This landmark club in Pacific Palisades has been the home course for many celebrities over the years The current home of the Nissan Open the Riviera has hosted three major championships the 1948 U S Open won by Ben Hogan the 1983 PGA Championship won by Hal Sutton and the 1995 PGA Championship won by Steve Elkington In 1992 the greens and bunkers were renovated by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore in an attempt to restore them to their original design The course is a constant presence in GOLF Magazine s rankings of the Top 100 Courses in the U S and the World For more information go to therivieracountryclub com In his article My Fab 5 GOLF Magazine Top 100 Teacher Mike Bender says Riviera is one of his all time favorite courses Like almost every other golfer I ve always been fascinated by Ben Hogan and The Hawk won so often on this course it seemed like he owned the place In 1988 I played in the L A Open at Riviera with Hal Sutton who d previously won a PGA Championship on the course Shooting a lower score than he did meant a lot to me