The final event on the PGA Tour's West Coast swing takes place this week at Riviera Country Club, and it's a monster. Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Phil Mickelson make up just part of the crew that will take on one of the best courses on the 2018 slate.

 

Johnson is the favorite for good reason, but Woods' return to Los Angeles will be the big story. He hasn't played this event since 2006, when he was still winning eight times a year and this event was still called the Nissan Open. Woods' foundation hosts it now, though, which is mostly why he's here.

 

Johnson has started three events this season, and he's lost to two people. Justin Rose clipped him by a pair at the HSBC Champions in China last fall, and Ted Potter Jr. got him by three last week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Those are the only two golfers who have scored better than the No. 1 player in the world in the last three tournaments. 

 

Spieth, McIlroy, Thomas or Mickelson are also looking for the first of this calendar year, and the drought for McIlroy and Mickelson goes deeper than that. McIlroy hasn't won since the end of 2016, Mickelson since the middle of 2013. Watching big names like these try and slay a track like Riviera is always unendingly interesting.