This year’s Genesis Open takes place at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. Riviera is considered one of the best courses played on the PGA Tour all season. A ball striker’s paradise, Riviera is a demanding golf course off the tee and requires shots shapes of all kinds into greens. Last year, world No. 1 Dustin Johnson demolished the 7300-yard layout shooting a pair of 66’s and a 64 to run away with the championship. Johnson, along with all of the world’s best, are back for the 2018 Genesis Open
The Field
DJ is accompanied by three of the top five players in the world in Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. Ultimately, the field is stacked. Rory McIlroy makes his second start on tour in 2018. Other notables include Tiger Woods, Tommy Fleetwood, Phil Mickelson, and Adam Scott. Last week’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am winner, Ted Potter Jr., is also in the field after his first PGA Tour title since 2012. A great golf course usually attracts a strong field. The Genesis Open is no exception as the world’s best congregate at Riviera to round out the California swing.
Genesis Open Picks
Winner: Paul Casey
The Englishman has been knocking on the door of a PGA victory for years. He finished tied for second in 2015. He was third on tour in ball striking in 2017. Coming off a top ten at Pebble Beach, Casey has a good chance to put a good tournament together and win at a course that suits his strengths in his full swing.
Top 10: Dustin Johnson
You can never go wrong with betting DJ to be near the top of the leaderboard every week. Johnson won this event last year in incredible fashion winning by five shots. After three solid rounds at Pebble Beach, a less-than-stellar final round derailed his chances of winning. His complete game allows him to be in contention on any given Sunday.
Dark Horse: Tommy Fleetwood
Tommy Fleetwood is one of the best ball strikers in the world. He led the European Tour in greens-in-regulation last season en route to winning the Race to Dubai. While he might be unfamiliar to many US golf fans, he has the ability to make some noise in a hurry.
Genesis Open Storylines:
Tiger’s Return Eventually Tiger’s presence at an event will be a normal thing, but not quite yet. After a top-25 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open, Tiger looks to improve on his driving after only hitting 17 fairways at Torrey Pines. He managed to score reasonably well despite his struggles off the tee and the deep rough at Torrey. Riviera also demands accurate tee shots. Tiger is getting closer to his normal state of competitiveness the more comfortable he gets on Tour. His press conferences have gone from hoping his health doesn’t fail him, to talking about coming to win the golf tournament.
Possibly the greatest group ever: Yes. Please. Tiger is paired with Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas. How fantastic is that? Tiger could play with two sponsor’s exemptions and it would be awesome. But we get a guy that Tiger has played lots of practice rounds with in JT and a guy he has formed a relationship through with Nike in McIlroy. Not to mention those two guys are two of the most explosive players on tour. PGA Tour, you did a good job making this group happen. Hopefully, the group produces all of the fireworks that it has the potential to.
Bill Haas withdraws after an auto accident: Bill Haas, who was supposed to be in the field at Riviera, was in a car accident that killed the driver of the Ferrari Haas was riding in, according to police. The accident involved actor Luke Wilson, who was driving the Toyota that the Ferrari hit. Although he did not sustain any serious injuries, the Los Angeles Fire Department said that Haas was transported to a hospital in serious condition. Haas withdrew from the event to return to his home in South Carolina to recover, according to the PGA Tour and his agent.
