Prior to
World War II, the event led a nomadic existence in Southern California, moving from course to course. The inaugural event in 1926 was played at
Los Angeles Country Club in
Los Angeles; in 1927 the event moved to El Caballero Country Club in
Tarzana for the only time. In 1928, the event moved again to
Wilshire Country Club in the
Hancock Park neighborhood, and 1929 and 1930 saw the event's first foray to the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades before returning again to Los Angeles for the next decade. From 1931 to 1933, the event alternated between Wilshire CC and
Hillcrest Country Club, before returning to Los Angeles CC from From the event was played at
Griffith Park (Wilson course) and again at Los Angeles CC
Babe Zaharias played in the being the first woman to play in a professional golf tournament for men. In 1941, the event returned to Riviera CC and in 1942 was played again at Hillcrest CC before
World War II intervened. The event started up again in 1944 at Wilshire CC before spending the next nine years at Riviera CC, which also hosted the
U.S. Open in June
1948, won by
Ben Hogan in a record score. In 1954, the event was played at Fox Hills Country Club (now in
Culver City) and in 1955 moved to
Inglewood Country Club. From the event returned to Los Angeles at
Rancho Park Golf Course, with the exception of
1968, which was at
Brookside Golf Course in
Pasadena, adjacent to the
Rose Bowl. In early January
1962, 21-year-old
Jack Nicklaus made his professional debut at the Los Angeles Open – his 289 tied for 50th (last place after the cut) at Rancho Park and earned $33.33 in prize money. The L.A. Open was traditionally the first event of the season, played in early January; it was a late January event in
1967 and
1968, and moved to the latter half of February in
1974. The
year before, it began its current relationship with Riviera CC. The tournament has only twice been played at other courses since: Rancho Park Golf Course in 1983, while Riviera prepared to host the
PGA Championship, and Valencia Country Club in
1998, while Riviera prepared to host the
U.S. Senior Open. The event remained at Riviera in 1995, despite Riviera hosting the
PGA Championship that and also remained in 2017, when the course hosted the
U.S. Amateur. In
1992, the Nissan Los Angeles Open at Riviera CC was the site of
Tiger Woods' first PGA Tour event as an amateur player, as a high school Neither Woods nor
Jack Nicklaus have won the event; Woods lost in a playoff in 1998 (at Valencia) and was again a runner-up the next year at Riviera, while Nicklaus' best finish was two strokes back in solo second in
1978. He had earned his first paycheck as a pro in the event in 1962 at Rancho Park, less than thirty four dollars. The 2001 event was only the second time that a six-player playoff was needed in PGA Tour history to determine the tournament winner.
Robert Allenby won the playoff ahead of
Toshi Izawa,
Brandel Chamblee,
Bob Tway,
Jeff Sluman, and
Dennis Paulson. In 2005, the tournament was shortened by 36 holes due to rain.
Adam Scott defeated
Chad Campbell on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff on a Monday. Due to the event's length, this win is counted as unofficial for Scott. In 2007,
Rich Beem made a
hole-in-one at the 14th hole on Saturday to win a new red
Altima coupe, which he immediately ascended, embraced, and sat atop of in triumph. The sequence was later made into a Nissan commercial. (video) Beem credited
Peter Jacobsen for inspiring his reaction; Jacobsen aced the same hole thirteen years earlier in 1994 then hopped into the nearby
300ZX convertible and pretended to drive it. In September 2007, it was originally announced that
Bearing Point, a consulting firm based in
McLean,
Virginia, would become the new title sponsor of the tournament, but
Northern Trust became the title sponsor beginning in February 2008. The five-year agreement, which extended through the 2012 event, was announced October 15, 2007, by PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and William A. Osborn, Chairman and CEO of Northern Trust Corporation. The tournament became known as the Northern Trust Open, and the new partnership marks the beginning of a process of transformation for this high-profile tournament. As part of the initial move to enhance the tournament, the Northern Trust Open increased its purse to $6.2 million in 2008, an increase of $1 million over 2007. Additionally, the tournament pro-am went from four amateurs to three per group. After the initial 5-year agreement, it was extended 4 years to cover Northern Trust's partnership through the 2016 event.
Phil Mickelson won the 2008 tournament and successfully defended the title in 2009 with a one-stroke victory over
Steve Stricker. In 2010, Stricker came back to win the Northern Trust Open and secure his ranking of the number two player in the world. In 2016, Bubba Watson won the tournament for a second time in three years, holding off Adam Scott and Jason Kokrak to win by one shot with a 15-under-par total. Following the demise of
The National tournament after
2018, which was run by the Tiger Woods Foundation, the Genesis Open was converted to an
invitational for
2020, with a larger purse and a smaller field. Due to the
January 2025 Southern California wildfires, the
2025 edition was moved from Riviera to
Torrey Pines Golf Course in
San Diego. Torrey Pines hosted the
Farmers Insurance Open three weeks earlier, with one round on the North course (either Thursday or Friday) and three on the South; all four rounds of the Genesis Invitational were on the South course. ==Invitational status==