1998  With the golf course groomed to a U.S. Open standard, Riviera hosts its first United States Senior Open, an event featuring both Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer in the field.  Raymond Floyd leads for three-and-a-half days before fading to 3rd on the final nine, leaving Hale Irwin and Argentina’s Vicente Fernandez to battle it out.  Fernandez posts a remarkable final-round 68 to take the lead before Irwin birdies the 16th to catch him, then rolls home a dramatic 12-footer to birdie the 18th and win by one.

1999 At least partially atoning for his Sunday loss at the 1995 PGA Championship, Ernie Els wins the 1999 Nissan Open, carding a closing 68 in windy conditions to beat Ted Tryba, Tiger Woods and Davis Love III by two.  Both Tryba (who fired a course-record 61 on the final Saturday) and Woods have chances to tie Els at the 18th, but both instead make bogey.

2004  Having already claimed the 2003 Nissan Open in a playoff with Charles Howell III, reigning Masters champion Mike Weir joins Ben Hogan and Corey Pavin as the only players ever to win back-to-back at Riviera by taking the 2004 event in an exciting duel with Japan’s Shigeki Maruyama.  Weir holds a commanding five-stroke lead after 54 holes but barely holds off the charging Maruyama on Sunday, ultimately getting deftly up-and-down from off the 18th green to seal his victory.

2008 After losing the 2007 Nissan Open in a playoff with Charles Howell III, San Diego’s Phil Mickelson ends a career-long drought at Riviera by winning the newly renamed Northern Trust Open.  After opening with rounds of 68-64, Mickelson spends the weekend battling 2000 U.S. Amateur champion Jeff Quinney, who actually moves briefly ahead on Sunday before several missed putts open the door for Mickelson to win by two, with a 272 total.

2009 Phil Mickelson repeated his Northern Trust Open win in 2009, defeating Steve Stricker for the title.  The 2009 tournament was highlighted by a near win by golf veteran, Fred Couples, who put himself in the final group for the first time in three years, coming within one shot of the lead at the 18th hole.

2010 Phil Mickelson's shot at becoming only the third pro golfer to win three-in-a-row at Riviera was foiled when Steve Stricker took the title at the 2010 Northern Trust Open tournament.  The win was Stricker's fourth in his last 15 starts, moving him up to No. 2 in the world for the second time in his career.  This was only the first year at the tournament for Jerry West, (at right), former Laker legend who was named as Executive Director of the PGA Tour's Northern Trust Open Management.