Welcome to GOLF.com’s “Seen & Heard” video series, in which we give you an inside look at golf’s biggest events through the eyes and ears of our onsite crew. On deck this week: the 2024 Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles. Let’s go!
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Genesis Invitational week brings with it one of the most anticipated events on this year’s PGA Tour schedule thanks to the return of a certain red-wearing individual.
With Tiger Woods set to start his 2024 season at Riviera — where he is also the tournament host — GOLF’s team arrived Monday in L.A. to settle in for the action.
First up was a quick stop to Penmar Golf Course, a local Los Angeles municipal course that our Sean Zak calls one of the best “hangs” in town.
“This is one of my favorite first tees in golf,” Sean said. “You wouldn’t necessarily think that looking at it because it’s just a municipal course … but you sit here and just see strangers meet up.
“Then they go out and play this classic, very average golf course embedded in a city of four million people.”
This was all an appetizer for Monday night, as Woods was set to unveil his new clothing brand, Sun Day Red, at a launch party in Santa Monica. Our team got dressed up to go get the inside scoop on the Woods’ new threads.
“To have this opportunity to launch my brand here, at this golf course, at this venue, it just all makes sense,” Woods said at the launch. “The timing just couldn’t be more perfect.”
Sean and Claire Rogers both got to take a sneak peak at some of the brand’s new product lines, including hats, gloves, shirts, sweatshirts, headcovers and shoes. They even got to take home some samples of towels, gloves, tees and shorts.
The brand also created a new logo for Woods, featuring a jumping tiger with 15 stripes, one from each of his major titles.
While Monday was all about Woods’ new brand, by Tuesday, it was time to see him in action on the PGA Tour for the first time in 10 months.
“Tuesdays are my favorite day at golf tournaments because Monday, people are just starting to show up, there’s not a lot going on. Wednesday people are really head down, preparing for a tournament,” Claire said. “Tuesday is the day for fun in between; you can hi to everyone. People are a little more loose and willing to chat.”
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Tuesday is also the day when pre-tournament press conferences begin and last week’s winner, Nick Taylor was on the docket. Sean talked to Taylor later on the range about the potential for the Canadian to make the Olympics and Presidents Cup teams. However, Taylor didn’t want to look too far ahead.
“Sorry that I put that in his head,” Sean said.
Our team finished up the day by checking out the tower room in the Riviera clubhouse, a place Sean calls one of the coolest rooms on the PGA Tour.
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