This article is part of our DraftKings PGA DFS Picks series.
THE GENESIS INVITATIONAL
Purse: $12M
Winner's Share: $2.16M
FedEx Cup Points: 550 to the Winner
Location: Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Course: Riviera Country Club
Yardage: 7,322
Par: 71
2021 champion: Max Homa
Tournament Preview
Even when Tiger Woods isn't playing, he wins.
All 10 players that fill the top 10 spots in the Official World Golf Ranking have come to Riviera for Woods' annual invitational, and it's hard to remember the last time that happened outside of a major, THE PLAYERS, a WGC or playoff event. That's because the last time was 15 years ago at Quail Hollow, according to golf guru Justin Ray of the Twenty First Group, who added that the last occasion prior to that was 28 years ago at Bay Hill.
Woods, of course, will not be playing, as we are coming up on one year since his automobile accident in Southern California just after last year's edition of this event. He didn't play in last year's tournament either because he was recovering from yet another back surgery. Word is that Woods -- for those interested, now No. 765 in the OWGR -- will be in attendance this week, though there's still no indication he is close to returning to competitive golf. The 120-man invitational is hosted by Woods and benefits his TGR Foundation, and it speaks to his ongoing impact on the game and respect from the players that so many great names are on hand.
World No. 1 Jon Rahm heads the list, and for the first time since the Sentry Tournament of Champions that kicked off 2022, he'll be joined by second-ranked Collin Morikawa. We can go on and on naming names -- Patrick Cantlay, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka, just to throw out a handful -- but it's also notable who isn't here. Bryson DeChambeau, who's been slowed by a wrist injury, smartly removed his name before the field was finalized. Interestingly, two-time champion and recent worldwide lightning rod Phil Mickelson -- he's going to have to answer questions eventually -- also took a pass. McIlroy will be making his first PGA Tour start of 2022, as will top-50s Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey and Thomas Pieters. Defending champion Max Homa is back, as is fan favorite Rickie Fowler on a sponsor invite.
On top of the great news about the field, the final event on the West Coast Swing will see warm and dry weather just about all week, which isn't always the case in LA this time of year.
The Genesis Invitational is one of the grand old tournaments on Tour, dating way back to when the automobile was just coming into vogue. The first edition of the Los Angeles Open came in 1926 and was played at Los Angeles Country Club. This will be the 96th go-round, and it's been played every year but 1943. Even though Riviera has been by far the most prominent track in the tournament's history with nearly 60 hosts, including 37 of the past 38, there actually have been 11 different courses in play throughout the years, including three munis that anyone can still play today: Rancho Park, Brookside and Griffith Park's Wilson course.
Riviera can be a brutally tough track -- the winning score often is in or close to single digits. Last year, Homa took the trophy at 12-under, one better than Adam Scott's winning score in 2020. This is one of the few stops on Tour with no water. Instead, tight tree-lined fairways, penal rough, some very long holes, many undulations and medium-size poa annua greens that average 7,500 square feet force the golfers to use all the clubs in their bag. Riviera has what annually are among the toughest fairways and greens to hit, usually under 60 percent for both. Every year at this time we hear about kikuyugrass, a gnarly, club-twisting beast that's a rarity on Tour. Kikuyu is tough to navigate without familiarity, and that's why course knowledge takes on added importance this week. It is more prominent in Australia and South Africa (hint, hint).
Riviera -- one of two tracks nicknamed "Hogan's Alley" for Ben Hogan, Colonial being the other -- features six par-4s in excess of 450 yards, while two of the three par-5s surpass 575 and there's a par-3 over 230. Eight of the 11 par-4s played over par last year, notably the 479-yard 12th and 487-yard 15th. But a pair of shorter holes are what Riviera is known for. There's the 199-yard sixth with a bunker in the middle of the green and the risk/reward 315-yard 10th, a hole that some call the best drivable par-4 in golf. The round comes to a close at the brutish, uphill par-4, 475-yard 18th with the pint-size, kidney-shaped green.
One more interesting caveat about Riviera: It has some small greens and some enormous greens. The common denominator is that putting inside 10 feet is harder than just about anywhere else on Tour, thanks in large part to the poa that gets bumpy and hard to read as the day goes on. The golfers make barely 50 percent of their putts from 5-10 feet, an astoundingly low number.
Riviera always features one of three best fields at "regular" -- non-major/PLAYERS/WGC/playoff -- Tour stops, joining Bay Hill and the Memorial, which is befitting tournaments attached to the three biggest names in the history of U.S. golf: the late Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Woods. All three tournaments are invitationals, with limited 120-man fields, elevated purses and three-year exemptions for winning instead of the usual two.
Okay, let's talk lineups: It's been a fairly dry winter in LA, which could let some of the shorter hitters into the mix -- maybe not win, but a high finish. Because there are so many big names, some of them have attractive prices. But with more than half the field making the cut, there's a strong argument to get two or even three into your lineup because so many $6000s will also get through to the weekend.
