BlogGenesis Invitational Preview and Picks

The Buzz:

So, the seven-week west coast swing ends this week at the Genesis Invitational, a signature event. This is the final Signature Event where those who finished inside the Aon Next 10 via their standings in the FedExCup Fall earned a spot in the field. The Aon Next 10 is comprised of Nos. 51-60 in 2023’s final FedExCup Fall standings and will reset at next week’s Mexico Open. For the next Signature Event, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Aon Next 10 will comprise the top 10 players in the 2024 FedExCup standings who still need to be exempt from the field.

After this week, the Tour moves down to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. After next week, the Tour moves east to spend time on courses in Florida and Texas as players prepare for the Masters. In the next nine weeks, there will be the Players Championship, plus another signature event at the Arnold Palmer. All the courses will be in great shape with Bermuda greens, and some players will love to say goodbye to Poa Annua greens and new challenges. As we bid farewell to the West Coast, we will see if players who have done well over the last six weeks will continue to play well. In the six weeks, we only had one first-timer winner, Thomas Detry, the previous week in Phoenix. We also had two marquee winners with Hideki Matsuyama winning the Sentry and Rory McIlroy winning at Pebble Beach.

We also saw Nick Taylor return to the winning circle at the Sony Open. Harris English returned to the winner’s circle at the Farmers after a long rehab from hip surgery in February of 2022. In a span of 1,308 days since his last victory in the 2021 Travelers, English won for the fifth time, with the victory breathing new life into the 35-year-old career. Another player making a comeback was Sepp Straka, who won for the third time at the American Express. Straka won the 2022 Cognizant Classic and the 2023 John Deere, but since then only had one top three.

In the first six weeks, we see that Rory McIlroy may be a force in 2025; Scottie Scheffler seems to be OK after surgery to repair a Christmas day accident in which he cut his hand while cooking dinner. After two starts, Scheffler appears to be his usual self, and we know he will find the winner circle in the coming months. Another player who looks to fine shape after surgery is Jordan Spieth. Since winning the 2022 RBC Heritage, Spieth has not been in the winner’s circle. Last year, he hurt his wrist, which required surgery in September. In his comeback start at Pebble, he finished T-69th, but last week in Phoenix, he was T-4th, and we have to think he, too, will be a force. Don’t be surprised to see him win the Masters; he is on my shortlist for Augusta.

While we have these stories, the story of Xander Schauffele is turning out to be a big deal. Rumors are rapid on what has happened to him, but he is dealing with a right rib injury, a soft tissue issue that he has been fighting since mid-December. he came to Sentry and was in pain; he returned home to rest and still he is unable to play. He is frustrated over all of this and says he is working on his strength and other mental things so that he comes back strong. But as we all know, no matter how hard he works at home, competition is what he needs, and not being able to play puts him further behind. One thing he may lose is his #2 ranking. With Rory playing well, he is knocking on the door and could overtake Xander with a win this week. He was hoping to return this week in a hometown event, but that isn’t going to happen. There is no timetable on when he will return.

This week’s field is loaded with a 20 million-dollar purse, with $4 million going to the winner. There are only 72 players on the field, and there will be a 36-hole cut, with the top 50 playing over the weekend. Other than Scheffler, McIlroy, and Spieth, many folks are playing well and could take this week.

• Justin Thomas has played well; in four 2025 starts, he was 2nd at the American Express and T-6th last week in Phoenix.
• Sungjae Im has also played well in five starts, with two top-four finishes, including a T-4th at the Farmers. He plays well at Torrey and will be part of Sunday.
• Jason Day has quietly played well in 2025, including at T-3rd at the American Express. He likes playing at Torrey and was T-32nd last month.
• Everybody seems to have forgotten about Collin Morikawa, who, in two starts in 2025, was 2nd at the Sentry and T-17th at Pebble. He was 3rd at Torrey in 2023, so he can play well on the course.
• Maverick McNeally is playing well. He was T-9th last week in Phoenix and started the year finishing T-8th at the Sentry.
• Michael Kim is also playing well. He got a great break when Viktor Hovland stopped working with Joe Mayo, who has been working with Kim. He was T-2nd at Phoenix and feels the work is paying off.
• Never forget Justin Rose; he may have missed the cut at the Farmers, but he was T-3rd at Pebble and has played well at Torrey.
• Also, don’t forget about Cameron Young, who is still looking for his first win. After a slow start, he was T-12th at Phoenix.
• Adam Scott is another outsider to watch. He was 2nd at Torrey in 2019, T-10th in 2021, and T-35th at Torrey during the U.S. Open, so don’t forget about him.
• Two that I will not be back this week is Ludwig Aberg, who got ill at the Farmers and played terribly over the weekend. Things continued at Pebble, and he withdrew after a first-round 77. We haven’t heard much from him and have to be careful. Also, Max Greyserman hurt his hand at Pebble and was forced to withdraw; I haven’t heard if things are better, so be cautious with him.

