Setting the scene
The Genesis Invitational takes place at Riviera Country Club this week, bringing the tour’s West Coast swing to a close. Riviera will host the event for the 58th time, with roots dating back to the 1920s. Except for 1983 and 1998, it has been the sole host of the event and its numerous versions since 1973. Riviera Country Club is, without a doubt, one of the most prestigious golf courses in the world. The George C. Thomas design is a classic tree-lined par 71 that measures 7322 yards and features a plethora of spectacular golf holes.
The top 10 golfers in the world are teeing it up in Pacific Palisades this week. Last week’s winner, Scottie Scheffler, has now ascended to #9 in the world due to his victory. Also worth noting is Thomas Pieters, who has been in fantastic form on the DPWT, finished second here in 2017, and won the NCAA Championship here as an amateur in 2012. It will be exciting to see the brilliant Belgian back among the big guys with his freshly regained confidence.
Betting Angles
Stern Test Ahead
The field only hit fairways about 47% of the time, but the green in regulation rate was 59.3 percent. Both are significantly lower than the PGA Tour average. Riviera Country Club presents professional players with some of the most difficult tee-to-green challenges every year.
How’s Your Driving?
The case can be created for either long bombers or short, precise drives at Riviera. Bombers can take out the majority of bunkers, but they may end up with a bad angle, too tricky to attack some pin locations. Most of the bunkers at Riviera stay in play for shorter hitters, but their precision can reward them with great looks into the green.
Not Any Old Iron
Riviera’s greens are extremely firm. Getting a good look at birdies necessitates exquisite precision. To get to particular pin locations, players must work the ball both ways in the air. Furthermore, golfers who aspire to compete in the Genesis Invitational must have excellent iron control. The top of the leaderboard at Riviera is typically populated by outstanding ball strikers who thrive in harsh and fast conditions.
Up and Down
Those that are missing greens face a complex problem. At Riviera, numerous shaved-down sections around the greens require players to chip from tight lies. That’s more difficult than popping a ball out of the rough. Furthermore, Riviera’s greenside bunkers are extremely deep. Getting up and down from the Riviera bunkers is a challenging operation. Saving par from off the green necessitates deft touch and distance control. Saving par looks like the key to success.
| Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue |
| +69° | +71° | +72° | +68° | +57° | +59° |
| +53° | +57° | +58° | +56° | +50° | +47° |
Horses for courses
Riviera is one of the most popular stops on tour, and it's a strategic shot-makers dream. To compete in a hotly fought tournament, ball striking is essential, as is a hot putter. Riviera shares many similarities with Torrey Pines, albeit on a lesser scale. The Kikuyu fairways are comparable to those at Torrey in that they are tough and tree-lined. The parallels don't end there: both sites use Poa Annua greens, making previous form at the Farmers Insurance Open particularly relevant when analyzing the field here.
Where’s the money?
Let’s now look at the betting for the week ahead:
Jon Rahm+900
Patrick Cantlay +1200
Justin Thomas +1600
Dustin Johnson +1800
Collin Morikawa +2000
Rory McIlroy +2200
Xander Schauffele +2200
Viktor Hovland +2500
Scottie Scheffler +2500
Cameron Smith +2500
Will Zalatoris +2500
Hideki Matsuyama +2500
Matt Fitzpatrick +3300
Sam Burns +3300
Brooks Koepka +3300
Sungjae Im +3500
Jordan Spieth +3500
Adam Scott +4000
Max Homa +4000
Bubba Watson +4000
Marc Leishman +5000
Tony Finau +5000
Russell Henley +5000
Talor Gooch +5000
Sergio Garcia +6000
Joaquin Niemann +6000
Paul Casey +6000
Thomas Pieters +6600
Kevin Na +6600
Abraham Ancer +6600
Patrick Reed +6600
Jason Kokrak +6600
Alex Noren +7000
Tom Hoge +7000
Si-Woo Kim +7000
Cameron Tringale +7000
Seamus Power +7000
Maverick McNealy +8000
Corey Conners +8000
Erik Van Rooyen +8000
Luke List +8000
Lanto Griffin +8000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +8000
Mackenzie Hughes +9000
Harold Varner +9000
Adam Hadwin +10000
Aaron Rai +10000
Sahith Theegala +10000
Francesco Molinari +10000
Robert MacIntyre +10000
Carlos Ortiz +12500
Matt Kuchar +12500
Martin Laird +12500
Ryan Palmer +12500
Jhonattan Vegas +12500
Keegan Bradley +12500
Matt Jones +15000
Pat Perez +15000
Sebastian Munoz +15000
Rickie Fowler +15000
Min Woo Lee +15000
Joel Dahmen +15000
Cameron Young +15000
Andrew Putnam +15000
Kyoung-Hoon Lee +15000
Patton Kizzire +15000
Troy Merritt +15000
Aaron Wise +15000
Russell Knox +15000
Cam Davis +15000
Taylor Moore +17500
Cameron Champ +20000
Scott Stallings +20000
James Hahn +20000
Mito Pereira +20000
Wyndham Clark +20000
Charley Hoffman +20000
Patrick Rodgers +20000
Doug Ghim +20000
Branden Grace +20000
Taylor Pendrith +20000
Charl Schwartzel +25000
J.J. Spaun +25000
Chez Reavie +25000
Beau Hossler +25000
J.T. Poston +25000
Matt Wallace +25000
Matthew NeSmith +25000
Doc Redman +30000
Emiliano Grillo +30000
Brendan Steele +30000
David Lipsky +30000
Sepp Straka +30000
Dylan Frittelli +30000
Hey Guys
My name is Dean, AKA The Stat Man. I am a Sports Betting Analyst who uses math, algorithms, probability and logic to create my posts. I specialize in many sports, with Golf being the primary focus. You can find a lot of my work on various websites but the best content is found here on Beer Life.
I live in the UK, on the outskirts of London but my background and heritage is Irish. I'm an avid Manchester United fan who sees following them as a religion. Sport is pretty much my life, as I live and breathe it daily. If there is something I don't know it's probably not worth knowing as I have over 20 years industry experience and insight.
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