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We've got a new PGA TOUR winner! It was an impressive performance at The Genesis Invitational, even if it wasn't the blowout it looked to be midway through Sunday. Let's talk about it ...

Bridgeman belongs

LOS ANGELES – Jacob Bridgeman isn’t too proud to admit that as recently as two years ago, he had little idea how far his iron shots might go on any given shot. He knew his stock yardages, sure, but ask him to take a little off one, or flight one under the wind or get it to stop without too much spin, he had little control to pull it off.

I didn’t know that fact yet – he would reveal it in his winner’s press conference – but as I stood behind the 18th green, I shook my head and laughed as his approach shot apexed above the treeline and set on a direct path toward the flag. The depth perception isn’t great, so for a moment I thought he might just end it there. He settled for 20 feet below the hole, and that was enough.

In a day that Bridgeman had to battle one of America’s iconic courses to win a storied tournament that’s put on by the greatest golfer of his lifetime and sink a nervy 3-foot putt to close it, what stuck out most to me was his iron play. Shots like the one on No. 18 were automatic all day.

What few details I knew about Bridgeman beginning this week revolved around his putter. Ask enough players who the best putters on TOUR are, and Bridgeman’s name is bound to come up. Not often are they also the best approach players. That’s the combo Bridgeman put together this week. He led the field by gaining six strokes on approach and seven on the greens. The latter is one Bridgeman expects. The other?

“I've never led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach ever,” he said. “I've probably never been close.”

What he did this week is a testament to his growth, and it’s why Bridgeman should be in consideration in the hierarchy of young players who have a chance to blossom. The story of his improvement starts with his swing coach, Scott Hamilton, who has slowly transformed Bridgeman from the scrappy college player who won with short game alone to a player who led the biggest stars in the sport by six strokes after 54 holes at The Riviera Country Club. Poor swing mechanics were cleaned up, giving Bridgeman the basic ability to know how far shots will go. Might sound like a given for a top player, but “I know how far the ball's going, which is mind-blowing for a pro to say, but I actually do now. I didn't before, and that's kind of changed my game.”

He needed it Sunday, when every approach shot seemed to roll to an uncomfortable distance. … a lot of “half shots and half clubs,” he said. The exact type of feel shots he never could master. His round was far from perfect, but he executed at the right times. After he dropped a shot at the seventh, he found the fairway at the eighth, hit his approach in the exact right spot, 25 feet below the hole, and made an easy par. After his bogey at the 12th, he hit the fairway on No. 13 and landed his approach pin high, 30 feet away, setting up another needed par. And at the 18th, with the massive crowd lining the green, and Tiger Woods waiting for him up the hill and McIlroy making a late push, he calmly placed his approach 20 feet below the hole to give him a straight, uphill putt. A result only possible from a lot of growth and a lot of hard work, one that proves Bridgeman belongs.

Playing through

• ❌ The most impressive streak in golf is over. Scottie Scheffler’s run of 18 top-10 finishes in a row ended on Sunday. Of course, he made it interesting.
• 💲 Bridgeman took home $4 million for the victory. Here’s how much the rest of the field earned …
• 📺 Watch Bridgeman’s winning press conference. He’s an understated guy, but I found him refreshingly direct and enjoyably confident.

Putter abandons McIlroy

Here’s a list of putts Rory McIlroy missed in his first nine holes on Sunday:

• 4 feet, 8 inches for par
• 6 feet, 1 inch for birdie
• 7 feet, 11 inches for birdie
• 10 feet, 5 inches for birdie
• 11 feet, 4 inches for eagle

It’s naive to say that if one of those drops in, he definitely gets into a playoff. That’s not how sports work, and there are hundreds of varying potentialities that an early run could’ve caused. But given Bridgeman’s shaky final holes, it’s hard not to wonder "what if," if McIlroy applied any pressure early. Instead, he applied zero. I looked this up after the missed 6-footer for birdie on the ninth. He had already lost 2.5 strokes on the greens at that point. That’s incredibly hard to do in that small a sample.

McIlroy wasn’t overly disappointed in the aftermath of his loss. He was notably upbeat about the general trajectory of his game. It’s still a missed opportunity. McIlroy is chasing meaningful moments, and a victory at a cathedral of American golf slipped by him this week at Riviera. For that, McIlroy has his putter to blame.

Parting shots

• 🤏 Scheffler’s top-10 streak was an inch from continuing. I watched his stretch of final holes and remained incredibly impressed with his willingness to grind. Easy with his success to mail it in, instead, he went 6-under in his last 11 holes. That last putt should’ve dropped, too. Another streak that died Sunday: his run of eight straight top-fours, which might have been more impressive than the 18 top 10s.
• 🗣️ Jordan Spieth is incredibly bullish on where he’s headed. Do with that information however you please. He was second in the field in putting, a result he attributed to recent setup tweaks with coach Cameron McCormick. He also feels things are coming together with his full swing. It’s not happening consistently enough, but he thinks that will come with more practice. From his mouth: “I feel very confident.”
• 🇿🇦 I’ll continue to bang the drum that we’re seeing a different, more refined version of Aldrich Potgieter. Ends the week in solo-fifth and finished top 20 in approach play and top-five in putting. Those were his weakest areas in 2025, and he hasn’t lost his elite driving skill.