Course information:

• Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California
• South Course  – Par:  72 / Yardage: 7,765
• Because of the fires in Pacific Palisades, the event has moved from its regular home at Riviera to Torrey Pines. A lot of things had to work to do this, not only getting hotels and changing the infrastructure of the event, but Torrey Pines had to cancel a lot of people’s reservations for this week.
• We know enough about Torrey Pines that we don’t need to do it again.
• It’s probably essential to look at the Farmers’ results because those that finished in the top ten will probably play well this week.

Let’s take a look at vital stats that are important for those playing on the Torrey:

Because the venue was changed from Riviera to Torrey Pines due to the fires that destroyed most of Pacific Palisades, we are using stats from Farmers Insurances, which was played just three weeks ago.
So this is based on the most important stats for Torrey Pines South Course, based on data from last month’s Farmers Insurance Open, and using data from all the players in the field for stats from 2025.

The scoring average of the Torrey South Course field last month was 73.68. It was the hardest course on the PGA Tour in the six weeks, and 10 courses were charted in 2025.

Here is a look at the scoring average at Torrey South Course for the last few years:
*2024 – Average was 72.40, was the 4th hardest of the 50 courses that year
*2023 – Average was 73.62, was the 4th hardest of the 58 courses that year
*2022 – Average was 72.35, was the 15th hardest of the 50 courses that year
*2021 – Average was 73.34, it was the 4th hardest of the 51 courses that year
*2021 – The course also held the U.S. Open that year, and the average score was 73.45, making it the 2nd hardest course of the year
*2020 – Average was 72.53, was 7th hardest of 41 courses that year
*2019 – Average was 71.73, was 18th hardest of 49 courses that year

In 2019, the South Course played under par for the first time since 2001, averaging 71.82.
Days after the Farmers in 2001, bulldozers came in, and the course was completely renovated for the 2008 U.S. Open by Rees Jones. So why did the course play so easily in 2019? The weather couldn’t be better, warm all four days with wind under 10 mph daily. With that, Justin Rose shot 21 under par, the lowest winning score since Tiger Woods shot 22 under in 1999. Of course, the wind is always a factor, in 2018, with low temperatures the first three days and winds gusting up to 25 mph, the scoring average was 72.81, the 8th hardest course for the year. In 2017, it was windy each day, and the average was 72.77, making it the 14th hardest course on the PGA Tour. It was almost 2 shots easier than in 2016, when it was the 2nd hardest course on tour with a 74.50. That year, they had high winds so severe that they had to finish the round on Monday, which is why the change happened.

Our course key is based on the South Course, which underwent another renovation before the 2020 event to prepare for the 2021 U.S. Open. There have been numerous subtle changes on the South Course, but the most striking alterations were made to the 4th, 9th, 10th, 15th, and 17th holes. Tees were moved to make driving harder in the fairway, and new bunkers were added to make players think more about a shot. Still, with the course lying on a bluff over the Pacific Ocean, mother nature always plays its part with possible fog this time of year, rain, and wind. This year, the area has gotten very little rain in the last month, and for this week, the weather will be very unlike San Diego weather.
Temperatures will be very mild every day, between 58 and 62 degrees. Unfortunately, the San Diego area is stuck in a rain pattern on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Conditions will improve over the weekend, but they will still be mostly cloudy. It’s a rare occurrence in which players may spend the whole week in San Diego and never see the sun.
The good news is that, just like last month, we should look for low scores again.

For our first category, we choose Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green since Driving is essential in looking at Torrey South’s stats from last month’s Farmers. The South Course ranked 3rd on the PGA Tour in driving distance (all drives) with an average of 297.5 yards and 2nd in driving accuracy. Winner Haris English ranked 38th in driving distance all drives (298.4) and T-60th in driving accuracy (hitting 23 of 54 holes). English was T-37th in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green.

