Genesis Invitational: Rahm the man but McIlroy ready to sparkle in Tinseltown
Brian Keogh
16 February 2022
Combine a major-look field with major-style world ranking points and a major championship golf course and it stands to reason we should get a major championship class of winner in the star-studded Genesis Invitational.
The Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles remains one of the iconic courses on the PGA TOUR and with a $12million purse and a winner’s cheque for $2,160,000, it’s one of the most coveted titles in the game.
Players looking for form ahead of Masters
It will provide the winner with a huge injection of confidence with just 49 days to go before the Masters Tournament and with all of the world’s top 10, as well as 35 of the top 50 and 62 of the top 100, it should provide a quality champion.
With three wins in his last six starts, Norway’s Viktor Hovland is arguably the hottest player in the field, even after missing the cut in the Phoenix Open.
Hovland (29) was tied fifth behind Max Homa (20) at Riviera last year, but the betting favourite is world number one Jon Rahm at 11.5.
The Spaniard is not good value after starting the season with four top-14 finishes in his first four starts. That said, his recent record in Los Angeles - T9, T17 and T5 since 2019 - shows he has the game to win at Riviera and record his first win since last year’s US Open.
Patrick Cantlay is also trending strongly for another win after his playoff loss to Scottie Scheffler in Phoenix on Sunday and is the second favourite behind Rahm at 16.5.
According to local reports, Riviera is in pristine condition and with only light rough in place, scoring will be good, especially after the George Thomas masterpiece was hit by a heavy hailstorm on Tuesday.
Former world number one Dustin Johnson won a Riviera in 2017 and has two runner ups and another five top-10s there in his last 10 starts.
At 18, he’s one of the favourites, but with no wins since the Saudi International just over a year ago, we’re going for another former world number one to win on the west coast for the first time.
Rory McIlroy has a point to prove after throwing away winning positions in the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai at the end of last year and then doing it again in the Dubai Desert Classic last month.
He’s tempting at 25 and with the course somewhat receptive, he’ll be looking to reproduce his Riviera form of 2019 and 2020, when he was T4 and T5, respectively.
European value
He won twice last year without ever playing his best golf but having gone back to his lifelong coach Pete Cowen, he appears to be close to his best form and it may be only a matter of time before his wins big again. Tinseltown may be just the place for him to sparkle once again.
Brooks Koepka (50) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (55) look decent bets at longer odds, but if you’re looking for value, Kevin Na (120) and Sweden’s Alex Noren (130) are two players with the games to excel at Riviera. Noren was tied sixth in Phoenix last week and has two top 16s in the last four years at Riviera, while Na has a second and a third.
An excellent alternative to Na and Noren is Ireland’s Séamus Power (110), whose approach play has improved dramatically over the last year. With seven top 15s from his last nine starts, the world number 45 is looking to consolidate his place in the top 50 and a big week in Los Angeles on a course that rewards ball-strikers with strong short games.
Recommended bets:
Brian Keogh
16 February 2022
