The first full-field designated event was a big success last week and they’ll go right back to well this week at Tiger’s event. It’s the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, hosted by Tiger Woods and his foundation.
Speaking of the man, Woods blessed us with a surprise announcement last week that he plans to play this week, in addition to his hosting duties.
He won’t be the only star in attendance as 23 of the top 25 in the world were part of the early commit list to this week’s event.
Similar to last week, we have an overfilled field list with 130 slated to play, at press time. The intended field size is just 120 players but they allow everyone in the Top 125 FedExCup bucket to play. That means 11 more players would have to WD before they even consider the list of alternates. The low 65 and ties will make it through the 36-hole cut to play the weekend.
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Players to Watch
Rory McIlroy
He struggled with the wind in Round 1 last week in Phoenix and never played his way back into true contention. It was a disappointing week but he remains one of the top players over the last six months and he’ll head to a course he likes a bit better: “This is a place I’ve always, since I started coming here, I’ve loved it, loved the golf course, loved the area, love the vibe, feel like it’s a course that suits me really well and it’s sort of turned into a can’t-miss event on the PGA Tour. " McIlroy has played at Riv six times in the past, yielding top-20s in five of those appearances.
Jon Rahm
He’s searching for his 10th career PGA Tour title and it didn’t come last week at home, settling for another solid week at TPC Scottsdale. He has a similarly steady track record at Riv with four finishes of 21st or better in four tries including a fifth-place finish in 2021.
Max Homa
The Homa-in-California narratives will surely be swirling this week as four of his six wins have come in the Golden State. That includes a win at Torrey Pines last month and one at this week’s venue, back in 2021. The California kid is not alone when he says Riviera CC is his favorite course on Tour. There are a lot of reasons to give Homa a look in all weekly fantasy formats.
Patrick Cantlay
He flirted with the cutline last week at TPC Scottsdale and came out on the wrong end of that transaction, a rare early trunk slam for Cantlay. I wouldn’t expect that to turn into a slump as Cantlay has carded five straight top-35s at Riv while gaining at least three shots over the field average in seven of those 20 rounds.
Tony Finau
Another player with good vibes at The Riv, Finau has posted top-33s in four of his last five tries here with two of those being runner-up finishes. It wasn’t love at first sight (56th-MC-MC) but he’s figured out a good game plan and delivered in recent editions of the Genesis.
Ranking the Field
1. Rory McIlroy
2. Jon Rahm
3. Tony Finau
4. Patrick Cantlay
5. Xander Schauffele
6. Scottie Scheffler
7. Max Homa
8. Justin Thomas
9. Sungjae Im
10. Collin Morikawa
11. Will Zalatoris
12. Cameron Young
13. Matt Fitzpatrick
14. Viktor Hovland
15. Tyrrell Hatton
16. Joohyung Kim
17. Sam Burns
18. Jordan Spieth
19. Sahith Theegala
20. Jason Day