Power Rankings: The Genesis Invitational

It’s forever a bonus when Tiger Woods plays, and he is this week. He might as well. He’s hosting The Genesis Invitational in Pacific Palisades, California. The 82-time PGA TOUR winner is among 70 in the field for the third Signature Event of the season.

The structure of the tournament has changed for 2024. Continue reading beneath the ranking of projected contenders for details of it, how The Riviera Country Club will test and more.

The Genesis Invitational is the first of the three player-hosted Signature Events on the PGA TOUR. The Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday will follow. They are the only stops in the eight-tournament series with a 36-hole cut. The low 50 (and ties) and all golfers within 10 strokes of the 36-hole lead will play the third and final rounds.

Total prize money for each is $20 million of which the champion will receive 20 percent, or $4 million. (This is a bump from the customary 18 percent that winners haul.) In addition to 700 FedExCup points, he also will secure fully exempt status as a PGA TOUR member as a winner through at least 2027, as well as spots in the next three editions of THE PLAYERS Championship among other invitationals.

Unless Woods prevails, the winner also will have achieved something Woods never has – victory at The Genesis Invitational. In that context and when considering the entirety of Woods’ career, there’s a valid argument that “The Riv” is the fairest course of them all.

Nothing has changed on the par 71 with three par 5s. It still stretches to 7,322 yards and it’s among the stingiest in challenging, well, pretty much everything.

Splitting fairways is recommended even though greens are sizeable at about 7,500 square feet. Yet, finding either cannot be described as an easy task. The only cut of kikuyu rough stands just an inch-and-a-half tall, but that’s enough of a deterrent when Poa annua greens with so much nuance can touch 12½ feet on the Stimpmeter. Drop into the equation how much rain has fallen recently and par will be a fine score on most holes, but The Riv will roll over for numerous low rounds. Course management and patience hole-to-hole will define how the champion prevailed in his tug of war.

Last year’s expanded field of 129 averaged 71.071 across four rounds, but with a cozier contingent consisting of the most recent best talent on TOUR, it’s likely that overall par will be beaten – as it was by more than half a stroke by a field of 120 in 2022, a rare occurrence to be certain – at least until the weather turns on Sunday. Freshening winds and gusts north of 20 mph project to impact decisions and execution. Prior to it, calm air and otherwise nice conditions are expected.

ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE

MONDAY: Power Rankings
TUESDAY*: Sleepers
WEDNESDAY: Golfbet Insider
FRIDAY: Medical Extensions, Reshuffle
SUNDAY: Payouts and Points, Qualifiers

* - Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.