2023 Genesis Invitational: Top 10 Power Rankings at Riviera

After a couple missed paydays in his first two Genesis Invitational appearances as a youngster, Patrick Cantlay has been in the money every year since 2018.

His best finish came in ‘18 when he recorded 66-69-69-71 for T-4th.

“Definitely knowing where the ball feeds on some of these hole locations is important, and where to err,” Cantlay was quoted in 2018 by Golf Channel.

"“This golf course has a lot of intricate architecture, especially on the greens and particular hole locations where the ball will feed from certain spots, and knowing that’s huge.”"

He’s never finished on the bottom half of the leaderboard after making a cut, going T-15th (68-71-70-69), T-17th (68-72-71-68), T-15th (67-70-71-72) and T-33rd (70-72-66-71).

Cantlay is one of four Californians in my power rankings this week. He’s from Long Beach and played at UCLA, so he’s not exactly a native, but he’s used to poa annua greens and West Coast golf.

The 30-year-old has a runner-up finish this PGA Tour season at the Shriners Children’s Open last fall. Cantlay missed the cut at last week’s WM Phoenix Open, but that was his first MC since the PGA Championship in May.

In 2022-23, Cantlay ranks first in greens in regulation (76.98%). Hitting small targets is key this week, and he has the skill set to do so.

This event isn’t a complete birdie fest, but you can’t just settle for par every time. Making birdies is important, and Cantlay leads in that stat, too, at 5.71 per round.