McIlRoy Favored To Win 2020 Genesis Invitational as PGA Tour Head To Riviera

It was a bit of a surprising result last week as Canadian Nick Hahn won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, beating out Kevin Streelman and Phil Mickelson. Now the PGA Tour turns to the Pacific Coast as the golfers head to the Los Angeles are for the 2020 Genesis Invitational. Rory McIlroy is the favorite, according to the golf odds, but with six players with odds inside of 20/1, this could be a wide open event.

EVENT DETAILS

EVENT: THE GENESIS INVITATIONAL
CATEGORY: PGA
DATE: FEBRUARY 13 – 16, 2020
LOCATION: COUNTRY CLUB – PACIFIC PALISADES, CA

PAST FIVE WINNERS

2019: J.B. HOLMES
2018: BUBBA WATSON
2017: DUSTIN JOHNSON
2016: BUBBA WATSON
2015: JAMES HAHN

Holmes is the defending champ here but it looks like the oddsmakers aren’t giving him much of a shot. He’s posted on the board at +6600. Watson, who has won this event twice in the last four years, has more reasonable odds at +3300 but he’s still quite the long shot. He’s actually won this event three times overall. From this group of five, Johnson has the shortest odds at +1200 while Hahn isn’t even on the board.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE COURSE

This is tricky course for golfers to navigate. While there are no water hazards on it, the course ranked inside the Top 10 last season in terms of scoring relative to par. The fairways can be elusive, recording just 8% less than the PGA Tour average. The greens are also hard to hit with 8.5% fewer greens in regulation due them being smaller overall.

Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green figures to be an important stat to keep in mind this week. Over the last five years, the winner is gaining an average of 2.52 strokes around the green.

TOP 10 BET: PATRICK CANTLAY

The odds aren’t great on Cantlay to make the Top 10 (+200) as you’d like a little bit bigger of a payout. However, this looks like a reasonable bet. He’s been fantastic of late as he has just one placing outside of the Top 21 since July of last year. He’s fairly consistent in terms of making the cut as he hasn’t missed one since THE PLAYERS Championship in March of 2019. And in terms of the key stat we’ve talked about, he has gained strokes tee-to-green in 13 of his last 14 events. He also ranks fourth in terms of Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green and just outside the Top 20 in terms of driving distances. He’s a golfer that should finish in the Top 10 this week.

FIVE TRENDS WORTH NOTING FOR THE GENESIS INVITATIONAL

–Since 2000, only seven winners have won after holding or sharing the lead after the third round.

–Twelve of the last 13 players to win this event were Americans, so pick from that pool.

–Rory McIlroy, now the world’s No. 1 golfer, finished fourth here last season and tied for third in his only start of 2020.

–Typically, the player who are long off the tee do well here. Top-tier ball strikers and polished putters usually do the best at this event.

–Phil Mickelson, who is coming off back-to-back third-place finishes, has a good history at the Genesis Invitational. He’s won this event twice.

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