, what makes it difficult to make these 3 footers. Well, let's head down to the ground. Dennis Paulson is with our first of 2 featured groups.
Perfect lie for Tiger and perfect angle. The problem is it's playing downwind. This shot, you want a little bit more wind in your face, but playing downwind,
and John, you you mentioned the fact that, you land short here. You're dealing with the little saddle of the bunker, and it's gonna skip left.
Flighting this down needs a huge hop. Oh my god. It's a big one. Needs another one, and that's looking good. Wow. That's talented right there. That was well and Control. Yeah. That was a great shot by Tiger. And like you said, Dennis, I mean, if he flew that about 5 or 10 more yards, that ball kicks left in the bunker.
And
Tiger just here we see him again. Just float flighted that nicely. Lands it short of that little saddle that Dennis just talked about, one hop, check,
like a 14 time major winner. And can Justin Thomas follow the leader?
How about this?
Wow. Well, I mean, I think, really, that's a
A product of leaving the ball in the right position off the tee even though they laid up. JT got it all the way down to the end of the fairway.
Hit a little low,
basically, like Tiger did. One hop, kinda checks, releases out like a putt.
Judge perfectly.
And now McIlroy.
Can't hit the green from here.
Didn't
there's no no chance. I think he was trying to find a place to play his 3rd from. There was no chance at the green from where he was.
Well, when we were analyzing the hole earlier, John, you put 2 big red x's right where McElroy was.
Yeah. That was, really surprising to see him. You know, I know he hit a 3 wood off the tee there and,
you know, it's golf. But to see him hit the ball to the right there, I mean, he knows that's the only place you can't hit it. So,
just, I guess, a poor swing for him to start off his round, but now
work cut out to get this ball up and down. We've seen
So many players leave these bunker shots in the bunker for their first try.
So, Dennis, I'll ask you. If you know where you can't hit it, isn't it gnawing at you in your brain? How do you block that out?
Well and that's the whole thing. I mean, you gotta take one part of this whole out of play, and and There really isn't a place to miss here at number 10 except for left over here by the bottom brush trees in short. But then you're not really going for the green, and depend upon the lie. I didn't get to see the lie, but, this is actually very doable if he doesn't have a downhill lie.
And Well done.
I guess hitting it right is not so bad after all.
And
A, little smile there by McElroy. He knows he
really stole one with the birdie there on 10th from where his tee shot was.
Yeah. Murray.
That was more than doable.
That is worth
that is worth one more look.
Even McElroy knows.
And
I mean, that that was just
executed perfectly. I mean, it the ball Comes out, checks, releases like a putt. He read it perfect. Just
a ho birdie.
Well, as if the crowds weren't excited enough, that should get them pretty frothy. A little chum in the water now. Birdies on the card.
And we'll skip back to the t as our first of 2 featured groups.
Waves up, Matt Kuchar,
Phil Mickelson, and Tommy Fleetwood.
And you see everybody guarding their eyes, trying to look down the fairway. Good indicator that the sun now starting to rise and getting down in the canyons
of Riviera.
Yeah.
Looks like they're
they're trying to figure out if the group has gotten off the green yet to
Send these guys on their way.
They should be able to see that they're standing behind the green with their hands folded. Everybody's out of the way, and I'm not sure what's going on here.
And Maybe there hasn't been an announcement yet.
Yeah. It looks like they're they're just confused as to whether or not they're waiting for them, but looks like they got the green light here.
And
Well, gentlemen. And the first to play gentlemen, this is a 732
time 30
732 tee time. The players are mister Kucher, mister Mickelson, and mister Fleetwood.
1st on the tee from Sea Island, Georgia, please welcome Matt
Kuchar.
39 year old Matt Kuchar
It's 83rd in the race for the FedEx Cup title
and 18th in the world.
And Kucher going with the driver there. I predicted Kucher would be a layup off this 10th tee. So we've seen Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas layup. And Kucher this. Could this be the first one? Layup and Kutcher is this? Could this be the first one?
So close,
but yet so far.
So wrong. And now look at this shot that he's gonna be facing. Downhill lie, A flop over the bunker. I mean,
such a great tee shot to end up with that kind of result.
2 time champion went back to back. Did Phil Mickelson in 0809?
The chief in hand.
And
Plenty of firepower.
Good line. Now cutting a little bit. That's long. That side of team from England. We work on Bobby. We work. And
we can see the ball there, so it may not be sitting too badly. And
We know Phil's got one of the best flop shots ever.
He's gonna need it because that's what he's gonna have to hit. No other option.
Well, if you don't know much about Tommy Fleetwood, get ready to have some fun.
