This last weekend at Pebble Beach showcased the impact that the wind can have on the scoring. Lots of low numbers getting put up on Thursday through Saturday but when those winds picked up on Sunday, we saw players get beat up. I was once again shocked by the nearly 50 year old Phil Mickelson almost grabbing his sixth title at the AT&T. This tournament always provides memories like Bill Murray's missed putt and subsquient put back to Peyton Manning hole out. It's also always nice to see that beautiful pacific coastline throughout the weekend but we move forward to the Genesis Invitational.
The Genesis Open has changed to the Genesis Invitational and has been known by other title sponsors but there's only one word you need to know this weekend, Riviera. The tournament is played at the prestigious Riviera Golf and Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. The course is a par 71 and it measures out 7,322 yards with poa annua greens. The winning scores at Riviera have ranged from 7 under par to 19 under par and it all comes down to the final two Par 5’s.
The big bombers have an advantage because they can reach both of those par 5’s in two and go low. This does not mean that the shorter course managers can’t have success on this track either. The fairways are very narrow which makes it harder on the bombers to keep it in the short grass. That's where the more accurate players can take advantage. One of the most important stats this weekend will be rough proximity. This number tells you how good the player is at getting themselves from the rough on the green close to the hole. When you look at course comparisons, Augusta National comes up a lot. The biggest similarility is that both courses favor the left handed player. Only Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson and Mike Wier have won both the Masters and at Riviera, and what do those players have in common? They're lefties! The greens on this course are also on the smaller size compared to other PGA Tour tracks.
The change from Open to Invitational this season has given this event a truly stacked field which could rival even the Masters. You've got nine of the Top 10 golfers in the most current World Golf Rankings taking part this weekend. Only Webb Simpson is not participating. This includes Brooks Koepka, who has not played on U.S. soil in competition since early October, making his 2020 PGA Tour debut. This also includes Tiger Woods, who makes his return to the course for the first time since the Farmers where he finished T9. He played in his first professional event on this course back in 1992 but has never won the event in 13 trips. When you've got such a terrific field, it makes narrowing down your personal pool of players to use even more difficult. You have to pick the top dogs you really want and ride them to the finish. It's really hard to roster all of them unless of course you've got the bankroll to max out the lineups. I tried to avoid the chalky plays as much as possible with a few exceptions like Bubba Watson. I do love the 7K range this week, lots of value to help you make a pretty nice balanced lineup across the board. I'm just glad to be focusing on one course instead of two or three.
The weather should be a non factor this weekend as the forecast calls for sunny skies and temperatures in the low 60s. There is no signs of rain at all and the winds will be in the single digits throughout the weekend.
GOOD LUCK!
ONE & DONE PLAY OF THE WEEK: Dustin Johnson
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