Ben Crenshaw: The key feature is that narrow little green—its angle to the fairway, combined with the greenside bunker on the right and the slope away from it. It makes you play left, left, left. If I laid up to the right spot, I would have a reasonable putt for birdie 65 to 70 percent of the time.

Peter Oosterhuis, television announcer and ex-Riviera director of golf: It’s only 285 yards to the front of the green—the temptation is so great to go for it, even if you know it’s the wrong play.

Amy Alcott, LPGA Hall of Famer and Riviera member: And short par 4s are what really make a great course. They challenge the good player’s ego.

Doak: You have to be left, but you can’t see over the bunker very well on the left side—the near bunker and the far bunker look like they connect—where you want to lay up.

Crenshaw: But you can see a lot of fairway on the right. And that bunker in the foreground is shaped like a crossbow that leads your eye right. If you miss the drive even a shade right, even hitting the fairway is no help; the approach is much harder.

Alcott: There is no depth to the green at all if you’re at the wrong angle. Even from the greenside bunkers, you’re concerned about keeping your shot on the green.

Shackelford: Bobby Jones tried to drive the green when he played here in 1930, when the fairways were faster. After the Kikuyu grass took hold in the ’40s, there was no bounce and roll in the fairway, so driving the green was off the table for decades. The hole has come back into the spotlight in recent years, because the players hit it much longer.

Tom Marzolf, Fazio Golf Course Design, consultant to the club: Also, we removed the buildup of bunker sand at the back left of the green, which kept shots from bouncing into the back bunker. Now you really have to be precise to play to the back hole locations. Still, more players have hit driver every year since we started consulting in 1999. We may consider the possibility of a new tee one day, but for now, all we’ve done is pull in the left-hand fairway bunker about eight yards to tighten the ideal lay-up area.

Crenshaw: The younger players take a while to figure it out. For my generation the more you played it, the more respect you gave it. There are so many different, tough shots around the green. For me, it was just too much to take if I hit driver off the tee and it didn’t work out. It could get me out of sorts for the rest of the round.