On Sunday night, after the conclusion of the Genesis Invitational, PGA Tour player Adam Schenk took to X to complain about Riviera Country Club’s difficult par 3 fourth hole.

?.?? Riv but #4 is terrible. Can get behind 10 bc so entertaining & adds value. 17 fun/fair holes & hole 4? @TigerWoods Ask them, no tell them to grow poana short of 4 for the left 2/3 of green rewarding good shots & keep current grass short on right 1/3 of green ??????? https://t.co/Pcya3GQWYy

— Adam Schenk (@acschenk1) February 19, 2024

Schenk isn’t alone in thinking that the fourth hole at Riv is too demanding, but there are also plenty of players and fans who love the hole.

Ben Hogan called the hole “The greatest par-3 hole in America.”

Smylie Kaufman also said that he believes the hole is more about luck than skill.

I grit my teeth every time the 4th hole at Riviera CC comes on. @ColtKnost mentioned yesterday 16% of players found the green in regulation last year (I believe was the stat). I’m all for challenging the players but the hole doesn’t reward great shots. It rewards a lucky bounce

— Smylie Kaufman (@SmylieKaufman10) February 18, 2024

Ultimately, there is a fine line between challenging and unfair, and the 4th at Riviera will continue to generate mixed opinions on which category it falls under.

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On Sunday at Riviera, Hideki Matsuyama shot one of the most impressive rounds in the history of the event.

The Japanese star was six shots back of Patrick Cantlay to begin his final round with a handful of very good players ahead of him as well. Matsuyama went on to shoot 62 and won the event by an unthinkable three shots. During the round, Hideki made a few incredible shots including a dart on the par 4th 15th to less than a foot.

HIDEKI NEARLY EAGLES 15? pic.twitter.com/jzTFV8wrS1

— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) February 18, 2024

After the round, Matsuyama spoke to Golf on CBS’ Amanda Renner via a translator about the round. Inexplicably, the 2021 Masters Champion said he felt like three over par on the day.

Hideki says he feels like he shot 3 over par today ? @thegenesisinv pic.twitter.com/8Q3cdePqcc

— Golf on CBS ? (@GolfonCBS) February 19, 2024

Renner seemed shock by the comment and took to X later to share her thoughts.

My chill here was… zero. https://t.co/zBfh8n51BU

— Amanda Balionis Renner (@Amanda_Balionis) February 19, 2024

“My chill here was… zero,” she said.

Hideki is truly one of a kind!

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Four time European Tour winner, Ken Brown, is in Kenya this week for the first time since he won the event 40 years ago. The DP World Tour X account shared a post where Brown details how much the yardage books have evolved in that time frame.

40 years since @KenBrownGolf won in Kenya, he compares his 1984 yardage book to the one the players will use this week ?#MKO2024 pic.twitter.com/5EvvG9QG7a

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 19, 2024

Brown says jokingly that “what you had for breakfast” is in today’s books and adds “It’s got how far every single yardage is from all the different spots, it’s fantastic.”

“This is a massive, massive improvement. It saves you a lot of work because we used to have to try and do this whilst we were having a practice round.”

Brown said that players used to get together after rounds to compare notes about the course.

“A lot of us used to get together at the end of the day and say, ‘What did you get from that spot?’”

Yardage books have certainly made preparation for tournaments much easier for current professionals.

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