Rory McIlroy Sounds the Alarm on Riviera’s Greens: “That’s the Hard Thing”
GOLF AUSTRALIAN OPEN, Northern Ireland s Rory McIlroy reacts on the fairway after playing a shot on hole 14 in round two of the Australian Open Golf tournament at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Friday, December 5, 2025. NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY MELBOURNE VICTORIA AUSTRALIA PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxAUSxNZLxPNGxFIJxVANxSOLxTGA Copyright: xJAMESxROSSx 20251205175830474051
GOLF AUSTRALIAN OPEN, Northern Ireland s Rory McIlroy reacts on the fairway after playing a shot on hole 14 in round two of the Australian Open Golf tournament at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Friday, December 5, 2025. NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY MELBOURNE VICTORIA AUSTRALIA PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxAUSxNZLxPNGxFIJxVANxSOLxTGA Copyright: xJAMESxROSSx 20251205175830474051
The surface at Riviera is already drawing comments. After his opening round, Rory McIlroy detailed a deceptive quality about Riviera's greens that is challenging even the world's best golfers.
Fellow star Collin Morikawa, after ending the first round at T5 with a three-under 68, claimed that Riviera Country Club had the softest greens he’s ever played on. And McIlroy had to agree.
“It's like they're soft, but they're fast, I think that's the hard thing. It's like last week at Pebble, they were soft, but they were slow because they're worried about the wind," Rory McIlroy said, talking to the media at the 2026 Genesis Invitational.
"Here, they're so fast. The ball just starts to get away from you a little bit, especially if it spins back," the world number two added.
GOLF AUSTRALIAN OPEN, Northern Ireland s Rory McIlroy looks on after teeing off on the third hole during round four of the Australian Open Golf tournament at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Sunday, December 7, 2025. NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY MELBOURNE VICTORIA AUSTRALIA PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxAUSxNZLxPNGxFIJxVANxSOLxTGA Copyright: xJAMESxROSSx 20251207115494266978
GOLF AUSTRALIAN OPEN, Northern Ireland s Rory McIlroy looks on after teeing off on the third hole during round four of the Australian Open Golf tournament at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Sunday, December 7, 2025. NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY MELBOURNE VICTORIA AUSTRALIA PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxAUSxNZLxPNGxFIJxVANxSOLxTGA Copyright: xJAMESxROSSx 20251207115494266978
The wind forced McIlroy to swing a lot harder. But that also took away the spin from the ball. The gameplay pushed him towards conservative play instead of being aggressive.
“I'm hitting a lot of just little chippy 7-irons and 8-irons,” he continued. “And even that 9-iron at the last I hit, it was 186, I hit a full-blooded 9-iron thinking that, you know, 25 miles an hour downwind, it's not going to come back too much, and it came back 30 feet.”
On top of being soft and fast, many greens at Riviera are “pitched quite severely from back to front.” And that makes the course a bit difficult. But McIlroy isn’t disappointed with the difficulty level.
Rory McIlroy Is Actually Comfortable at Riviera
Talking to the media, McIlroy confessed, “I've definitely got more comfortable playing in conditions like this over the past few years as I've gotten more comfortable in controlling my ball flight."
While the winds gusting upto gusting up to 25 mph forced extreme adjustments, it only added to the challenge that Rory McIlroy enjoyed.
While he claimed to enjoy the current style of golf, things were different a decade ago. A major shift in his mindset and continuously building upon his existing skillset seem to be the key to his dominant run at the Genesis Invitational round one.
“When it does get to conditions like this, I'm a lot more prepared. I wouldn't say I enjoy them, but I can certainly handle them better.”
Rory McIlroy understands Riviera’s tricky greens and adjusts his approach to manage spin and distance. If he maintains control through the weekend, he can stay in contention and push for a strong finish.
Yet, what do you think? Tell us in the comments and follow Club Golf for more.
Written by
Krushna Pattnaik
Edited by
Sagnik Bagchi