PGA Tour Genesis Invitational: Power ranking the top 10 at Riviera

This will be Tiger’s 11th appearance at the Genesis Invitational. He hasn’t made as many starts in an event and not won.

The Orange County native is on home turf and in his home event, but the closest he’s gotten to the trophy was a T-2 finish in 1999.

This isn’t to say he has poor results at Riviera. In fact, plenty of guys would take his resume here: Eight made cuts, all of which were 20th or better, including three top-10s.

Woods fired 70-71-65-72 last year to finish T-15.

"“It is certainly a love-hate relationship,” Woods said in 2019, as transcribed by Tee Scripts. “I love playing this golf course. I always have, I enjoyed playing up here when I was young with my dad. For some reason I’ve only played well here one time in the tournament. It’s just one of those courses that, as I said, you have to hit the golf ball well. There’s no faking it around this golf course…”"

Important to the 44-year-old is rest. He sat out the previous two weeks and is carrying momentum from his last start.

Without feeling like he really throttled it up, Woods was largely mistake-free in recording a T-9 against a tough field at the Farmers Insurance Open. It was his third straight top-10, which includes his win this season at the Zozo Championship.

Top-notch ball-striking is required to get around Riviera. Woods didn’t have enough rounds to qualify for 2018-19 PGA Tour stats, but his mark of .646 strokes gained approach ranked near the top. He no longer has the advantage he had off the tee in his prime, but it’s clear from his recent play at the Zozo, Presidents Cup, et. al. that his iron play is still world-class.