Top Bets and Golf Odds for the Genesis Invitational:

Since making his transition from the Challenge Tour in 2016, Thomas Detry had yet to claim victory on a major tour and had finished as runner-up a total of eight times between 2017 and 2024 across both the DP World and PGA Tours. This streak ended dramatically on Sunday when the Belgian golfer clinched his first major tour title by triumphing at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, finishing seven strokes ahead with a score of -24. Starting the week with odds as high as 100-1, Detry has impressively surged to No. 22 in the Official World Golf Ranking following this noteworthy win.

This week, Detry is listed at 55-1 as he joins a competitive field of 72 players at the Genesis Invitational. Notably, the 2025 edition of this tournament is being held at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego instead of its traditional venue, Riviera Country Club, due to damage caused by the California wildfires. Torrey Pines recently hosted the Farmers Insurance Open, which was won by Harris English, who is listed at 60-1 this week.

Leading the odds is Scottie Scheffler at 4-1. After a lackluster finish of T-25 last week in Phoenix, he looks to regain his footing. Rory McIlroy stands at 7-1 after his recent win at Pebble Beach, with a solid history at Torrey Pines, including finishes of third in 2020, fifth in 2019, and seventh in the 2021 U.S. Open.

Collin Morikawa is available at 14-1, boasting strong performances at Torrey Pines with a third-place finish in 2023 and a fourth-place finish at the 2021 U.S. Open. Justin Thomas, at 18-1, is improving, evidenced by a runner-up finish at the AMEX and a T-6 at Phoenix last week, despite his mixed history at this course. Hideki Matsuyama, listed at 25-1, opened the 2025 season with a victory at the Sentry and is a previous Genesis champion, having won last year at Riviera.

Ludvig Åberg is also at 25-1 after leading the first round at the Farmers Open with a score of 63 on the easier North Course but struggled this past week due to illness. The next tier of odds includes players like Sungjae Im (28-1), Patrick Cantlay (35-1), and Jordan Spieth (40-1), who recently secured his best finish in over a year with a T-4 in Phoenix.

About the Event

The Genesis Invitational, originally founded in 1926 as the Los Angeles Open, has been held at various courses throughout the greater Los Angeles area. The prestigious Riviera Country Club has served as the primary venue for 59 of the 95 editions since 1984, except for a brief stint in 1998 at Valencia Country Club. This tournament has been a notable site for significant milestones in golf history, including Babe Zaharias becoming the first woman to compete in a professional men’s event in 1938 and Tiger Woods making his PGA Tour debut in 1992 as a 16-year-old amateur.

Though Tiger Woods withdrew from this year’s event, he serves as the tournament host, with his Tiger Woods Foundation organizing the occasion. The event has seen illustrious winners such as Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Tom Watson, and Phil Mickelson, among many other major champions.

Hyundai Motor Group, through its Genesis Motors brand, became the title sponsor in 2017. The Genesis Invitational is one of four “Signature Events” on the PGA Tour that maintains a 36-hole cut, featuring the top 50 players and ties, plus every competitor within ten strokes of the lead after the first half.

Tournament Field

This week’s lineup features 46 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking.

The Course

Torrey Pines Golf Course, located in La Jolla, features 36 holes and is publicly owned by the City of San Diego. Unlike the Farmers Insurance Open, which used both courses, only the South Course will be utilized for the Genesis Invitational. This lengthy layout, renovated in 2019 by Rees Jones in preparation for the 2021 U.S. Open, measures a demanding 7,765 yards and is played as a par-72. The South Course is known for its tight fairways — the fifth narrowest on tour, averaging 28 yards — along with Kikuyugrass rough overseeded with Ryegrass. The greens, averaging 5,000 square feet (the fifth smallest on tour), consist of fast Poa Annua grass that measures 12.5 on the stimpmeter.

