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Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas among those honoring Kobe Bryant at Riviera

February 13, 2020
rory mcilroy Genesis Invitational - Preview Day 3

David Cannon

Some of golf's biggest stars are finding ways to honor Kobe Bryant at the Genesis Invitational. Held at Riviera Country Club just outside of Los Angeles, the event is being played two weeks after Bryant's tragic death.

Former World No. 1 Brooks Koepka worked with Nike to create these custom shoes that read "Mamba Mentality," on the right and left outsole, respectively.

Justin Thomas had popular sneaker artist Roly Padron design a custom pair of FootJoys honoring Kobe. Padron said in a note to Thomas that these shoes were one of the favorite projects his team at Nomad has ever done.

Current World No. 1 Rory McIlroy put a set of headcovers in his bag, all in the Lakers' purple-and-gold color scheme, with Bryant's jersey numbers and "Mamba Mentality" stitched on them.

Homage to Bryant can also be found on the course itself: The 8th hole at Riviera has a new yellow and purple flag, as well as a yellow and purple tee sign that says "Mamba."