This article is part of our FanDuel PGA DFS Picks series.
Genesis Invitational
Course: Riviera Country Club (7,322 yards, par 71)
Purse: $20,000,000
Winner: $3,600,000 and 550 FedExCup points
Tournament Preview
The final event of the West Coast Swing is set to go out with a bang. 15-time major champion Tiger Woods will tee it up for the first time in a non-major PGA Tour event since the 2020 ZOZO Championship. The Tiger Woods Foundation organizes the Genesis Invitational every year, so it comes of little surprise that Woods would look to try and tee it up at the famed Riviera Country Club. Woods' first PGA Tour event came here in the Los Angeles Open back in 1992 as a 16-year-old amateur. Riviera is one of the few courses in which Woods has played regularly, but never been able to notch a victory. The closest he ever got was a runner-up finish in 1999. Woods will look to get to 83 PGA Tour wins this week and break the tie for most ever with Sam Snead.
While anytime that Tiger tees it up these days that is storyline one, two and three, there is plenty of other things to keep an eye on. It starts with this being the second straight designated event that will feature another massive $20 million purse and 19 of the top 20 players in the OWGR. The race for the No. 1 spot is really between three players, who all seemed to have separated themselves from the pack. Scottie Scheffler was able to take back the No. 1 ranking with his win at the WM Phoenix Open. It was his first victory since his Masters breakthrough last April when he won four times in a six-event stretch. Scheffler took the top spot from Rory McIlroy who has three wins worldwide in his last eight starts. Throw in Jon Rahm who has four wins in his last eight starts and it really looks like golf has its next "Big 3" forming.
Now World No. 23 Joaquin Niemann is the defending champion of the Genesis Invitational, but he will obviously not defend after signing with LIV Golf last summer. Max Homa won this event back in 2021 and will be gunning for his seventh career PGA Tour win and fifth in his home state of California. Homa also won in Napa and La Jolla this season. Adam Scott is the tournament's all-time earnings leader which includes victories in 2005 and 2020.
Riviera annually plays as one of the most difficult non-major venues of the PGA Tour season. There's a chance we might see it play a little softer this year after a pretty wet winter by Southern California standards, which would help scoring overall. Nevertheless, Lanny Wadkins still holds the 72-hole scoring record at the Los Angeles Open when he won at 20-under-par in 1985. It looks like it'll be a fairly steady weather week with daytime highs in the low-to-mid 60's and sustained winds at just 5-to-10 mph each of the four rounds.
Recent Champions
2022 - Joaquin Niemann (-19)
2021 - Max Homa (-12)
2020 - Adam Scott (-11)
2019 - J.B. Holmes (-14)
2018 - Bubba Watson (-12)
2017 - Dustin Johnson (-17)
2016 - Bubba Watson (-15)
2015 - James Hahn (-6)
2014 - Bubba Watson (-15)
2013 - John Merrick (-11)
Key Stats to Victory
- SG: Approach
- GIR Percentage
- SG: Around-the-Green
- Driving Distance
Champion's Profile
Riviera Country Club features some of the hardest greens to hit in regulation on the PGA Tour. That screams two things that will be required of the winner, you need to be an elite iron player and have a really strong short game. The driving part of the game will be similar to last week at TPC Scottsdale. The rough is very short, but you just lose a little control going into greens that will be hard to keep the ball near the hole location. Long hitters have been quite successful at Riviera with winners like Watson, Johnson, Holmes and Scott over the last decade. Getting it out there will certainly be a benefit to help better be able to control the ball into these really challenging greens.
There's a wide variety of shots players will be faced with if they miss the greens, which will happen a lot this week. It could be a tricky green-side bunker shot or having to deal with the famed Kikuyu grass from a tight lie. Kikuyu is much different compared to most of the other grasses on the PGA Tour schedule. It tends to be very sticky, so balls hit short of the greens will typically stop dead. Kikuyu will force players to really strike the ball perfectly to be able to have a good chance at saving par. Once you get on the actual putting surfaces, you then have to contend with Poa annua, which is notorious for wobbling putts off line. I'm not going to be too concerned with putting stats this week and instead make sure I prioritize that strong iron play and short game, with distance being a bonus.