During the previous season, Torrey Pines South ranked as the ninth most challenging course, posting an average score of 72.40, slightly over par. With the rough starting this year at four inches — a half-inch longer than previous tournaments — it may present even greater difficulty. The region has experienced dry weather recently, enabling potentially easier play in the rough. The course is dotted with 82 bunkers and features just one water hazard.

The course record of 62 was set by Tiger Woods during the third round in 1999. Courses with similar characteristics include Glen Abbey, Muirfield Village, Riviera, Augusta National, Quail Hollow, Chapultepec, Olympia Fields, and Bethpage Black.

Golf Digest has provided a hole-by-hole flyover video showcasing the Torrey Pines South layout.

Recent History of the Genesis Invitational

2024: Hideki Matsuyama (-17/267); 80-1

2023: Jon Rahm (-17/267); 8-1

2022: Joaquin Niemann (-19/265); 50-1

2021: Max Homa (-12/272); 60-1*

2020: Adam Scott (-11/273); 33-1

2019: J.B. Holmes (-14/270); 150-1

2018: Bubba Watson (-12/272); 50-1

2017: Dustin Johnson (-17/267); 9-1

2016: Bubba Watson (-15/269); 25-1

2015: James Hahn (-6/278); 200-1**

2014: Bubba Watson (-15/269); 33-1

2013: John Merrick (-11/273); 250-1***

2012: Bill Haas (-7/277); 50-1****

2011: Aaron Baddeley (-12/272); 100-1

2010: Steve Stricker (-16/268); 16-1

Note: All previous tournaments took place at Riviera Country Club, and the Genesis Invitational became a “Signature Event” last year.

The Farmers Insurance Open history can be included as well, noting that participants play one round on the generally easier Torrey Pines North Course during that tournament.

2025: Harris English (-8/280); 100-1

2024: Matthieu Pavon (-13/275); 150-1

2023: Max Homa (-13/275); 22-1

2022: Luke List (-15/273); 90-1*

2021: Patrick Reed (-14/274); 25-1

2020: Marc Leishman (-15/273); 55-1

2019: Justin Rose (-21/267); 14-1

2018: Jason Day (-10/278); 22-1**

2017: Jon Rahm (-13/275); 55-1

2016: Brandt Snedeker (-6/282); 18-1

2015: Jason Day (-9/279); 14-1***

2014: Scott Stallings (-9/279); 250-1

2013: Tiger Woods (-14/274); 15-2

2012: Brandt Snedeker (-16/272); 22-1****

2011: Bubba Watson (-16/272); 66-1

2010: Ben Crane (-13/275); 80-1

Note: The marked players faced playoff victories in their respective years.

Course history remains crucial when assessing player performance, though the venue change for this event makes it slightly less significant than usual. For example, Rory McIlroy recently overcame a lack of course history to secure victory at Pebble Beach.

Weather Forecast

Unlike earlier conditions at Torrey Pines, weather is expected to play a role this week, with forecasts calling for rain and wind.

However, the impact may not drastically change scoring, as the rain may soften fairways and greens, resulting in less firmness compared to other years. The course’s length is demanding on its own, and the combination of rain and wind may further complicate play this week.

Below are early weather predictions from AccuWeather:

Thursday Morning

Thursday Afternoon

Friday is anticipated to bring slightly warmer conditions with occasional rain showers.

Saturday and Sunday are forecasted to be clear of rain and wind.

Statistical Analysis

With Torrey Pines South Court being the longest on the PGA Tour, distance is crucial. However, players will also find the fairways among the narrowest, with a Driving Accuracy percentage around 52%. Total Driving combines Driving Distance and their Accuracy Rank. Harris English, who claimed victory here at 100-1 odds three weeks ago at the Farmers Insurance Open, led the Tour in Total Driving going into that event.

