Genesis Invitational: Top 10 power rankings at Riviera

There aren’t many PGA Tour stops anymore where Dustin Johnson hasn’t won. Riviera is one of them.

DJ breezed by the field for a five-shot win in 2017 thanks to rounds of 66-66-64-71. That was the first of three straight wins that year.

The win is among six top-fives, nine top-10s and 11 made cuts in 13 starts at the Genesis Invitational. The win in ‘17 was a long time coming after two runner-ups and a fourth from 2014-16.

“To finally get a win at the Genesis Open feels good because I’ve finished second here a couple times, lost in a playoff, felt like I should have won a couple other times,” Johnson was quoted by Tee Scripts. “It’s definitely nice to win on a golf course that I really enjoy playing and a golf tournament I really enjoy playing.”

Riviera is a course that rewards good ball strikers with length being an asset. Check. It also rewards good putters on poa annua. Check.

DJ’s Riviera resume on its own is enough to rank him high this week. And that’s not even mentioning the type of golf he’s currently playing.

The gap he’s creating between himself at No. 1 in the world and the rest of the pack is widening. Johnson won in his last start at the Saudi Invitational on the European Tour. It was his third win in his last eight starts, which includes his Masters win.

In that span, he’s never finished worse than T-11th, which was at the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii that he basically treated like a vacation after not practicing much in December.

That was all it took to shake off the rust before winning in the Middle East.

The 36-year-old South Carolinian was originally scheduled to tee it up last week at Pebble Beach before withdrawing for rest. That had to be tough given his success there, too, but a week off should have him ready to go full bore here at the Genesis Invitational.