2022 Genesis Invitational: Betting Preview, Odds, and Best Bets

An elite field heads back to California this week for the 2022 Genesis Invitational at the historic Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.

It was a historic week in the desert this past weekend as the annual party known as the Phoenix Open was treated to some incredibly memorable moments. Not one, but two hole in ones took place at the iconic 16th hole, it was the first time since 2015 and Francesco Molinari that someone made an ace in front of the raucous crowd in attendance. Sam Ryder got the party started after his approach shot took a very similar line to Molinari’s seven years earlier. His ball bounced twice to the right of the hole before drifting left and into the cup.

The scene was electric as beers came raining down from the crowd like confetti falling upon a national champion at the end of a season. Little did those in attendance know that they would be treated to another hole in one the following day when Carlos Ortiz once again sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Scottie Scheffler put a bow on top of a magnificent tournament as he went on to secure his first PGA Tour win after defeating Patrick Cantlay in a playoff. It will surely just be the first of many career victories for Scheffler and he will look to follow up his win last week at TPC Scottsdale with another this week at The Riv.

Riviera CC hosts a star-studded field this week for the 2022 Genesis Invitational

The Genesis Invitational is one of the better events on the PGA schedule, and outside of Majors it could be argued that it is the best, Tiger’s event has been one of the premier stops on Tour since the transition from the Genesis Open to the Genesis Invitational took place in 2020.

The field is slightly smaller than your average of 156 at a normal PGA event, this week 120 will head to the historic Riviera Country Club. 2022 will mark the 59th time that the famous course has hosted this event, which was formerly known as the Genesis Open and the LA Open prior to 2020.

The PAR 71, 7,300 plus yard, George C Thomas, and William P Bell design is a masterpiece that has hosted three Major championships, it will also host golf for the Olympic games in 2028. Riviera features one of the best risk-reward par 4 holes in the world as well, the spectacular 315 yard-ish 10th hole.

Past Winners Of The Genesis Invitational

2021: Max Homa (-12)

2020: Adam Scott (-11)

2019: J.B. Holmes (-14)

2018: Bubba Watson (-12)

2017: Dustin Johnson (-17)

2016: Bubba Watson (-15)

Jon Rahm once again tops the betting boards as he headlines the strongest field of 2022 so far at the Genesis Invitational

The world number one is joined by the rest of the top 10 in the Official World Golf Rankings  Collin Morikawa (2), Patrick Cantlay (3), Viktor Hovland (4), Rory McIlroy (5), Dustin Johnson (6), Xander Schauffele (7), Justin Thomas (8), Scottie Scheffler (9), and Hideki Matsuyama (10), in what is an absolutely stacked field making their way to Riviera Country Club this week

The Spaniard has finished T5, T17, and T9th in his last three starts at The Riv. He comes into this week after a 10th place finish last week at the WM Phoenix Open and while he is still in search of his first win since the U.S. Open last June, he has begun 2022 with two top 5’s and no finish worse than 15th in his four starts.

Top of the board at the 2022 Genesis Invitational (Odds provided by WynnBet, current at the time of publication).

Jon Rahm (+900)

Patrick Cantlay (+1200)

Justin Thomas (+1500)

Dustin Johnson (+1750)

Collin Morikawa (+2000)

Cameron Smith (+2000)

Brooks Koepka (+2250)

Hideki Matsuyama (+2250)

Rory McIlroy (+2250)

Viktor Hovland (+2500)

Xander Schauffele (+2500)

Patrick Reed (+3000)

Scottie Scheffler (+3000)

Will Zalatoris (+3000)

Sam Burns (+4000)

Matthew Fitzpatrick (+4000)

Sungjae Im (+4000)

Jordan Spieth (+4000)

Tony Finau (+5000)

Russell Henley (+5000)

Talor Gooch (+5000)

Max Homa (+5000)

Marc Leishman (+5000)

Seamus Power (+5000)

Adam Scott (+5000)

Bubba Watson (+5000)

Vincent Whaley (+5000)

Genesis Invitational Favorite Bets

Dustin Johnson (+1750)

It’s hard to believe that Dustin Johnson went winless on the PGA Tour in 2021, in fact, he only won once last year and that came at the Saudi International which at the time was part of the DP World Tour.

It’s been a while for DJ but a return to Riviera could be just what the world number six needs. Riviera Country Club has been a happy place for Johnson throughout the years, and he has an incredible record at the Genesis with no worse than a 16th place finish here since 2013.  That includes a win in 2017, six top 5 finishes, and nine top 10’s here dating back to 2010.

Johnson’s last win on U.S. soil was when he donned the green jacket after winning the Masters in 2020.

DJ has played twice on the PGA Tour to start the 2021-22 season, and once on the Asian Tour, and each start has brought gradually improved results. Johnson made his first PGA start of 2022 at the Farmers a few weeks ago where he finished T25th, he then traveled overseas for the Saudi International where he recorded a T8th at an event he has played every year for a while now.

He gained strokes in every category at Torrey Pines, and it was only the putter that really let him down. There were limited strokes gained stats for his start at the Saudi International but one can assume based on his performance that he has his game trending in the right direction. He has lost strokes with his putter just three times since 2010 on the tricky Riviera greens complexes so he is clearly comfortable with the flat stick on the quick Poa annua greens.

If DJ can maintain his excellent play from tee to green he could be poised this week for his first win on the PGA Tour in over a year.

Viktor Hovland (+2500)

Hovland struggled last week at TPC Scottsdale shooting two consecutive rounds of 72 to miss the cut at the Phoenix Open. It was the first missed cut for Viktor since the Players Championship last year, and while he was bad in every facet the extra rest heading into this week may just do him some good.

Hovland had started 2022 with a 30th at the Sentry Tournament Of Champions, a T4 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, and a win at the Dubai Desert Classic, before his MC last week. He returns this week to Riviera after posting a 5th place finish at the Genesis Invitational in his tournament debut here last year.

The world number four has had some nice finishes at similar setups as well, posting a 3rd place finish at both the Wells Fargo Championship and Valspar Championship in 2021. Riviera is a course that should suit Hovland’s game well as he is one of the best ball strikers in the world.

The big concern is his around the green game, an area that he has continually struggled with, but after gaining strokes on the greens in three of his four rounds here last year I believe he can mitigate the short game deficiencies and hit enough greens to win this week.

Talor Gooch (+5000)

Talor Gooch has had a solid start to 2022 after securing his first win earlier in the PGA’s 2021-22 season at the RSM Classic. Since the new year, Gooch has missed the cut once at the American Express and recorded three other top 30 finishes in his other starts.

Gooch had positioned himself well going into Sunday’s final round at the WM Phoenix Open last week, but a difficult final round of 75 cost him any chance of contending. I’m willing to overlook that though as he appears to have his game in pretty good shape overall, and now he returns to an event that he has had significant success at in three starts.

Talor has recorded a 12th, 10th, and 20th place finish at the Genesis Invitational in those three starts. He may have struggled off the tee last week, but he gained strokes in every other aspect. He has driven the ball well in two previous appearances at Riviera, so if he can build upon that success again this week he could have the right formula for a second PGA win in this spot.