The Genesis Invitational Odds And Picks: All Top-10 Players Tee It Up at Riviera

Following last week’s Phoenix Open and Scottie Scheffler‘s first PGA Tour win, the strongest field of the year-to-date heads to Riviera Country Club and the final leg of the California Swing for The Genesis Invitational.  As I scramble to save par with my schedule and commitments, we’ll add some Fairway favorites and longshot picks as usual, and chip-in a tournament match-up below. The Genesis Invitational odds are below, along with picks.

Our tournament match-ups are 5-0 this year, and we added a bonus Round 1 winner last week laying some chalk with Hideki Matsuyama delivering us the green. Follow along as I chip-in another Round 1 play this week.

All top-ranked players in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) tee it up this week at Riviera. The 121 field invitational hosted by Tiger Woods is loaded beyond the top-10 as the major players shoot for a $2.2 million top prize and a record $12 million purse for the event.

Scheffler’s playoff win last week over one of the world’s elite player Patrick Cantlay moved Scheffler into the top-1o of the OWGR.

The Genesis Invitational Odds

The Genesis Invitational

J Rahm 10/1
P Cantlay 12/1
D Johnson 14/1
J Thomas 16/1
C Morikawa 18/1
R McIlroy 20/1
X Schauffele 20/1
C Smith 22/1
V Hovland 25/1
H Matsuyama 25/1
S Scheffler 30/1
W Zalatoris 30/1
S Burns 35/1
B Koepka 40/1
J Spieth 40/1

72 Hole Winning Score: 271.5

— Jeff Sherman (@golfodds) February 14, 2022

I provide a Genesis Invitational preview for PlayUSA, and you can review more insight on the top players in the field and odds, and added information you can bet on.

Riviera Country Club

The Par 71, 7,322 yard-layout is a classical tree-lined design with a myriad of interesting doglegs, undulating contours that create uneven lies, and tricky runoff areas around the greens.

Narrower Kikuyu grass fairways make it one of the toughest on Tour in driving accuracy and greens in regulation. It will play very firm and fast with warmer conditions recently in Los Angeles.

The green complexes have as much slope outside of Augusta National for The Masters. Short game strategy and success are more difficult, from holing short putts on bumpier Poa annua surfaces to getting up-and-down from just off the green.

Riviera has ranked as the toughest greens on Tour in very close range. Last season, only two major championship venues at the U.S. Open and PGA Championship yielded a lower Greens in Regulation percentage than Riviera (54.2%).

This tournament has ranked in the bottom two in average Driving Accuracy every year since 2015.

Golf at Riviera requires a player’s full focus while executing all shots in the bag. Stronger approach play and ball striking skills are essential for success. Strokes Gained: Around the Green is also a more impactful statistic than usual at Riviera.

Golfers with the most top 10 finishes in The Genesis Invitational

These 10 players have posted multiple top-10 finishes in The Genesis Invitational over the last five years. I’ve also added other players with multiple top-15 finishes.

• John Rahm
• Dustin Johnson
• Adam Scott
• Max Homa
• Tony Finau
• Justin Thomas
• Hideki Matsuyama
• Rory Mcllroy
• Cameron Smith
• Kevin Na

Other multiple top-15 finishers include Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, Will Zalatoris, Talor Gooch, and James Hahn.

The Genesis Invitational Odds and Picks

Last year we crushed it in our top match-up on Lanto Griffin at The Genesis Invitational as part of our 17-5 tournament match-up start to the season. This week I’ve added one tournament match-up along with a Round 1 play.

Fairway’s Favorites: Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, Will Zalatoris
Fairway’s Longshots: Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau, Joaquin Niemann, Marc Leishman, Thomas Pieters

Tournament Match-ups: Tony Finau (+105) over Talor Gooch (BetMGM)

I bet others including Joaquin Niemann over both Russell Henley and Matt Fitzpatrick, who picked up COVID this week (check status).

Round 1 Match-up: Xander Schauffele over Colin Morikawa

Check back for any weekend updates, and next week the Tour begins the Florida Swing at The Honda Classic.