Total Driving (2025 PGA Tour Season)

1. Daniel Berger 39 (22 Driving Distance Rank + 17 Driving Accuracy Rank)
2. Taylor Pendrith 64 (39 + 25)
3. Gary Woodland 66 (2 + 64)
4. Rasmus Højgaard 77 (6 + 71)
5. Ben Griffin 90 (57 + 33)
6. Tom Kim 102 (14 + 88)
7. Davis Thompson 113 (77 + 36)
8. Wyndham Clark 122 (24 + 98)
9. Shane Lowry 127 (107 + 20)
10. Robert MacIntyre 132 (112 + 20)
11. Michael Kim 134 (52 + 82)
12. J.J. Spaun 134 (49 + 85)
13. Rickie Fowler 135 (87 + 48)

Total Driving (2024 PGA Tour Season)

1. Scottie Scheffler 87 (64 + 23)
2. Ludvig Åberg 96 (22 + 74)
3. Rory McIlroy 104 (2 + 102)
4. Tommy Fleetwood 108 (97 + 11)
5. Austin Eckroat 109 (93 + 16)
6. Jordan Spieth 115 (43 + 72)
7. Harris English 120 (83 + 37)
8. Stephan Jaeger 122 (21 + 101)
9. Daniel Berger 123 (118 + 5)
10. Keegan Bradley 124 (54 + 70)
11. Sam Burns 126 (39 + 87)
12. Shane Lowry 126 (97 + 29)
13. Davis Thompson 129 (47 + 82)

Ball Striking combines Total Driving with the Greens In Regulation Rank, given that these greens are notably small at an average of 5,000 square feet.

Ball Striking (2025 PGA Tour Season)

1. Taylor Pendrith 7 (5 Total Driving Rank + 2 GIR Rank)
2. Rasmus Højgaard 15 (7 + 8)
3. Gary Woodland 23 (6 + 17)
4. Robert MacIntyre 32 (26 + 6)
5. Davis Thompson 37 (14 + 23)
6. Sepp Straka 43 (40 + 3)
7. Collin Morikawa 55 (54 + 1)
8. Tom Kim 57 (12 + 45)
9. Kevin Yu 65 (43 + 22)
10. J.J. Spaun 72 (28 + 44)
11. Matt Fitzpatrick 74 (63 + 11)
12. J.T. Poston 79 (47 + 32)
13. Michael Kim 80 (28 + 52)

Ball Striking (2024 PGA Tour Season)

1. Scottie Scheffler 5 (2 + 3)
2. Daniel Berger 26 (14 + 12)
3. Kevin Yu 50 (40 + 10)
4. Corey Conners 54 (28 + 26)
5. Aaron Rai 56 (47 + 9)
6. Ludvig Åberg 77 (4 + 73)
7. Davis Thompson 80 (21 + 59)
8. Max Greyserman 91 (31 + 60)
9. J.J. Spaun 91 (75 + 16)
10. Sam Stevens 97 (66 + 31)
11. Tommy Fleetwood 101 (7 + 94)
12. Keegan Bradley 110 (15 + 95)
13. Shane Lowry 115 (17 + 98)

Harris English led in Scrambling three weeks ago by successfully getting up and down 22 out of 26 times, achieving an impressive rate of 84.6%.

Scrambling (2025 PGA Tour Season)

1. Hideki Matsuyama 75.21%
2. Sam Stevens 73.64
3. Christiaan Bezuidenhout 72.84
4. Jordan Spieth 71.05
5. Min Woo Lee 70.73
6. Collin Morikawa 69.23
7. Daniel Berger 69.12
8. Tom Hoge 68.69
9. Harris English 68.13
10. Byeong Hun An 67.57
11. Sungjae Im 67.54
12. Denny McCarthy 67.11
13. Sepp Straka 67.09

Scrambling (2024 PGA Tour Season)

1. Hideki Matsuyama 68.17
2. Scottie Scheffler 66.18
3. Denny McCarthy 66.15
4. Tommy Fleetwood 66.03
5. Collin Morikawa 65.45
6. Maverick McNealy 65.16
7. Russell Henley 65.00
8. Christiaan Bezuidenhout 64.93
9. Robert MacIntyre 64.85
10. Mackenzie Hughes 64.73
11. Rory McIlroy 64.08
12. Seamus Power 63.96
13. Ludvig Åberg 63.95

Even the most precise drivers will miss plenty of these narrow fairways. Moreover, with the greens at Torrey Pines South being among the smallest on tour, players must exhibit remarkable precision with their iron play, whether they’re in the fairway or in the rough.

