(Sky Sports)
We head back to California this weekend for the Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club. Riviera is one of the most revered courses on the tour for players, and it certainly stands out on the tour. It’s in the valley along the Santa Monica Mountains, features a pretty flat layout, and is extremely difficult. The average tournament-winning score over the past 10 years is 14 under par.
This will be a PGA Tour “Signature Event”, simply put, it means more is at stake. More money, more Fedex Cup Points, and more opportunity to stand out amongst your peers.
The weekend cut is unique at the Genisis. The top 50 players make it through the cut, as well as anyone who is within 10 shots of the lead. Theoretically, all 70 players could make the weekend.
Some of the biggest names in golf will be a part of the field this week. Your normal characters like Max Homa, Scottie Scheffler, Victor Hovland, Jordan Spieth, and many others will all tee it off on Thursday. The more money, the more of the big dawgs.
Oh yeah, there’s also a big cat playing. If you haven’t heard by now, Tiger Woods will be participating. Despite his pretty disappointing past at Riviera (15 career starts and 0 wins), it will be awesome to see him out there live in action. In his last start at the Genisis Invitational, Woods made the cut but carded a 76 and 77 in his final two rounds, finishing a poor T-45th. Tiger will don something other than the Nike brand for the first time in his career when he steps onto the first tee. After parting ways with Nike after 27 years, Tiger will wear his “Sunday Red” Brand. We know he’ll look good, let’s all hope he plays good.
Rory McIlroy, who got off to a pretty pedestrian start to his PGA Tour cycle two weeks back at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, hopes to bounce back this weekend. McIlroy has the second-highest betting odds for an outright winner.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
Xander Schauffele: Xander has been off to an extremely poor start this season. He’s been one of the most consistent golfers on tour since his rookie season in 2017. That has not been the case thus far in 2024. He withdrew from last week's tournament, citing his “poor play” and needing time to tinker with his swing. I’ll be curious to see if any of that extra swing work will pay dividends this week in LA.
Scottie Scheffler: The world No. 1 is coming off of another top-five finish last week in Phoenix. He’s played so much golf already this year and his swing looks confident and dialed in. He has been a top-10 machine this year and I think the bright lights of the signature event will be enough to push him into contention again. Can he finally break through and get his first win of the season?
Sam Burns: The worst Sunday in Burns’s Career came at the Genesis in 2021. Burns was rolling and strutting to the finish until he hit the back nine. He was eaten alive. This weekend, Burns comes in driving the ball better than ever before in his career while he is always consistent with the putter. I think Burns is primed to be a top-5 guy, and potentially even get his sixth PGA Tour win.
Tiger Woods Health: Trust me, I get it, we all want Tiger to go out there and play well. What a great story that would be. Personally, I just like seeing him out there, walking, swinging, and having fun. I think we’ll learn a lot about the status of Tigers' career this weekend in LA.
The RIV is known to eat players up and the field will have to bring their A-game this week if they want to be in contention. A signature event and a star-studded lineup should bring much attention and some outstanding golf to the Santa Monica Valley. I’ll end it this way, don’t forget about Justin Thomas, I swear one of these weeks he’s going to break through, and it’s going to be glorious.
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