LOS ANGELES – Jacob Bridgeman leads The Genesis Invitational by six strokes heading into Sunday’s final round at The Riviera Country Club.

It’s not shocking that Bridgeman is here. He’s steadily improved, now in his third full season on TOUR, and has put himself in position to win before, including last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. How he’s leading is a different story. The American blitzed Riviera on Saturday, shooting a 7-under 64 that was as impressive as it gets. With the tournament up for grabs, Bridgeman took control and silenced a Los Angeles crowd that was ready to get behind the stars trying to take him down. Speaking of that. He distanced himself from a star-laden leaderboard and left his closest challenger, Rory McIlroy, resigned to the fact that a comeback isn’t likely.

“It's going to take something special from me,” McIlroy said.

So who is Jacob Bridgeman? He’s accomplished on the PGA TOUR, but he remains an under-the-radar name. That won’t be the case for long. Here are five things you should know about Bridgeman.

1. He’s an elite putter and always has been

Bridgeman will admit he hasn’t always been an all-around player. “I kind of just putted my way around and won some tournaments that way,” Bridgeman said of his college career. That was good enough to be a heck of a collegiate player (more details on that later), and it’s given him a solid floor as a TOUR player.

He’s where he ranks in Strokes Gained: Putting since he earned his TOUR card in 2024:

• 2024: seventh (+0.58)
• 2025: 21st (+0.39)
• 2026: eighth (+1.12)

Sure enough, he led The Genesis Invitational in putting through three rounds. That he’s doing it at Riviera is notable, though. For as good a putter as he has been, his weakest moments have come in California and Poa annua greens, known for being bumpy and difficult to navigate. He said that had caused him fits in the past.

"I didn't like it, didn't really know what to do. I think I've accepted now that some of them are going to bump out. Like mine on the last hole, I hit a good putt, it just bumped left and it didn't go in,” Bridgeman said after the third round at Riviera. “I think in the past I would get kind of frustrated with that and that would kind of inch over into my stroke and play.”

2. He’s among the best players to come out of Clemson

Bridgeman grew up a massive Clemson fan, which made the choice of college easy. He played four seasons at the University (2018-22), tying the program record with five individual wins. That included the crown jewel, earning medalist honors at the 2022 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship en route to earning the 2022 ACC Player of the Year award. He also garnered All-America Second Team honors in 2021 and 2022.

Bridgeman parlayed that play into finishing No. 2 in the 2022 PGA TOUR University Ranking. That earned him immediate status on the Korn Ferry Tour. Bridgeman finished 14th on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List in his first full season and earned the promotion to the PGA TOUR.

3. He’s already made the TOUR Championship before

Bridgeman is one of the more anonymous players to make it to the TOUR Championship, and he did it in 2025 off the strength of several notable results. He made 19 cuts in 30 starts and recorded five top 10s, highlighted by a T2 finish at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. He finished T27 at the TOUR Championship.

Bridgeman also led for the first three rounds of the Valspar Championship before Viktor Hovland overtook him on the final day. Bridgeman didn’t wither away, though, finishing in a tie for third that week.

That experience should help him on Sunday, when he plays in the final pairing of a final round for the second time.

“Last year I felt nice,” Bridgeman said of that final day at Valspar. “ I think on the tee I expected to be nervous and feeling more pressure than I did. Then, when I got on the tee, it was kind of eerie that I didn't feel that and I felt good. I think I sort of psych myself out a little bit. I didn't play great Sunday at Valspar, but I still kind of hung in there, gave myself a chance.”

That experience should only help navigate the final round at Riviera, when he plays with one of the biggest stars of the sport.

4. Playing with Rory McIlroy doesn’t freak him out

Speaking of that, Bridgeman isn’t fazed about his final round pairing with McIlroy. Mostly because he’s already done it. The two played together in the final round of the BMW Championship, a day that carried a host of nerves for Bridgeman, needing a solid round to make the TOUR Championship.

“I was paired with Rory and it was kind of a lot, I thought,” Bridgeman began. “Then I got out there and he was super nice to me and super welcoming, and the fans were great as well. I think if it was my first time maybe it would be a little unsettling, but now I'm not worried about it.”

That will be critical to Bridgeman’s success on Sunday. McIlroy said it was important to get in the final group, hopeful that he can get hot early and rev up the pressure on Bridgeman. Bridgeman keeping his nerves at bay will be critical to avoiding that.

5. The key to his improvement is in his ball-striking

Bridgeman’s putting is elite, but it can only take him so far. Why did he jump out to such a big lead through 54 holes at Riviera? In his mind, it was his performance off the tee and with his irons.

“I felt like the rest of my game kind of overshadowed my bad driver last week,” Bridgeman said, “and this week I worked on it a lot. I drove it, in my standards, fairly well.”

Statistically, Bridgeman was about as average as it gets through three rounds off the tee. But that’s plenty good enough when he’s putting like he is and striking the irons with this level of confidence. That’s the other key.

Bridgeman ranked first in Strokes Gained: Approach through three rounds, something he credits to working with his swing coach Scott Hamilton.

“I was not that good at approach in the past, especially when I was in college,” he said. “We've done a lot to kind of increase the height of my iron shots and give me a little bit more spin. I switched balls at the start of the year and the new ball's been great. But this week I think the soft greens are allowing me to kind of just hit cruisy shots, little chip shots a lot of times especially in the wind and it gives me a lot of control.”

Bridgeman has hit 76% of his greens at Riviera and is tied for fifth in Proximity to Hole, along with leading in the Strokes Gained category.