The 10 top-ranked golfers in the world will be competing this week at famed Riviera Country Club as part of a limited 120-man field at the Genesis Invitational. The last time that happened in a PGA Tour eventthat wasn't a major, the Players, a World Golf Championship or a FedEx Cup playoff event was the 2007 Wachovia Championship.
World No. 1 Jon Rahm and FedEx Cup leader Hideki Matsuyama are among the high-profile tour pros who'll tee it up, along with Collin Morikawa, Dustin Johnson (a three-time past champion), Patrick Cantlay, Will Zalatoris and Scottie Scheffler. Previous winners set to return to the Pacific Palisades, Calif., course in addition to DJ include Adam Scott, Bubba Watson and Max Homa, last year's champion.
Homa, a Southern California native who considers the Genesis his "hometown tournament," got emotional after winning the event in a playoff over Tony Finau last February. That marked the second time Finau had finished runner-up in the tournament.
Sahith Theegala, coming off a strong performance at last week's WM Phoenix Open, will be hoping to build off of his T-3 finish at TPC Scottsdale in what he too considers a local tournament; Theegala went to school at nearby Pepperdine and is from Chino Hills, Calif.
This tournament also marks the return of Tiger Woods to the PGA Tour, albeit not as a player but as a tournament host. Woods' TGR Foundation is the beneficiary of the event, and Woods is expected to hand out the trophy to the winner on Sunday. A timetable for his return to competition on the PGA Tour following his car accident a year ago is still unknown.
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