FanDuel Value Picks
The Chalk
Rory McIlroy ($11,900)
I love the price discount here on McIlroy from those top two players and hopefully the ownership discount as well after a very pedestrian T32 in Scottsdale. Riviera sets up much better for McIlroy's game quite honestly and that's why his history here has been so good. The Northern Irishman has finished top-20 here in five out of six starts, including a pair of top-5 finishes in 2019 and 2020. McIlroy has gained on approach and around the greens in his last six measured starts worldwide.
Justin Thomas ($11,600)
Thomas was uncharacteristically poor on approach since the U.S. Open, but seems to have righted the ship gaining 3.21 strokes on approach at Torrey Pines and then 4.14 at TPC Scottsdale. Combine that with the fact that Thomas now ranks second in SG: Around-the-Green on the PGA Tour and he should be primed for success at Riviera. The 15-time PGA Tour winner has three top-10s the last five years here, including a runner-up in 2019.
Tony Finau ($11,400)
Finau hasn't seriously contended since his third win in a seven-start span at the Houston Open, but he hasn't finished worse than T16 in five starts since. Finau has the ideal profile for success around Riviera as a bomber who has gained on approach in his last five and gained around the greens in five of the last six. The 33-year-old has made his last five cuts in this event with a pair of runner-up finishes in that stretch.
Max Homa ($11,300)
If there's a tournament being played in California and Homa is in the field, don't think twice about it. This guy is just so good on this grass type. Homa has finished T5-1st-T10 the last three years at Riviera. He also ranks 17th in SG: Approach and 24th in SG: Around-the-Green. Not to mention Homa has been one of the hottest putters amongst this top crop of players.
Longer Shots with Value
Wyndham Clark ($9,500)
Clark's deal throughout much of his career has been bomber who can really fill it up on the greens. This season he has seen some more consistent results because he has a complete game. Clark gained over eight shots on approach in each of his last two starts and has gained strokes around the greens in each of his last five. The 29-year-old has a pair of top-20s in three starts at the Genesis Invitational.
Tommy Fleetwood ($9,300)
Fleetwood fits a lot of models for Riviera. He gained strokes both on approach and around the greens in his last six measured starts. The Englishman hasn't had the greatest start to 2023 from a results standpoint, but he isn't that far removed from a T4-1st-5th stretch late last year. Fleetwood doesn't have a ton of experience around this course, but he has made the cut in each of his two starts.
Thomas Detry ($8,500)
There's nothing you can really say to knock Detry. He has made his last 11 cuts worldwide with six top-15 finishes in that stretch. Detry is averaging nearly 311 yards off the tee, he's in the top third of the membership approaching the green and he ranks sixth on Tour in scrambling. While he's never seen Riviera before, I'm willing to take a flier on a guy that checks every box in the middle of the $8K range.
Taylor Moore ($8,500)
While Moore has missed four cuts this season, in the seven times he did make the weekend have resulted in a whopping six top-25 finishes. Moore is coming off his third straight top-15 in as many weeks in Scottsdale and there's not reason why not to fire him up again at this price. The 29-year-old ranks 22nd in scrambling this season and was able to shoot 69-69-69-70 last year at Riviera en route to a T21 result.
Strategy Tips This Week
Based on a Standard $60K Salary Cap
Much like last week this field is absolutely stacked. It's really going to be splitting hairs between making the cut and having the chance to move up the leaderboard on the weekend, and missing the cut by one and not getting that opportunity. Stick to the keys we know of excelling both approaching and around the greens, as that should be the safest recipe for success at Riviera. Si Woo Kim ($9,400), Nick Taylor ($9,200), Alex Noren ($9,000), and K.H. Lee ($9,000) are some other solid value plays not mentioned above that have gained a lot of strokes in those two areas as of late.
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