Weather-wise, a small chance of showers crept into the forecast for Tuesday, though otherwise there will be no rain, minimal wind and temperatures in the 60s to maybe the low 70s. That could mean some chilly early mornings in the low 50s but otherwise it's a spectacular forecast for this time of year.
Historical L.A. Open Factoids: The names who have won it read like a wing in the Golf Hall of Fame: Hogan, Snead, Nelson, Palmer, Casper, Irwin, Miller, Watson (Tom and Bubba), Couples, Faldo, Els, Mickelson and DJ. Interestingly, two names aren't there: Nicklaus and Woods.
Future Riviera Factoids: The course will play host to the 2026 U.S. Women's Open and the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Key Stats to Winning at Riviera
The most important indicators every week are current form and course history. "Key Stats" follow in importance.
• Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee -- both distance and accuracy
• Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green/SG: Approach/Greens in Regulation
• Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green/Scrambling
• Putting Inside 10 Feet
• Par-4 Efficiency 450-500 yards
Past Champions
2021 - Max Homa
2020 - Adam Scott
2019 - J.B. Holmes
2018 - Bubba Watson
2017 - Dustin Johnson
2016 - Bubba Watson
2015 - James Hahn
2014 - Bubba Watson
2013 - John Merrick
2012 - Bill Haas
Champion's Profile
All you have to do is look at the past eight winners to see how it helps to be long here. Three Watsons, DJ, Holmes and Scott paint a pretty definitive picture, and Homa isn't exactly short. However, Scott, Holmes and Watson in his 2018 win took just a little off the gas, though still averaged 300 yards-plus off the tee, to get better accuracy numbers, which improved their greens in regulation. Scott was third, Holmes was first and Watson was seventh in GIR. None of them is the best putter, but they were better this week. Scott ranked 27th overall -- and gained more than two strokes on Sunday. Holmes actually led the field in putting. Homa was only 59th in distance off the tee, but third in accuracy, leading to a T5 in greens in regulation as he beat Tony Finau in a playoff. Finau ranked fourth in GIR. Homa also ranked seventh in SG: Putting to Finau's 18th. The top-seven guys on last year's leaderboard all ranked in the top-12 in SG: Tee-to-Green. It's important to get into the fairway to avoid the dastardly kikuyugrass in the rough. In the last decade, Riviera has proved to be either first, second or third hardest course on Tour putting inside of 10 feet. The poa greens are tricky, especially later in the day as they get bumpier. Every champion this century has played the tournament at least twice previously, indicating the importance of course knowledge, and all but two of the past 37 winners have been at least 29 years old. Ernie Els had played Riviera only once before winning in 1999. Charles Howell III was 27 years old when he won in 2007 and Scott was 24 in 2005, an unofficial victory awarded after 36 holes when the rain simply wouldn't stop. The over/under n the winning score on golfodds.com was 271.5 -- 12.5 under par.
DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS
Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap
Tier 1 Values
Jon Rahm - $11,300 (Winning odds at the DraftKings Sportsbook: +800)
Passing on Rahm is always a risky strategy, but it worked out last week. Things look better this week for a few reasons. One, he's $300 cheaper than at Phoenix. While he hasn't truly contended at Riviera in three visits, he was good from his debut and had his best finish last year. Rahm has gone T9-T17-T5 here. Putting has been his biggest issue this season -- he still hasn't won since the U.S. Open -- but everyone's putting numbers will take a hit this week.
Patrick Cantlay - $11,000 (+1000)
The UCLA product played Riviera many times outside of this tournament, though he also has gone top-20 the past three years and was fourth in 2018. Cantlay has come very close the past two weeks, losing in a playoff to Scottie Scheffler at Phoenix and finishing T4 at Pebble Beach. There really is no weakness to his game and listing all his great stats would simply take too long. Trust us on this one?
Xander Schauffele - $9,900 (+2200)
All you Schauffele backers know how maddening it is to see him come close so often only to see something go horribly wrong. Last weekend it was water balls and terrible putting. The good news is, there's no water at Riviera. And, as we keep mentioning, just about everyone's putting will be worse this week. Schauffele's all-around game -- almost all-around game? -- is perfect for this track.
Rory McIlroy - $9,700 (+2200)
As the No. 7 guy on the DraftKings board, this price seems like a bit of a bargain. McIlroy had two top-20s and two top-5s at Riviera before missing the cut last year. We'll take that as an aberration, but check back with us Sunday night or, dare we say, Friday night. His past six worldwide starts read like this: a win, three top-6s and two top-20s. Yes, something almost always seems to go horribly wrong for McIlroy at the worst possible moment, but at this rate, it would be a bit more palatable.
Tier 2 Values
Viktor Hovland - $9,400 (+2500)
We talked earlier about the relation between course knowledge and victory. Last year, Hovland tied for fifth in his first visit to Riviera. That's a great sign. A course where accuracy with your driver and long irons is required certainly is his wheelhouse. Hovland's difficulty with a wedge in hand is still a concern, as was his missed cut last week in a field stronger than those he's been winning in. But his putting has improved, and the lower-$9000s price is attractive.
