The final stop on the West Coast Swing tees off on Friday as 20 of the world’s Top 30 golfers descend upon the famed Riviera Country Club in California for The Genesis Invitational.
Dustin Johnson headlines this year’s market after withdrawing from the Pebble Beach Pro-Am last week, followed by closely by the usual suspects in Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy.
US Open winner Bryson DeChambeau represents one of the better value plays of the weekend at 15-1, while there’s also a lot to like about defending champ Adam Scott at the $31.00 quote.
Nicknamed “Hogan’s Alley”, Riviera is famous for its treacherous 10th hole that calls for pinpoint precision right off the tee.
With that in mind, betting on players that can consistently strike the ball well and find the greens is a key strategy this week.
To help you out, we’ve done the hard work for you in our 2021 Genesis Invitational Preview below.
Genesis Invitational Best Bet
Xander Schauffele at $15.00
We finally saw Daniel Berger breakthrough with a win last week at Pebble Beach, so maybe the timing is right for Schauffele to follow suit.
Ball striking is paramount this week at Riviera as players will have to dig themselves out of some tricky situations on the fairways if they hold any hope of making par.
Schauffele ranks just inside the Top 30 in ball-striking so far, while he’s also been one of the most consistent guys on the greens ranking fifth in Strokes Gained: Putting.
This course calls for the complete package, something Schauffele has brought on all three of his previous trips to Riviera. At the current price, he’s too good to pass up.
Jordan Spieth at $34.00
After what we’ve seen from Spieth over the last fortnight, I’d never forgive myself if he won and I didn’t have something on him.
It’s been four years since Spieth last tasted a win on Tour, but his resurgence back to relevance has been one of the most captivating storylines of the year so far.
He seems to have rediscovered some of his old mojo and love for the game, while his results at Riviera over the years speak for themselves.
In eight appearances (Genesis and Northern Trust combined), Spieth has missed the cut only twice and finished inside the Top 15 on three occasions.
Genesis Invitational Best Value
Joaquin Niemann at $41.00
Niemann has been the model of consistency over the last six months.
The Chilean hasn’t missed a cut since the Northern Trust last August and is now coming into Riviera smoking hot after finishing runner-up twice on the Aloha Swing.
Similar to Schauffele, Niemann is also one of the most consistent ball-strikers going around ranking top five in the category.
He’s played to mixed results at Riviera in the past, but his recent form is hard to fault.
Bubba Watson at $46.00
Bubba rebounded nicely for a T22 a fortnight ago at TPC Scottsdale after missing the cut a week earlier at the Farmers.
He’s been up and down over the last 12 months, but I can’t leave him off my bet slip this week considering he’s won on three separate occasions at Riviera in the past.
The fact he ranks top five in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green is also nice.
Genesis Invitational Best Roughies
Si Woo Kim at $81.00
Things have gone kind of wayward for the Korean after his triumph at The American Express close to a month ago.
Kim has gone on to miss the cut at the Farmers and Pebble Beach, but he might be poised for a bounce-back here after finishing third at this tournament two years ago.
We know his iron play is good enough, so if he can strike a hot putter, he might be in with a chance.
Cameron Smith at $91.00
I find it hard to believe that a guy who just finished T2 at the Masters only three months ago is a 91-1 chance.
Sure, Smith hasn’t been at his best recently, but he has played well at this tournament in the past.
In four appearances, the Queenslander has made the cut on three occasions with a T6 in 2018 being the highlight.
