Power Rankings: The Genesis Invitational

The West Coast Swing concludes at The Genesis Invitational. However, due to the wildfires that affected parts of Southern California in January, the location of the finish line was moved, and it’s just as familiar as The Riviera Country Club that typically hosts.

The South Course at Torrey Pines serves as the temporary stage for the third Signature Event of the season. Perhaps you’ll recall that it hosted the Farmers Insurance Open just three weeks ago.

Details of how the South Course will present, the special format for the tournament and more intel can be found beneath the golfers projected to contend for the title.

All golf courses on the PGA TOUR dress to the nines when the circuit comes to town, but to have Torrey Pines fresh off its annual duties for the Farmers served as a soft landing during a hard time. It’s already ready to challenge. It’s also not that distant of an additional responsibility, either, as the South Course was the site of the 2021 U.S. Open.

Quite simply, the South Course is set up just as tough as it was for the Farmers in January. The stock par 72 will tip at 7,765 yards. The thickest of the rough could be higher than 4 inches and Poa annua greens will be prepped to run 13 feet on the Stimpmeter.

But this is still a different tournament. The field is just 72 deep, and 29 players in the field also competed in the Farmers. And although The Genesis is a Signature Event, it has a 36-hole cut. The low 50 and ties – as well as all golfers inside 10 strokes of the lead at the midpoint – will play the third and final rounds. The winner will collect 700 FedExCup points, $4 million of a $20-million prize fund and a three-year PGA TOUR membership exemption among many other perks.

The Genesis has roots dating back to its inaugural tournament in 1926 – this is the 98th edition – and it’s bounced around the Los Angeles metro area throughout its history, but this is the first time it’s been played elsewhere since 1998. Because The Riviera Country Club committed to hosting the U.S. Senior Open that year, The Genesis was relocated to Valencia Country Club. That’s the site of one of Tiger Woods’ pair of runner-up finishes in the tournament. He lost in a playoff to Billy Mayfair. Notably, this is one of the few tournaments in which Woods has played and hasn’t won. Woods is the tournament host and had committed to play this week, but he withdrew on Monday.

With all of the rightful headlines for the tournament, it can be easy to overlook what Mother Nature has in store once play begins on Thursday. It could be an experience of two halves. Rain is promised pre-cut with punishing winds from the south causing a potential headline in and of itself for the opening round. Come the weekend when the sun takes over, breezes also will have abated. The only constant throughout will be a daytime high in the upper 50s and maybe 60 degrees.

For a comparison to understand how much the wind is a factor along the shore, when Torrey Pines hosted the Farmers three weeks ago, the overall scoring average was 73.68. The key word there is average. With light winds in the first and third rounds, respective scoring averages were more than one stroke lower than the overall, but when trousers were flapping in the second and final rounds, those scoring averages were more than one stroke higher. An important distinction is that only the South Course is hosting The Genesis (as opposed to when the North Course co-hosts the Farmers), so any benefit to either side of the draw is flattened.

Rob Bolton's schedule

PGATOUR.com’s Rob Bolton previews and recaps every tournament from numerous perspectives. Look for his following contributions as scheduled.

MONDAY: Power Rankings
TUESDAY*: Fantasy Insider
SUNDAY: Payouts and Points, Qualifiers

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