Here is a look at the driving average at Torrey South for the last few years:
*2024 – Torrey South ranked 19th in driving distance and 7th in driving accuracy.
Winner Matthieu Pavon ranked 45th in driving distance (291.3) and T-16th in driving accuracy (hitting 35 of 54 holes).
*2023 – Torrey South ranked 29th in driving distance and 7th in driving accuracy.
Winner Max Homa was 55th in driving distance and T-9th (34 of 54) in accuracy.
*2022 – Torrey South ranked 31st in driving distance and 9th in driving accuracy.
Winner Luke List was 12th in driving distance and T-44th (29 of 54) in accuracy.
*2021 –Torrey South ranked 25th in driving distance and 7th in driving accuracy.
Winner Patrick Reed was T-52nd in driving distance and T-9th (36 of 54) in accuracy.
*2020 – Torrey South ranked T-17th in driving distance and 8th in driving accuracy.
Winner Marc Leishman was T-34th in driving distance and T-58th (27 of 54) in accuracy.
*2019 – Torrey South ranked 32nd in driving distance and 1st in driving accuracy.
Winner Justin Rose was 11th in driving distance and T-8th (35 of 54) in accuracy.
So driving it far and straight is important.

Our second vital stat is greens in regulation, which translates to Strokes gained Tee-to-Green
Last Month, the field hit an average of 57.99% of the greens and ranked 1st. Hitting greens is very important, and as we can see, only about 6 in 10 greens are hit, compared to the Plantation Course at Kapalua, in which 81.49% were hit a few weeks ago. So, this is important in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green, which is one of our top stats to look for. Last month’s winner, Harris English, ranked T-28th in Greens in Regulation, hitting 45 of 72 greens as he finished T-37th for the week in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green, gaining .379 per round.

Here is a look at the Greens in Regulation at Torrey South and how it corresponds to the winners in the last few years:
*2024 – Torrey South ranked 7th in Greens in Regulation as the field hit an average of 64.79% of the greens. Winner Matthieu Pavon was T-24th in Greens in Regulation, hitting 51 of 72 greens, and was 12th in Strokes Gained Tee to Green, picking up 1.891 shots per round.
*2023 – Torrey South ranked T-10th in Greens in Regulation.
Winner Max Homa was T-3rd in Greens in Regulation, hitting 53 of 72 greens, and was 1st in Strokes Gained Tee to Green, picking up 3.50 shots per round.
*2022 – Torrey South ranked T-16th in Greens in Regulation.
Winner Luke List was T-11th in Greens in Regulation, hitting 53 of 72 greens, and was 5th in Strokes Gained Tee to Green, picking up 2.48 shots per round.
*2021 –Torrey South ranked 13th in Greens in Regulation.
Winner Patrick Reed was T-63rd in Greens in Regulation, hitting 44 of 72 greens, and was 12th in Strokes Gained Tee to Green, picking up 1.93 shots per round.
*2020 – Torrey South ranked 13th in Greens in Regulation.
Winner Marc Leishman was T-14th in Greens in Regulation, hitting 52 of 72 greens, and was 16th in Strokes Gained Tee to Green, picking up 1.14 shots per round.
*2019 – Torrey South ranked 21st in Greens in Regulation.
Winner Justin Rose was T-2nd in Greens in Regulation, hitting 56 of 72 greens, and was 7th in Strokes Gained Tee to Green, picking up 1.77 shots per round.

Our third category is putting inside 10 feet. The Poa Annua greens have the reputation as some of the hardest greens on tour to putt. Poa is a weed that makes the greens hard to putt, especially in the late afternoon and with a lot of people walking on them. So, it’s very challenging to make putts under ten feet. Last month, Torrey South’s greens were the hardest course on tour in making putts inside ten feet in, as only 85.78% of those putts were made. In comparison, Waialae Country Club in the Sony Open in Hawaii saw the most putts inside of ten feet, with 89.02%. For the winner, Harris English ranked T-24th in putting inside ten feet, making 47 of 53 tries inside ten feet (88.68%).

