Genesis Invitational: Golf Gods, Please Give Us Follow The Sun Part 2!

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We have nine of the top ten, a non-rainy forecast, and in a storyline only Hollywood could muster up, Tiger Woods on the cusp of his 83rd PGA Tour win to break Sam Snead’s record. The golf in this week’s Genesis Invitational is at Riviera Country Club where…

—Tiger Woods made his debut as a 16 year old in 1992 and is now the tournament host of the event formerly known as the LA Open

—When Sam Snead was the honoree as a former champion

—Where Ben Hogan returned after getting nearly fatally injured in an accident (oncoming bus, never good) and they later made a movie about the 1950 LA Open comeback…seventy years ago.

—Tiger Woods won the Masters last year after a comeback ranking close to the all-time greatest

—Tiger Woods has won 82 times but never his hometown event

Obviously, no screenwriter would dare do anything but muster up a Woods win in the end (though only after strong runs from young stars and his old/new buddy Phil Mickelson).

Maybe after an incredible Woods win and the all-time record establishment, they’d even call it Follow The Sun Part 2? Not that any of the players today would know about Follow The Sun.

Here was my question to Rory McIlroy, movie buff, about returning to LA where he loves seeing locations of films he adores. Seems we need to get him a copy of the Ben Hogan story, aka, Follow The Sun, even though it’s admittedly quite dreadful, other than some of the golf scenes:

Q. Well, on a lighter note, we've learned recently that you are quite a movie buff and seeing some locations of films filmed here in Los Angeles. Have you done any of that this week and have you watched any of the films that were actually filmed at Riviera on the grounds here?

RORY McILROY: No and I don't think so. So no, we got in Monday night and then the last couple days have just been at the course and sort of, yeah, getting ready to play the event. I don't know what movies have been shot here.

Q. Follow the Sun, the Ben Hogan Story, is a famous one.

RORY McILROY: Okay.

Q. Old.

RORY McILROY: More your ‑‑

Reports from the front of the room suggest he said something like, “More your era…old guy”:

Q. Yeah. Do you watch a lot of movies besides reading books? Is that something you do to kind of just get your mind off of golf?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I do, I do. I watched a good bit of the Oscars Sunday night and was pretty intrigued to see how that was going to unfold. I really liked Once Upon a Time in Hollywood last year, I enjoyed that movie. I love Tarantino movies, I always enjoy those. Honestly, anything to get my mind off this is a good thing.

There isn’t much on The You Tube, but this old scene from the Pebble portion of the movie is fun:

As always, your TV times from Riviera:

Thursday Noon-2 p.m. / 6-8 p.m. (PGA TOUR LIVE “Look-in” – Live)

2-6 p.m. (Live) / 2-6 a.m. (Friday replay) Golf Channel

Friday 2-6 p.m. (Live) / 7-10 p.m. (Replay) Golf Channel

Saturday 1-2:45 p.m. (Live) / 7-9 p.m. (Replay) Golf Channel

Saturday 3-6 pm ET (Live) CBS

Sunday 1-2:45 p.m. (Live) / 7:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. (Replay)

Sunday 3-6:30 pm ET (Live) CBS

PGA TOUR LIVE on NBC Sports Gold (Eastern):

Thursday 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. (Featured Groups)

Patrick Cantlay/Dustin Johnson/Rory McIlroy (10:16 a.m. ET)
Brooks Koepka/Phil Mickelson/Bubba Watson (10:27 a.m. ET) Friday 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. (Featured Groups)