The top three finishers from three weeks ago at the Farmers — Harris English, Sam Stevens, and Andrew Novak — ranked fourth, third, and seventh, respectively, in Strokes Gained: Approach.

Strokes Gained: Approach — Average Per Round (2025 PGA Tour Season)

1. Collin Morikawa 1.249
2. Scottie Scheffler 1.159
3. Sepp Straka 1.151
4. J.J. Spaun 0.992
5. Nick Taylor 0.966
6. Hideki Matsuyama 0.910
7. Tom Hoge 0.833
8. Russell Henley 0.792
9. Justin Thomas 0.782
10. Jason Day 0.774
11. Shane Lowry 0.751
12. Jordan Spieth 0.695
13. Adam Scott 0.686

Strokes Gained: Approach — Average Per Round (2024 PGA Tour Season)

1. Scottie Scheffler 1.269
2. Tony Finau 0.808
3. Corey Conners 0.776
4. Tom Hoge 0.754
5. Lucas Glover 0.710
6. Aaron Rai 0.676
7. Justin Thomas 0.639
8. Shane Lowry 0.531
9. Si Woo Kim 0.506
10. Hideki Matsuyama 0.499
11. J.J. Spaun 0.469
12. Viktor Hovland 0.458
13. Ludvig Åberg 0.434

The majority of approach shots from this tournament are expected to come from 200 yards and beyond.

Average Proximity to the Hole — 200+ Yards (2025 PGA Tour Season)

1. Min Woo Lee 38′ 0″ (feet, inches)
2. Seamus Power 42′ 0″
3. Gary Woodland 42′ 11″
4. Corey Conners 43′ 7″
5. Jordan Spieth 43′ 11″
6. Collin Morikawa 44′ 5″
7. Jake Knapp 45′ 10″
8. Sepp Straka 45′ 10″
9. Adam Scott 45′ 11″
10. Tom Hoge 46′ 5″
11. Byeong Hun An 46′ 9″
12. Cam Davis 46′ 9″
13. Wyndham Clark 46′ 10″

Average Proximity to the Hole — 200+ Yards (2024 PGA Tour Season)

1. Robert MacIntyre 44′ 10″
2. Michael Kim 45′ 3″
3. Tom Hoge 45′ 11″
4. J.J. Spaun 45′ 11″
5. Andrew Novak 46′ 2″
6. Viktor Hovland 46′ 5″
7. Jake Knapp 46′ 8″
8. Byeong Hun An 47′ 2″
9. Max Greyserman 47′ 3″
10. Akshay Bhatia 47′ 10″
11. Christiaan Bezuidenhout 48′ 0″
12. Tony Finau 48′ 0″
13. Sungjae Im 48′ 0″

The greens at Torrey Pines South are pure Poa, delivering a rapid pace of 12.5 on the stimpmeter while also presenting a bumpy and unpredictable experience.

Strokes Gained: Putting — Poa Greens (Last 50 rounds)

1. Denny McCarthy 38.8
2. Max Homa 30.4
3. Maverick McNealy 29.5
4. Wyndham Clark 27.4
5. Adam Scott 25.5
6. Michael Kim 22.7
7. Sahith Theegala 19.6 (43 rounds)
8. Mark Hubbard 19.6
9. Mackenzie Hughes 19.4
10. Daniel Berger 18.9
11. Akshay Bhatia 17.7 (16 rounds)
12. Sungjae Im 17.6
13. Justin Rose 16.9

The challenges at Torrey Pines South can cause golfers to lose strokes quickly if they are not on their game.