Here is a look at the Putting Inside Ten Feet at Torrey South and how it corresponds for the winners in the last few years:
*2024 – Torrey South ranked 1st in Putting inside Ten Feet with (84.62%) of the putts made.
Winner Matthieu Pavon was 32nd in Putting inside Ten Feet with 46 of 53 (86.79%) of the putts made.
*2023 – Torrey South ranked 1st in Putting inside Ten Feet with (85.30%) of the putts made.
Winner Max Homa was 28th in Putting inside Ten Feet with 43 of 49 (87.76%) of the putts made.
*2022 – Torrey South ranked 2nd in Putting inside Ten Feet with (85.98%) of the putts made.
Winner Luke List was 59th in Putting inside Ten Feet with 43 of 51 (84.31%) of the putts made.
*2021 – Torrey South ranked 2nd in Putting inside Ten Feet with (83.95%) of the putts made.
Winner Patrick Reed was 7th in Putting inside Ten Feet with 47 of 52 (90.381%) of the putts made.
*2020 – Torrey South ranked 2nd in Putting inside Ten Feet with (84.66%) of the putts made.
Winner Marc Leishman was 28th in Putting inside Ten Feet with 44 of 51 (86.27%) of the putts made.
2019 – Torrey South ranked 4th in Putting inside Ten Feet with (86.00%) of the putts made.
Winner Justin Rose was T-39th in Putting inside Ten Feet with 46 of 53 (86.79%) of the putts made.
In 2018, Jason Day shined in this stat, ranking first in the field and making 49 of 51 tries for the week.

Our last category is scrambling mainly because of its history, where lots of greens are missed, and Torrey is adamant about getting it up and down.
Last month, Torrey Pines South ranked the hardest, with players getting it up and down on greens 53.67% of the time.
The winner, Harris English, was first in Scrambling, as he got it up and down 84.48% of the 27 greens he missed.

Here is a look at the Putting Inside Ten Feet at Torrey South and how it corresponds for the winners in the last few years:
*2024 – Torrey South ranked 7th in scrambling as players got it up and down (54.08%) of the time.
Winner Matthieu Pavon was 8th in Scrambling as he got it up and down 71.43% of the 21 greens he missed.
*2023 – Torrey South ranked 3rd in scrambling as players got it up and down (50.41%) of the time.
Winner Max Homa was 14th in Scrambling as he got it up and down 63.16% of the 19 greens he missed.
*2022 – Torrey South ranked 18th in scrambling as players got it up and down (57.17%) of the time.
Winner Luke List was T-6th in Scrambling as he got it up and down 78.95% of the 19 greens he missed.
*2021 – Torrey South ranked 5th in scrambling as players got it up and down (51.99%) of the time.
Winner Patrick Reed placed 5th in Scrambling, as he got up and down 81.25% of the 28 greens he missed.
*2020 – Torrey South ranked 4th in scrambling as players got it up and down (54.00%) of the time.
Winner Marc Leishman was T-4th in Scrambling as he got it up and down 75.00% of the 20 greens he missed.
*2019 – Torrey South ranked 15th in scrambling as players got it up and down (57.05%) of the time.
Winner Justin Rose was 58th in Scrambling as he got it up and down 56.25% of the 16 greens he missed.

The charm of the Torrey Pines course is based on its location on the Pacific Ocean, along with greens that are hard to hit and putt. The weather, which is usually perfect, and the scenic nature of the course are some of the reasons players love to play in this event.

SO HERE ARE OUR FOUR CHOICES FOR THE MOST CRITICAL STATS FROM PLAYERS TO DO WELL AT TORREY PINES SOUTH:

*Strokes gained Tee-to-Green: It’s a combination of hitting it straight and hitting it far. Since Torrey is so long, you must hit the driver off most tees. But the fairways are narrow, and the rough is hard if you get into it.

*Strokes Gained Approach-the-Green: It’s a combination of hitting the green from the fairway or the rough.

*Putting inside 10 feet: This gauges how many putts a player makes inside ten feet. With Torrey having Poa Annua greens, making all of these putts is essential and challenging for players.

*Scrambling: Being able to get it up and down from greens missed. Last month the South Course was hard in this stat, ranking 1st; before 2018, it was historically very high in this stat, as it was in the top ten on tour between 2011 and 2017. But in 2018, it ranked 19th, in 2019 it was 15th, in 2020 it was 4th, and in 2021 it ranked 5th hardest on tour. In 2022, it ranked 18th, and in 2023, it ranked 3rd, and 7th on the PGA Tour in 2024.

71 of the 72 players from this year’s field with stats from 2025.
Two players are participating in their second event this year and don’t have official 2025 stats, so for Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood, we are using their ranks for stats from 2024. Those players with 2024 stats are in bold.

Click any column title in the table header to sort columns.

