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Genesis Invitational: Top 10 power rankings at Riviera

By Mike Randleman

February 17, 2019; Pacific Palisades, CA, USA; General view of the eighteenth green and clubhouse during the final round of the Genesis Open golf tournament at Riviera Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
February 17, 2019; Pacific Palisades, CA, USA; General view of the eighteenth green and clubhouse during the final round of the Genesis Open golf tournament at Riviera Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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February 13, 2020; Pacific Palisades, California, USA; Xander Schauffele hits from the tenth hole tee box during the first round of the The Genesis Invitational golf tournament at Riviera Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
February 13, 2020; Pacific Palisades, California, USA; Xander Schauffele hits from the tenth hole tee box during the first round of the The Genesis Invitational golf tournament at Riviera Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /

Is Xander Schauffele becoming a diet version of Tony Finau? Schauffele’s got three wins to Finau’s one, but both are supremely talented players mired in winless droughts.

Schauffele last got it done 25 months ago at the 2019 Tournament of Champions. To his credit, he hasn’t gone into any sort of slump because of his failures on Sundays.

The X Man has seven runner-ups since then. Two of them came in his last two starts at the Farmers Insurance Open and Phoenix Open.

He never really had a shot to win at Torrey, but Schauffele let a great opportunity go by in Scottsdale. He was the 54-hole leader and led for large swaths of Sunday until Brooks Koepka rose up and took it.

“…for one, congrats to Brooks. He’s a great example. Won four majors, true champion and it shows. Hasn’t been in great form, comes out here, and wins a tournament,” Schauffele was transcribed by ASAP Sports. “There is a lot to be said for him and his recipe for winning. Me and my team are trying to figure it out ourself.”

http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=162138

Schauffele conveys a cool demeanor but it seems he’s applying a lot of internal pressure.

Given the strength of the field this week I’m not confident to pick him to win. I think I’ll ride with him in my weekly fantasy lineup.

He’s a resilient golfer and one who has a very high floor. The former San Diego Aztec has reeled off 14 straight made cuts since January 2020. He’s finished outside the top-25 just once in that span and has three top-10s leading in.

Schauffele did show he can play under pressure in the sense that he shook off years of poor play at his home event at Torrey Pines to finish second only behind an outstanding performance by Patrick Reed.

Schauffele has been solid at Riviera. His Genesis Invitational career began in 2018 with T-9th (71-70-68-66). Schauffele backed it up with T-15th in 2019 (74-68-67-69) where he was as good as anyone over the final 54 holes. Last year, Schauffele grabbed T-23rd (72-70-69-69).

The common theme here is slow starts. If he can fire off anything in the 60s on Thursday, that’s where I might think about betting him to win.

Fortunately, he’s sixth on the PGA Tour this season in first round scoring average (67.86).

The 27 year old is top 33 in every strokes gained category.

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