Bogey Avoidance Percentage (2025 PGA Tour Season)

1. Collin Morikawa 6.94%
2. Christiaan Bezuidenhout 8.89
3. Jordan Spieth 9.03
4. Sepp Straka 9.44
5. Jason Day 9.72
6. Denny McCarthy 9.72
7. Sam Burns 10.07
8. Justin Thomas 10.07
9. Will Zalatoris 10.19
10. Brian Harman 10.23
11. Hideki Matsuyama 10.28
12. Min Woo Lee 10.42
13. Scottie Scheffler 10.42

Bogey Avoidance Percentage (2024 PGA Tour Season)

1. Scottie Scheffler 9.85
2. Aaron Rai 12.23
3. Andrew Novak 12.47
4. Tommy Fleetwood 12.60
5. Ben Griffin 12.64
6. Maverick McNealy 13.04
7. Collin Morikawa 13.08
8. Russell Henley 13.17
9. Hideki Matsuyama 13.29
10. Ludvig Åberg 13.41
11. Kevin Yu 13.42
12. Seamus Power 13.48
13. Sam Stevens 13.62

Note: This percentage reflects the frequency with which each player registers a bogey.

Recently, scoring has generally hovered around the low teens under par, highlighting the importance of capitalizing on par-5 holes for players seeking to contend.

Strokes Gained Par-5s (Last 50 rounds)

1. Patrick Cantlay 25.9
2. Scottie Scheffler 22.5
3. Billy Horschel 22
4. Taylor Pendrith 21.1
5. Max Greyserman 20.7
6. Si Woo Kim 19.3
7. Jason Day 17.9
8. Davis Thompson 16.4
9. Tony Finau 16.2
10. Ludvig Åberg 16
11. Aaron Rai 15.6
12. Ben Griffin 15.6
13. Adam Scott 15.4

Predicted Players

Collin Morikawa (18-1, Circa Sports)

Morikawa withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open three weeks ago, foreseeing Torrey Pines as this year’s Genesis Invitational venue. He leads the PGA Tour statistics in Strokes Gained: Approach and Bogey Avoidance for the early 2025 season and ranks highly in Ball Striking and Scrambling.

Though he may give away a bit of distance from the tee, Morikawa excels with long irons, which will be essential for players approaching the greens from considerable distances.

Taylor Pendrith (40-1, DraftKings)

Pendrith has achieved consecutive top-10 finishes, including a T-9 at Torrey Pines three weeks ago, where he ranked second in Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green and fifth in Strokes Gained: Ball Striking. In total, he ranked second for Greens In Regulation and third for Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee over both tournaments.

Tony Finau (50-1, Circa Sports)

Despite an unusual missed cut at Torrey Pines three weeks ago, Finau has consistently performed well here, finishing in the top nine in six of the past nine years, including five finishes of sixth or better. Following a Wednesday round on the South Course and North Course during Thursday’s windy conditions, he faced unfavorable drawing bias. His odds more than doubled from 20-1 to 50-1 this week. Considering the unpredictable start to the event’s weather, his distance off the tee could prove advantageous.

Viktor Hovland (55-1, Bet365)

Hovland finished as the runner-up at Torrey Pines in 2021. Although his recent form may be less than stellar, he has consistently demonstrated solid performance in elevated events on tougher courses. His short game has often been a vulnerability, but he shows improvement in challenging conditions.

Cameron Young (70-1, FanDuel)

After an opening round of 74 last week in Phoenix, Young bounced back with rounds of 64-66-67 to finish T-12. Last week, he excelled, placing second in Driving Distance and fourth in Strokes Gained: Putting. His powerful driving game will be beneficial in overcoming this week’s challenges.

Wyndham Clark (80-1, BetMGM)

Clark started strong as the first-round leader in Phoenix but settled for a T-16 finish overall. He holds two PGA Tour victories in California, including the prestigious 2023 U.S. Open and the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. With his driving distance and proficiency with long irons, he has what it takes to challenge in this tournament.

For placement markets and matchup insights, check back on Wednesday at VSiN.com/picks.