Field Level Media’s Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: Waste Management Phoenix Open (Scottie Scheffler)
THIS WEEK: The Genesis Invitational, Pacific Palisades, Calif., Feb. 16-19
Courses: Riviera CC (Par 71, 7,322 yards)
Purse: $20 Million (Winner: $3.6M)
Defending Champion: Joaquin Niemann
FedEx Cup leader: Jon Rahm
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 4-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 1-3 p.m. (GC); 3-7 p.m. (CBS); Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (GC); 3-6:30 p.m. (CBS)
Streaming on ESPN+: Thursday-Friday: 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. ET; Saturday, 12-1 p.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m-1 p.m.
Twitter: @thegenesisinv
NOTES: Tiger Woods is in the field, ready to play in an official PGA Tour event for the first time since the Open Championship last July. Woods, the tournament host, badly injured his right leg and foot in a car crash in Los Angeles two days after the Genesis in 2021. This will be his first start in a non-major since winning the Zozo Championship in October 2019. … The Genesis is the tournament Woods has played the most without a victory, with 14 starts. He tied for second back in 1999. … This will be the second straight week featuring a “designated” event and an elevated $20 million purse. The $3.6 million winner’s share is tied for the largest in PGA Tour history. … Of the top 20 golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking, everyone but Australian Cameron Smith (No. 4), a member of LIV Golf, will be competing. … The tournament will also be missing defending champ Niemann, who left the PGA Tour for LIV last year. … 2021 champion Max Homa and 2020 champ Adam Scott of Australia are among those in the field. Homa already has one win under his belt this season, at last month’s Farmers Insurance Open. … Scheffler surpassed Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy for the world No. 1 ranking by winning in Phoenix last week. Scheffler placed seventh at the Genesis last year. … Riviera is home to the longest-standing tournament scoring record on tour. Lanny Wadkins shot a 20-under 264 at this event in 1985.
BEST BETS: Rahm (+750 at BetMGM) finished third at the Phoenix Open for his ninth consecutive top-10 worldwide, including two PGA Tour wins in January. He’s finished in the top 10 twice in four starts at the Genesis. … Rory McIlroy (+900) settled for a tie for 32nd last week coming off a victory in Dubai. He has three top-10s in his past four Genesis starts. … Scheffler (+1000) shot a third-round 65 at Riviera last year en route to his seventh-place finish. For the second straight year, he heads to L.A. off a victory in Phoenix. Last year’s Phoenix title launched him on a run of four victories in six starts. … Justin Thomas (+1400), the runner-up at Riviera in 2019, hasn’t missed a cut on American soil since the Charles Schwab Challenge last May. His final-round 65 on Sunday propelled him to finish fourth at Phoenix. … Tony Finau (+1600) lost to Homa here in a playoff in 2021. He is also playing the best golf of his career, with top-20 finishes in six straight starts and top-10s in four of those starts, beginning when he won the Houston Open in November. … Xander Schauffele (+1600), a Southern California native, finished ninth in his tournament debut in 2018 and has placed between 13th and 23rd in the four events since. … Homa (+2000), from nearby Burbank, made the 2021 Genesis his second career victory on tour. He’s won four more titles since and has averaged a 68.5 in his past 12 rounds at Riviera. … Another California native is Collin Morikawa (+2200), tied for second last year just two shots behind Niemann after shooting 67-67-68-65. After placing second and third in two starts in January, he missed the cut last week in Phoenix. … Jordan Spieth (+3300) has made six straight cuts at the Genesis, though he hasn’t grabbed a top-10 finish since 2018. He carded a 10-over 81 in the final round in 2019. … Adam Scott (+5500) was named the unofficial winner here in 2005 when the event was shortened to 36 holes due to rain. He’s since proven himself at Riviera over and over again by earning seven total top-10s, placing second twice and breaking through again in February 2020.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: The Honda Classic, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Feb. 23-26
LPGA Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Tournament of Champions (Brooke Henderson)
THIS WEEK: OFF.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Honda LPGA Thailand, Chonburi, Thailand, Feb. 23-26
Champions Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Trophy Hassan II (Stephen Ames)
THIS WEEK: Chubb Classic, Naples, Fla., Feb. 17-19
Course: Tiburon GC — Black Course (Par 72, 6,909 yards)
Purse: $1.8M (Winner: $270,000)
Defending Champion: Bernhard Langer
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Ames
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Friday, 12-3 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 3-5:30 p.m. (Golf Channel)
Twitter: @ChubbClassic
NOTES: Defending champ Langer would tie Hale Irwin for the most wins all-time on the senior tour (45) with a victory this week. … The 65-year-old German has already broke his own record multiple times for the oldest winner in PGA Tour Champions history. When he won the Chubb Classic in 2022, he shot his age with an 8-under 64 in the opening round before cruising to 16-under 200 and a three-stroke victory. … After winning in Morocco last week, Ames in not in the field this week. … Steve Stricker, who won the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai last month, is just $500 behind Ames in the Schwab Cup standings and will play this week. Stricker won the Chubb Classic in April 2021. … Major champion Justin Leonard and PGA Tour veteran Notah Begay III are scheduled to make their tournament debuts. … New Zealand’s Steven Alker, who’s won five Champions events since November 2021, is also listed in the field. Alker’s longtime caddie Sam Workman passed away after a battle with cancer earlier this month.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Cologuard Classic, Tucson, Ariz., March 3-5
–Field Level Media