Tiger Woods-hosted Genesis Invitational to be relocated due to L.A. wildfires

The PGA Tour is moving the Genesis Invitational out of Riviera next month out of respect for the deadly wildfires that have decimated parts of Los Angeles, including the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood where Riviera is located.

Still to be determined is where the $20 million US signature event, with Tiger Woods as the tournament host, will relocate for Feb. 13-16.

One option is another golf course that already is part of the West Coast Swing, away from Los Angeles, which would limit the costs and hours required to build out a tournament site with everything from grandstands to corporate hospitality to television structures.

Riviera, which sits just south of Sunset Boulevard and about 4 miles from the Pacific Ocean, was not damaged in the fires that have killed at least 25 people and destroyed more than 12,000 structures.

Woods said real life carries more weight than the tournament.

"It's just sad," Woods told reporters in the SoFi Center after his debut TGL match on Tuesday. "Max [Homa] and I have grown up there. We're SoCal kids. To see what has happened, I've known a couple of people who lost everything, so it's just hard.

"As far as the Genesis, we're just trying to figure everything out and make sure that everyone is safe and we have meetings scheduled going forward. But as of right now, we're not really focused on the tournament. It's more about what we can do to help everyone who's struggling, who has lost homes and had their lives changed."

The tour has resisted any decision until some movement had been made on containing fires. It decided to relocate in collaboration with title sponsor Genesis, Riviera Country Club and TGR Live, which hosts the event.

The announcement of a new venue is expected in the coming days.

Riviera to host U.S. Women's Open in 2026

"The PGA Tour is identifying the most impactful ways the tournament can support the Los Angeles community and the ongoing relief efforts," it said in a statement, encouraging people to help with support on its website.

Riviera was founded 99 years ago and has hosted U.S. Open and the PGA Championship. The club is scheduled to host the U.S. Women's Open for the first time in 2026, and the golf competition for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. It also will host the U.S. Open in 2031 for the first time since 1948.

This will be the first time what previously was called the Los Angeles Open is not at Riviera since 1998, when it was held at the TPC Valencia because Riviera was preparing to host the U.S. Senior Open that year.

The tournament, which benefits Woods's TGR Foundation, was first held at Riviera in 1929.

Firefighters are still battling the two largest fires (Palisades and Eaton). Still to come is clearing ravaged communities of toxic ash and debris before any effort to rebuild. Officials said Thursday residents will have to wait at least another week to start inspecting what's left of their homes because of dangerous debris in burned areas.

Woods has an exemption to play any of the signature events this year. The Genesis Invitational is the only non-major he has played on the PGA Tour schedule since his 2021 car crash.

He said on Tuesday during his TMRW Golf League debut, "We're trying to just figure everything out and make sure that everyone is safe, and we have meetings scheduled going forward."

"But as of right now, we're not really focused on the tournament. It's more about what we can do to help everyone who's struggling, who's lost homes and had their lives changed," he said

Woods's TGL debut rivals NBA ratings

Meanwhile, Woods was routed at his own game on Tuesday night, but his defeat was still as appealing to sports fans as the NBA's regular season slate that night.

Woods' TGL debut was watched by more than one million viewers, up nine per cent from the league's first match last week and more head-to-head than the NBA drew on TNT.

For the second consecutive week, the TGL produced a one-sided match with Woods's Jupiter Links Golf Club falling 12-1 to the Los Angeles Golf Club. Albeit in the new virtual golf league, it marked Woods's first competitive golf since missing the cut at the Open Championship last July.

Tuesday's match peaked at 1.005 million viewers from 8:30-8:45 p.m. ET, according to Nielsen. The match technically ended at 8:50 p.m. and the telecast ended at 9:18 p.m.

Head-to-head, the Cleveland Cavaliers-Indiana Pacers NBA game on TNT attracted 956,000 viewers on TNT and 1.033 million with truTV added, followed by 853,000 viewers for the Denver Nuggets-Dallas Mavericks contest that started at 9:35 p.m.

The TGL match also nearly doubled the 587,000 viewers for Duke's blowout of Miami in a men's basketball game that followed on ESPN, according to the Sports Business Journal

Woods's team absorbed the second consecutive rout to kick off TGL's inaugural season, following Bay Golf Club's 9-2 victory over New York Golf Club on Jan. 7. That match drew nearly a million viewers and eclipsed the audience numbers for any LIV Golf broadcast on The CW over the past two years.

Woods's team will have a chance for quick redemption when it faces Boston Common Golf in the debut for Rory McIlroy's team on Jan. 27.

The 15-match regular season runs through March 4, followed by the playoffs later that month.