Genesis Invitational Preview 2021

Genesis Invitational Preview 2021

For a list of Genesis Invitational Winners and a history of the Genesis Invitational Tournament, follow the link.

• Dates: February 15-21, 2021
• Where: Pacific Palisades, California
• Course: Riviera Country Club
• Par/Yards: 35-36=71 / 7, 322
• Field: 121
• Defending champion: Adam Scott
• Purse: $9,300,000/$1,674,000
• FedExCup points: 550 to the winner
• Format: 72-hole stroke play

Things to Know

• The Genesis Invitational is one of three tournaments on the PGA TOUR schedule with elevated status, along with the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide and Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard
• Elevated events each offer a larger purse ($9.3 million), a three-year PGA TOUR exemption for the winner, and new in 2021, 550 FedExCup points to the winner
• Reigning FedExCup champion and World No. 1 Dustin Johnson has nine top-10s in 13 starts at The Genesis Invitational, including a win in 2017 and two runner-up finishes
• Long Beach, California, native and former UCLA player Patrick Cantlay took over the lead in the FedExCup standings after a T3 at last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
• Adam Scott seeks to become first player to successfully defend title at The Genesis Invitational since Phil Mickelson in 2009
• Eight of the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking are in the field, tied for the most in any non-major during the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season

Field Notes

• 24 of the top 30 in the FedExCup standings, led by No. 1 Patrick Cantlay, No. 2 Xander Schauffele and No. 3 Dustin Johnson
• 29 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, including eight of the top 10; among non-majors in 2020-21, only the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD had as many or more top 10 players (8)
• 14 winners during the 2020-21 season: Patrick Cantlay, Stewart Cink, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Brian Gay, Viktor Hovland, Dustin Johnson, Si Woo Kim, Brooks Koepka, Jason Kokrak, Martin Laird, Kevin Na, Carlos Ortiz, Robert Streb
• Eight players with double-digit PGA TOUR titles: Dustin Johnson (24), Rory McIlroy (18), Jim Furyk (17), Adam Scott (14), Justin Thomas (13), Bubba Watson (12), Jordan Spieth (11), Sergio Garcia (11)
• 19 major championship winners, led by Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy with four each
• Six past champions of The Genesis Invitational: Charles Howell III (2007), James Hahn (2015), Dustin Johnson (2017), Bubba Watson (2014, 2016, 2018), J.B. Holmes (2019), Adam Scott (2020)
• Six FedExCup champions: Jim Furyk (2010), Brandt Snedeker (2012), Jordan Spieth (2015), Justin Thomas (2017), Dustin Johnson (2020) Rory McIlroy (2019, 2016),
• Eight U.S. Amateur champions, including 2017 winner Doc Redman who claimed the title at Riviera (Matt Kuchar/1997, Danny Lee/2008, Matthew Fitzpatrick/2013, Bryson DeChambeau/2015, Doc Redman/2017, Viktor Hovland/2018, Andy Ogletree/2019, Tyler Strafaci/2020)

A look back at 2020 The Genesis Invitational

Pos	Player	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	Adam Scott	72	64	67	70	273 (-11)
T2	Scott Brown	71	68	68	68	275 (-9)
T2	Sung Kang	69	67	70	69	275 (-9)
T2	Matt Kuchar	64	69	70	72	275 (-9)

• Adam Scott won his 14th PGA TOUR title at The Genesis Invitational, winning by two strokes after a final-round 70
• Win came in his 325th start at the age of 39 years, 215 days
• Held a share of the 54-hole lead, converting a 54-hole lead/co-lead to victory for the eighth time in 12 attempts
• Faced an eight-stroke deficit after the first round (72), the largest overcome by a winner since Kevin Na at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier in 2018
• Became the first Australian to win The Genesis Invitational since 2011
• Matt Kuchar held at least a share of the lead after each of the first three rounds before finishing T2

Additional Adam Scott Notes

• 14-time PGA TOUR winner
• Seeks to successfully defend a title on TOUR for the first time; would become the first back-to-back winner of The Genesis Invitational since Phil Mickelson in 2008 and 2009
• T10 at 2021 Farmers Insurance Open marked 99^th PGA TOUR top-10 result
• Owns six top-10s in 12 appearances at The Genesis Invitational, including wins in 2005 (unofficial 36-hole win) and 2020
• Has earned the most prize money of any player in tournament history ($4,454,048)

Notable Players

World No. 1 and reigning FedExCup Champion Dustin Johnson

• Nine top-10s in 13 starts at the event, highlighted by a win in 2017 and runner-up finishes in 2014 (2^nd) and 2015 (P2)
• 17 scores of 67 or better in 48 rounds at The Genesis Invitational, the most of any player since 2008
• Tied with Gary Player for 26^th on the all-time PGA TOUR wins list (24); won most recent title at the 2020 Masters Tournament
• Making fifth start of the season (T6/U.S. Open, T2/Vivint Houston Open, Won/Masters Tournament, T11/Sentry Tournament of Champions)
• Won first career FedExCup title in 2019-20 after wins at the Travelers Championship, THE NORTHERN TRUST and the TOUR Championship

FedExCup leader Patrick Cantlay

• Sits No. 1 in the FedExCup standings with a win (ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD), a runner-up (The American Express) and a T3 (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am) on the season
• After missed cuts in first two appearances at The Genesis Invitational (2012, 2013), has posted three consecutive top-20 finishes, including a T4 in 2018
• 54-under in his last 12 rounds on TOUR, including scores of 61 and 62 (two of the three lowest scores of his PGA TOUR career)
• Native of Long Beach, California, and former player on UCLA golf team

