Genesis Invitational (2024) Event & Course Preview
Been a while since posting a newsletter, been working on somethings behind the scenes for the Cappers Craft Discord. Bringing the newsletter back & getting back into PGA, let's have some fun this week
Congratulations to anyone holding a Nick Taylor ticket last weekend at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. This week the PGA Tour shifts to Pacific Palisades in California for The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club. The Genesis Invitational closes out the PGA’s west coast swing before the tour heads south to Mexico.
Riviera Country Club presents an interesting challenge for players, between tight fairways, and greens reading 12.5 on the stimpmeter. I am going to break it all down and give out my favorite plays of the weekend.
Event History:
The Genesis Invitational, formerly known as the Los Angeles Open, was held at various locations throughout Los Angeles before finding a permanent home at the Riviera Country Club in 1984, with the only variation being in 1998 when the event was played at Valencia Country Club.
The Genesis Invitational is one of five events on the PGA Tour with “Invitational” status meaning, there is a slightly smaller field (120), but has a much larger purse (20 million). This prize pool will create some interesting pressure situations late in the weekend, which should make this event even more interesting.
Past 5 Winners SG Analysis:
Lowest Winning Score @ Riviera CC: Lanny Wadkins (-20) / 1985
Largest Margin of Victory: 7 Strokes - 1986
Playoff Information: Since 2016 this event has only gone to playoff holes once and has been won by multiple strokes in every year but 2 since 2016.
Course Information & Detailed Scorecard
Players Path To Victory:
Strokes Gained: Approach
Over the last five years at the Genesis Invitational, the five winners' average SG: Approach placement has been 6.4 with four of the winners finishing inside the top 10 in SG: Approach in their respective fields.
Another reason the approach game is going to be huge this weekend is the green speed. These green complexes will be reading 12.5 on the stimpmeter, which is lightning quick. Relying on long putts will not be a recipe for success this weekend, and with the uneven fairways at Riviera Country Club, excellent ball striking is going to be needed to be in contention this weekend.
Should also be noted that SG: Ball Striking has played a huge part in this course with all five of the last five winners finishing inside the top 10 in their field in this stat. But I think the Approach numbers are slightly more important to focus on as three of the last five winners have finished outside the top 15 in strokes gained off the tee.
Other Key Approach Stats
Proximity to Hole
Birdie % 150-175
Birdie % 175-200
Par 4 Scoring Average
Par 4 scoring will be huge on this Par 71 track this weekend. There are 11 Par 4s on the course this weekend, six of which playing over 450+ yards. Last year at this event, only two of the 11 par 4’s played under par for the weekend. Players at the top of the leaderboard this weekend will have to play mistake-free golf on the Par 4’s, they don’t have to go crazy low as this event is typically won in the mid to high teens, guys in contention will be playing disciplined golf, not getting too aggressive, and converting on birdie opportunities when they present themselves.
Other Par 4 Scoring Stats
Par 4 Birdie or Better %
Strokes Gained: Around The Green
Bogey Avoidance
Strokes Gained: Putting
Over the last five years, we have not seen a guy win this event solely relying on a red-hot putter. Only two of the last five winners have won ranking inside the top 10 in strokes gained putting. The two guys were Max Homa and J.B Holmes. In these years Homa struggled on approach but was lights out off the tee, and Holmes was awful off the tee but lights out on approach. A hot putter can help win this event, but these greens are massive and will be lightning-quick. Distance control and lag putting will be huge this weekend to keep players in the mix. This is a week where guys will be more conservative on the greens rather than taking chances to try and make long putts. These greens are all about not hurting yourself, and taking advantage of the the chances a player sets up for themselves on approach.
Other Putting Stats
3 Putt Avoidance
Birdie or Better Conversion %
SG: Putting (Poa annua)
That’s all I got on this course. Very straightforward, fairways and greens will keep players in the mix and the player that wins will be the one that gives himself the most and converts on the most quality birdie putts without giving strokes back on the greens. Any questions reach out to me in Cappers Craft Discord or on Twitter/X.