Final Follow Up On Riviera's 10th: "Fun to watch. Tough to play."

I know, I know, you're in full Bear Trap mode. But before we move to four weeks of Florida golf, a few last things to consider about the much-discussed and dare I say beleaguered 10th at Riviera.

On Morning Drive we discussed the reaction from those who watched the CBS telecast and the criticisms of their announce team, and as I tried to explain, there was a combination of dry conditions, excessive green speed and the tacky changes by the Fazio design team to help Riviera not get a U.S. Open. The perfect storm exaggerated certain misfortunes. Sadly, the hole's reputation seems to have taken a bit of a hit, but don't blame George Thomas and Billy Bell.

In his weekly notes column, AP's Doug Ferguson tackled the question, quoted Ryo Ishikawa (see headline above) and talked to Riviera superintendent Matt Morton.

With all the chatter about so much sand from so many bunker shots building up the green, Morton said the real culprit was a long drought creating firm conditions.

"The main difference is three firm years in a row," he said. "During the Northern Trust Open, it's usually wet and you deal with rain. We're in a drought. You're seeing three years of dry, firm conditions. We've been able to showcase the hole the way members play in the summer."

It began to rain heavily on the back nine Sunday, and when Dustin Johnson and James Hahn reached the 10th hole in the playoff (the second extra hole), it helped slightly to be able to get their flop shots on the green. That said, they were flop shots of the highest quality.

They were indeed. Softer conditions helped, but some mighty young nerves also held up.To confirm that things were a tad silly for a 311-yard hole, here are the day-by-day scoring averages, hole locations and green-in-regulation percentages.

Thursday (back left): 4.201 47%
Friday (middle left): 4.007  60%
Saturday (middle front): 3.880  43%
Sunday (back left): 4.227  57%

All rounds: 4.087 52%

Note that the easiest of the hole locations on Saturday and the one most unprotected by bunkers but also most tempting to players, had the lowest green in regulation percentage.