A wonderful striker of the golf ball ranked 13th in the world.
He's been a good player for a long time all the way back to his amateur career.
And
Great line.
This is a little French.
And
Oh, little unlucky there. That ball just kinda
semi plugged when it landed there instead of bouncing up on the green or just beyond.
Well, how about that? Would you have thought Matt Kuchar
the most times driving the 10th hole for Aaron Badley is a champion here.
Maybe it's Kucher's turn if 10th has anything to say about it.
2,006, John, on Sunday, you started with Eagle, drove it to 7 feet.
Tiger for birdie.
Right to left, and this has got some pace. This is a putt that you gotta be careful that it can get away from. Yeah. It's one of those you've spin this out on the high edge, you can really kinda miss, but this will be out of the hole. There shouldn't be a lot in it. It is a little downhill,
And is wind aided right now? The wind pretty fresh right now at 10.
And
McIlroy
from the bunker.
Woods from the center of the green. Two birdies.
And,
boy, his putting stroke, John, looked great at Torrey, and he picks up right where he left off. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, have you seen anybody ever in the game putt on Poana Greens as good as Tiger Woods? I mean, that ball rolled end over in perfectly right in the center of the cup. Great start for Tiger Woods.
And Now Thomas.
Not much in this. Just firm it. Just back up the hill. And
Alright. An all around good putt. All around good hold for this threesome. Flushed it. Birdie. Birdie. Birdie. We are It's off and running here at PGA Tour live. Stick with us. So much more to come from Riviera.
And
Set for detonation.
Justin Thomas here on 11th.
Hey. This is just
bombs away here for
for JT on this 11th hole. I mean, a Dead straight hole. Sometimes, they're the most difficult to hit, but no problem there for Justin Thomas. So he should have a pretty good go with this green in 2.
And our first look at Tiger Woods, new shaft excuse me. It'll be McElroy then Tiger.
This may have a vapor trail behind it after hauling out for bunker. He will be amped up.
And now our first look at Tiger Woods with driver in hand. Johnny replaced the shaft, added some loft to his driver. What does that do for him? Well, it's gonna give him a little more control, probably get a little bit more spin on the golf ball,
which, you know, spin is control. I know you don't want too much, so there's a fine line. But,
this is gonna be the the big club for Tiger. He's done everything in his return well except drive the ball.
And that looked a little late there to the right, but he doesn't seem too anxious about it.
And we'll go
we'll find that one, but first, Phil Mickelson.
Oh my goodness. What does he have?
And
Well
and as Phil looks his over,
Tries to figure out what to do. We'll watch Tommy Fleetwood. Yeah. This is a great look here from behind, Tommy. That little knob you see on the bunker, that's the challenge here. Flying it beyond that and stopping it in
time.
It's gotta stop.
Okay.
Not too bad there. That's a pretty easy putt back up the hill.
And now a fill.
And
Is that lie something he can work with? It really didn't look that bad to me. And, you know, these are the types of shots that Phil Mickelson loves to play. I mean, he he loves the challenge around the greens and,
You know, he
he's, right now, just trying to visualize, I'm sure, where to to try to carry the ball or land the ball. But
He is gonna send this ball straight up in the air. And,
if anybody anybody can pull this shot off, this is the man you'd want hitting the shot for you.
And Oh, it looked like he caught that. Obviously, a little heavy.
Big divot came out of there. So
And Kucher with a better live, but in the same predicament.
It's such a good tee shot to be
and To result in this type of angle and pitch.
Easy. Oh, got a lot of spin on that ball. That was well done there by Kucher.
Well, from one Olympic medalist to another, we send it down to Dennis Paulson with a special guest.
Gentlemen, thanks a lot. Kyle Lowry. I when I was told I was gonna interview a basketball player, I figured I'd be talking to somebody up here just 6 feet of men. You're here for the, all star game this week, and You're a golf geek Yeah. Which is awesome. Yeah. I'm here for the all star weekend, but I got an opportunity to come out here and watch this, great tournament, See a great group in front of me, a great group of guys. This is fantastic.
It's a kind of a dream come true. We're talking about before we got Started here and, you said, man, how can you get this many people quiet? I I don't have that happening when I'm playing my game. Listen. We got 20,000 people screaming and hollering. I think I play a lot better That and how quiet the the fans are here. Isn't that weird? You know, as a tour player,
my scariest moment ever was at the at Saint Andrews in 2000. We're on the 18th hole, and there's
Talking trash because it makes it a lot easier for me. Well, your golf game, you said you're in 14a half Yeah. But you're you actually have got the bug, don't you? Yeah. I love the game. I play every opportunity and And,
on during the season on the road, you know, I think the game in the NBA the golf game,
has taken a bug to all the NBA players. It's something competitive that we all love to do. It's fun.