Hideki Matsuyama - $9,300 (+1800)
Even putting aside his spate of wins over the past year, Matsuyama has been playing well many weeks. He has a mostly excellent track record here -- four top-11s to go along with two missed cuts in his past six trips. One of the MCs was last year. But at a course where all-round tee-to-green game is so important, and good putting is a bit of a luxury, it stands to reason this is a place for Matsuyama to thrive.
Cameron Smith - $9,100 (+2200)
Smith has had two great finishes in six trips to Riviera, a tie for fourth last year and T6 in 2018. He's longer than he appears, and his short game (wedge/putter) is lights-out. That's why he also plays well at Augusta, where we can see at least a little commonality with Riviera. Smith is ranked fifth on Tour in both greens in regulation and SG: Putting, and he's second in putting from inside 10 feet.
Will Zalatoris - $8,800 (+2800)
Zalatoris was back to playing excellent golf -- a second and sixth in two 2022 starts -- before he was shut down with a positive COVID test at Pebble Beach. There has been no indication how ill he got, if at all, but we are proceeding as if he will be close to 100 percent this week. Zalatoris tends to do his best work at long and hard tracks, and he was 15th here last year. It was actually his second Riviera start, having also made the field way back in 2015. That runner-up last month was at Torrey Pines, which also features kikuyugrass.
Tier 3 Values
Max Homa - $8,300 (+5000)
It took a few laps around the track for this LA guy to get the feel of things. After going MC-MC-37, Homa was fifth two years ago and a winner last year. He is not a slam-dunk, week-in-and-week-out guy. In his six starts since winning the Fortinet, he has two top-15s but also two missed cuts and two other finishes way down the leaderboard. Homa has solid strokes-gained numbers everywhere but Around-the-Green, but even those aren't terrible.
Marc Leishman - $7,900 (+5000)
We were very pleased to see a 7 next to Leishman's name instead of an 8. He's had some great results here in his 12 trips through the years -- fifth in 2016 and fourth in 2019 (so if you're into an every-third-year thing ...). He's made all eight of his cuts this season with three top-10s and two more top-20s, including at kikuyu-laden Torrey Pines. Leishman is ranked 18th in both SG: Putting and putting inside 10 feet, 24th in greens in regulation and 33rd in SG: Tee-to-Green.
Thomas Pieters - $7,400 (+7000)
The Belgian has not been stateside too often the past few years, but he has turned around his game on the DP World Tour, winning in Abu Dhabi last month in a pretty decent field (McIlroy, Hovland, Hatton, Scott, Lowry, Fleetwood) to climb to 31st in the world. He has two wins (also in Portugal) and four top-25s (including Saudi Arabia) in his past six starts. Pieters has played Riviera twice before, including a runner-up in 2017. This clearly is a pick with a lot of upside at this price, but also one that can go sideways very quickly.
Mackenzie Hughes - $7,100 (+9000)
Hughes missed the cut in his first two trips to Riviera before tying for 32nd last year. A high finish hinges on his short game -- he's ranked 19th in SG: Around-the-Green and fourth in SG: Putting. Hughes is also seventh on Tour in putting from inside 10 feet. In seven starts this season, he has made six cuts with four top-25s and two top-10s.
Long-Shot Values
Rickie Fowler - $6,600 (+20000)
Why did a vision of Lucy yanking the football away from Charlie Brown right as he was about to kick it just pop into our head? ... Here us out: Fowler's numbers are not THAT bad. Well, one of them is, but only one: Strokes Gained: Putting, where he ranks a dismal 205th on Tour. He is actually ranked 35th in SG: Tee-to-Green. Fowler did not have much success at Riviera and sat out many years before returning last year to tie for 20th.
Patrick Rodgers - $6,500 (+18000)
Rodgers has missed almost as many cuts (4) as he's made (5) this season, but he's made five in a row at Riviera, including a T12 last year and no finish worse than 30th. Driving accuracy is by far the worst part of his game -- but maybe he does well here because everyone's accuracy takes a hit? Even with that shortcoming, he's 36th on Tour in GIR. Rodgers is also ranked 26th in SG: Around-the-Green and 43rd in Putting.
Wyndham Clark - $6,500 (+20000)
Clark has played Riviera twice before -- T8 last year, T17 the year before. As we always say about him, he's the rare mix of long hitter/good putter, ranking seventh in distance and 22nd on the greens. His game everywhere in between is dreadful, but something seems to click here. Clark made the cut at the kikuyu-filled Farmers the past two years, too.
James Hahn - $6,500 (+20000)
We'll let you in on a little secret: Hahn plays well at Riviera almost every year. He won in 2015 and has finished top-15 his last three times. But course history will be put to the test right now opposite current form because he also has missed all three of his cuts in 2022, and four straight going back to last year. A check of the past two years shows Hahn has also missed a bunch of cuts early in the year before delivering at Riviera, but he had never missed all of them. A contributing factor this time around might be a recent positive COVID test that knocked him out of Pebble Beach. But there's nothing like Riviera for Hahn to get well fast.