Jon Rahm

• Making third appearance at The Genesis Invitational (T9/2019, T17/2020)
• Owns seven top-25s in as many starts this season, with T2 at ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD his best result
• No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking and No. 16 in the FedExCup standings

Justin Thomas

• Making seventh start at the event; held four-stroke lead through three rounds in 2019 and tied the 54-hole tournament record (196) before finishing solo-second
• Seven top-15 results in seven starts on the season, highlighted by a T2 at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD
• 2017 FedExCup champion

Xander Schauffele

• Making fourth appearance at The Genesis Invitational (T9/2018, T15/2019, T23/2020)
• Five top-five results in seven starts on the season, including runner-up results in his two most recent starts (5^th/U.S. Open, 2^nd/THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK, T5/Sentry Tournament of Champions, T2/Farmers Insurance Open, T2/Waste Management Phoenix Open)
• Has not finished outside the top 25 since the 2020 RBC Heritage (T64), a span of 15 starts
• Has not missed a cut on the PGA TOUR since the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open, a span of 21 starts (second-longest active streak on TOUR; 25/Rory McIlroy)

Rory McIlroy

• Finished T20 in first two appearances at The Genesis Invitational (2016, 2018) before notching top-five results in his last two starts (T4/2019, T5/2020)
• Has not missed a cut on the PGA TOUR since 2019 The Open Championship, a span of 25 starts (longest active streak on TOUR)
• In search of first victory on TOUR since the 2019 World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions
• Two-time FedExCup champion (2016, 2019)

Willie Mack III earns Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption

• Making second career PGA TOUR start; missed the cut at the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open in his debut
• Has made starts on the Korn Ferry Tour (1) and PGA TOUR Latinoamerica (3)
• Currently competes on the Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour and Florida Professional Golf Tour, earning Player of the Year honors for both tours in 2019
• Flint, Michigan native played college golf at Bethune-Cookman, winning 11 titles as a Wildcat

Miscellaneous Notes

• Three players (Fred Couples, Ernie Els, Hale Irwin) have won all three elevated events on the PGA TOUR (The Genesis Invitational, the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard); several players have won two of the three, including tournament host Tiger Woods
• 2020 PGA Championship winner Colin Morikawa makes second appearance at The Genesis Invitational (T26/2020); finished T7 in each of his last two starts on TOUR (Sentry Tournament of Champions, Sony Open in Hawaii)
• After missing the cut in three consecutive starts for the first time in his PGA TOUR career, Brooks Koepka claimed his eighth TOUR title two weeks ago at the Waste Management Phoenix Open; makes third appearance at The Genesis Invitational (MC/2017, T43/2020)
• With a T4 (Waste Management Phoenix Open) and a T3 (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am), Jordan Spieth enters this week after finishing in the top five in consecutive starts on TOUR for the first time since 2018 (T3/Vivint Houston Open, 3^rd/Masters Tournament)
• Two-time PGA TOUR winner Viktor Hovland makes first appearance at The Genesis Invitational; owns win and runner-up in his last three starts (Won/Mayakoba Golf Classic presented by UNIFIN, T31/Sentry Tournament of Champions, T2/Farmers Insurance Open)
• Sponsor exemption and PGA TOUR Special Temporary Member Will Zalatoris has recorded four top-10s in nine starts on the season and now sits No. 49 in the OWGR; earned a spot in 2015 The Genesis Invitational (MC) after winning the Collegiate Showcase with a 4-under 67 at Riviera CC
• Bubba Watson’s 2018 victory was his third at The Genesis Invitational (2014, 2016, 2018), joining Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer as three-time winners of the event; only MacDonald Smith and Lloyd Mangrum, with four wins each, have more
• Italy’s Francesco Molinari, 2018 The Open Championship winner who recently became a Los Angeles resident, has posted two top-10s in his last three starts on TOUR (T8/The American Express, T10/Farmers Insurance Open, 59^th/AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am)
• 2020 Korean Tour Order of Merit winner Tae Hoon Kim, 35, makes PGA TOUR debut after receiving sponsor exemption as winner of the 2020 Genesis Championship on the Korean Tour
• 2020 U.S. Amateur champion Tyler Strafaci seeks to make his first cut in his fourth start on PGA TOUR; became fourth Georgia Tech player to claim the U.S. Amateur title (Bobby Jones, Matt Kuchar, Andy Ogletree) and plans to remain an amateur to compete in Walker Cup at Seminole later this year
• The Genesis Invitational was first played in 1926 and stands as the seventh-oldest active tournament on the PGA TOUR behind The Open Championship (1860), U.S. Open (1895), BMW Championship (1899), RBC Canadian Open (1904), PGA Championship (1916) and Valero Texas Open (1922)

TGR Foundation

The TGR Foundation serves as the host organization of The Genesis Invitational and is the primary beneficiary of proceeds for the week. The nearby TGR Learning Lab was founded in Anaheim in 2006 and impacts thousands of children each year in STEM education. Now in its 25^th anniversary year, TGR Foundation celebrates two million students impacted through education and youth development programs.

Tournament records and history

• 18-hole score: 61 (George Archer/R3/1983, Ted Tryba/R3/1999)
• 72-hole score: 264 (Lanny Wadkins/1985)
• Largest margin of victory: 9 (Phil Rodgers/1962)
• Best come-from-behind win: 8 (Ken Venturi/1959)
• Playoffs: 17 (most recent: 2015/James Hahn def. Paul Casey and Dustin Johnson)
• Holes-in-one since 1983: 40 (most recent: Bud Cauley/R2/6^th hole/2020)

The Genesis Invitational Preview is via PGA TOUR