DraftKings Picks

*Here are the very costly guys:

• Scottie Scheffler – $12,300
• Rory McIlroy – $10,900
• Justin Thomas – $10,100
• Collin Morikawa – $10,000
• Ludvig Aberg – $9,800
• Hideki Matsuyama – $9,600
• Patrick Cantlay – $9,400
• Sungjae Im – $9,200
• Tommy Fleetwood – $9,100
• Taylor Pendrith – $9,000

This week at Genesis, this is a great field. It gives you many options. But one option you won’t have is taking two players over $10,000. That will make it even harder. A key that could help many good players in the 9,000 range, it’s possible to take three of them. Taking Thomas, Morikawa, and Im will cost $29,300, leaving you with $20,700 or about $6,900 per your next three choices. Or you can take just one off this list, possibly just Thomas or Morikawa, which will leave you with $40,000 or about $8,000 a player.  Look at our list of those that make the most cuts at Torrey, and you will see a lot of great players like Adam Scott ($7,500), Tony Finau ($8,200), Justin Rose ($6,400), Harris English ($7,600), Maverick McNeely ($7,800), Sahith Theegala ($7,500) and Sam Stevens ($7,600) and last week’s winner Thomas Detry ($8,000) that fit perfectly.  Scottie Scheffler at $12,300 is very high, but always worth the cost, but $12,300 is way too much.  Rory McIlroy at $10,900 is a bit cheaper, still high but someone we can afford.  Even better is Justin Thomas at $10,100 and Collin Morikawa at $10,000.  As for Scheffler, I won’t take him due to his poor record at Torrey; in three starts, he missed the cut twice and was T-20th.  Yes, he hasn’t played in the event since 2022, but maybe it’s because he doesn’t like the course.  McIlroy at $10,900 is a better choice, he was T-5th in 2019 and T-3rd in 2020.  Justin Thomas at $10,100 bothers me a bit because he hasn’t played well at Torrey.  At least Collin Morikawa, at $10,000, was 3rd in 2023.  Ludvig Aberg at $9,800 is a gamble; he played well in the first two rounds at Torrey last month but got sick to finish T-42nd.  He was ill the next week at Pebble and withdrew.  He has had two weeks off and won’t be sick, but will his game suffer from the last few weeks?  Hideki Matsuyama at $9,600, did finish T-3rd in 2019, but in the last six starts only had one top ten, T-9th in 2023.  Patrick Cantlay at $9,400, is a big mystery to me, he has been off and on in 2025; I will pass on him due to his indifferent play at Torrey.  Sungjae Im at $9,200 is worth the look; in his last four starts, he has been in the top six three times, including T-4th last month.  Tommy Fleetwood at $9,100, has never played in the Farmers, but did play at Torrey in the 2021 U.S. Open finishing T-50th, so it’s probably best to pass on him.  Taylor Pendrith at $9,000 is overpriced even though he finished T-9th last year and T-7th last month

*Players in that $7,500 to $8,900 price range, which ones are worth the money?:

I like Tony Finau at $8,200 despite missing the cut last month.  In previous starts at Torrey has six top tens in 11 starts and was T-6th last year.  Thomas Detry at $8,000 is a good pick, won last week, and was T-15th last month at Torrey.  Will Zalatoris at $7,900 could be a good pick at a cheap price.  He hasn’t played great in 2025 but his game could be close.  He has a runner-up finish at Torrey in 2022 and T-7th in 2021.  Maverick McNeely, at $7,800, is also worth a look, he has never played well at Torrey, but you can see that his game is close.  Keegan Bradley at $7,700 is a good pick, plays well at Torrey he was T-15th last month.  Harris English at $7,600, is looking to see if he can strike again after winning last month.  I have to think at worst, he will get a top ten this week.  Sam Stevens at $7,600, came close last month at Torrey, and has been ok in 2025.  I like Adam Scott a lot at $7,500, he has an excellent record at Torrey, and I feel he can have a top-five finish.

What are the “Bargains” out there?

Off the bat, you can’t go wrong with Cameron Young at $7,400. It’s a cheap price for someone who will make a lot of points, and I can see him contending.  Wyndham Clark at $7,300 is an excellent price for a guy whose game is coming around.  Yes, he finished T-16th at Phoenix last week but played very well and showed signs he is ready to do well.  Christiaan Bezuidenhout at $6,700 is a real bargain, showed that he can play well by finishing T-4th in Phoenix, is a good rain player.  Also, like Justin Rose at $6,400 in the rain, he played well at Pebble.