Genesis Invitational Golf Betting Tips
Collin Morikawa won the first Signature Event of the year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Sunday and it's now time for the second elevated tournament of the PGA Tour season, with this week's Genesis Invitational taking centre stage.
Last year's tournament was temporarily moved to Torrey Pines because of January's wildfires in Pacific Palisades, but normal service resumes for this year's edition as the action returns to Riviera Country Club, the host course from 1999-2024.
A par 71 measuring 7,383 yards, this is one of the toughest courses on the US circuit and failure to find these narrow, sloping fairways will make it difficult to hit the quick greens from the rough, which grabs and buries the ball deep.
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy fill the top two spots in the betting, priced at 16/5 and 12/1, as the duo aim to win this title for the first time, while Tommy Fleetwood is next at 16/1 and Xander Schauffele is a 18/1 chance.
Tip 1: Matt Fitzpatrick to win (each-way) @ 33/1
A solid tee-to-green game is one of the requirements to tame Riviera and while market leader Scheffler makes appeal for several reasons, slow first rounds have stopped him from winning on his last two starts and he is short enough in the betting to swerve.
Northern Irishman McIlroy's driving was erratic at Pebble Beach and he will suffer greater punishment if he doesn't tidy up that part of his game, so that is reason enough to pass on him this week.
Having skipped the top two, the headline selection goes to Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick, who ranks in the top 10 for both strokes gained tee to green and approach and is also eighth in driving accuracy.
The 31-year-old, who ended 2025 with a third DP World Tour Championship, started 2026 off slowly with a T63 at The American Express, but he has burst into life on his last two starts, finishing ninth at the Phoenix Open and T14 at Pebble Beach.
Fitzpatrick posted a top five at the 2021 Genesis Invitational and it is perhaps no surprise to see his game suited to this type of test given he has also played well at the Masters, with several winners of that Major also claiming the spoils at Riviera.
Tip 2: Adam Scott to win (each-way) @ 50/1
One player who has won the Genesis Invitational and the Masters is Australian Adam Scott, who bested his Riviera rivals in 2005 and 2020 and triumphed at Augusta National in 2013.
Along with those two Genesis victories, the 45-year-old has also finished runner-up twice, posted one top five and ended up in the top 10 twice in this PGA Tour event, evidence of his affinity for this course.
Ranking 13th in driving accuracy, 20th in strokes gained tee to green and third in SG off the tee, Scott is striking the ball nicely and any improvement with the putter could put him in contention for a third success at the San Diego setting.
Tip 3: Tony Finau to win (each-way) @ 80/1
It is nearly three years since Tony Finau won his sixth PGA Tour title at the Mexico Open in April 2023, but Morikawa ended his long trophy drought at Pebble Beach on Sunday and success could be heading the way of ‘Big Tone’.
The 36-year-old was tied-11th at the Farmers Insurance Open and although missing the cut at the Phoenix Open the following week, he bounced back with an 18th placed effort at Pebble Beach to restore his confidence.
Finau has come close to winning the Genesis on a couple of occasions, finishing tied-second in 2018 before losing to Max Homa in a play-off in 2021, while he also has two other top-20 results at Riviera.
With the American showing signs of recovery in recent weeks, he could thrive at a venue that he has shown a liking for and get himself back into the winner's circle.