This is something we can get out there and all do together. Thanks for your time. We're here to be with me for a couple of holes. We'll be hanging out and watching Tiger play some golf. Yeah. I Twitter. I'm excited. Alright, guys. Back to you. With that. Now Phil has 3rd shot on 10th.
And Stay. Stay. Yep. Feel very fortunate there. You've that ball that ball of his didn't roll back in his pitch mark that it made in the sand. So
And
as we watch Phil
somehow try to figure out a way to to save
par. We can report that Tiger Woods, his drive never came out of the trees down the right side.
So he's going to re tee and replay the shot.
So what's the ruling
if it stays in the tree? Well, if you if you can't identify the ball, which these towering eucalyptus trees out here at Riviera,
you can tell how difficult it'd be to get up there and identify a golf ball, Then it's deemed to be a lost ball. So,
his only option is to to go back to where he last played the previous shot with a penalty, and Tiger's playing his 3rd.
So a little bit of a hip and
a hop for Tiger Woods on the first two holes. Birdie's the 10th,
is first of the day and then loses a ball in the trees
here at 11. You're gonna miss the 3 shots. Yeah.
Much better swing there the second go around. He, you know, looked a little late, on that first swing, left it out to the right, but that swing definitely looked like he Release the club nicely and and was able to get it back in the fairway. So
see if he can maybe knock it on the green and make a bogey and get out of here.
Alright. Dennis and Kyle are down with Justin Thomas. He's set to play his second here on 11th.
Right down the center of the fairway, we're still back at the tee guys. I'm not gonna, lie to you because, I'm not I'm not gonna be able to see him hit it to the green as the green is cleared. Tiger's ball, though, guys,
2nd one, stripe, is Thomas is set to play now. I just only 2 and a half.
Immediate reaction would indicate that he does not like it and for good reason.
Yeah. Not his
Not his best swing there, but he's got a lot of green to work with. I mean, missing that to the right would be the the mistake there.
So over there on the left side, It's just all gonna be lie dependent.
And somewhere in there is Rory McIlroy.
But first,
it will be Tiger.
And this, John, would be his 3rd and shot. This will be his 4th shot. He, played his 3rd from the tee,
so this will be his 4th. So, you know, if he could somehow
and Knock this on or up around the green, he could still manage to
get out of here with a bogey. I guess mathematically still a pars in play.
Work left to get that one up and down just to save Bogey.
So Tiger
off the tee, hits the right trees, and now with his 4th shot, hits the left trees. Back to 10 with Kooch.
And
Yeah.
I think
great drive,
tough result where that tee shot ended up, but
An easy four there for Matt Kuchar. I don't think he's gonna be too disappointed walking off at the off that green with a par.
Well, so far, the 10th,
Five birdies, 5 pars, 4 bogeys,
and a double.
Can order anything on the menu here at the 10th, can't you? Yes. You Can. I mean, it's again, it's kinda what we touched on at the beginning of the show here talking about
how good
Of a short drivable par 4 this really is and how difficult it can be.
Great look here by our camera crew.
They work so hard to bring us the best shots from around the course.
Alright. Great save there for Mickelson.
And Hard work and par there for Phil.
It's a misleading stat
At 10th is one of the easiest greens at Riviera to putt
because nobody's hitting the green.
Yeah. I mean, everybody like, we see here, Fleetwood putting from Really only about 12 or 13 feet, but he's just off the edge of the green. So
And up to McElroy at 11. 3rd shot.
And
Oh, and
that is where he did not want to to hit that golf ball, especially with a
Looked like a little flighted, kinda lob wedge shot that he tried to to play to that back pin there on 11. So
But what started with so much promise, 3 birdies on their first hole today has turned to consternation.
What do you think? Tigers getting ready to hit his 5th.
McElroy is long in 3,
and Justin Thomas is way left.
Dennis and Kyle down with us. Tiger is 5th shot now.
Yeah. This ball just got in the rough sitting down a little bit. And the wind, they really missed the weather today. I mean, they're saying 5 or 6 miles an hour. It's Going what? 8 to 12 right now maybe? Right now, Dennis. Easy. In Tiger's face out of the left.
Yeah. This is all about control the ball on the ground.
It's pretty well charged right there. Very good shot. Very good shot.
Oh, we saw him hit a nice controlled wedge.
John on his first hole. He does it again here out of the Kikuyu.