PGA Tour Genesis Picks – Will Rory Stay Hot?

by Jack Chambers for Wannamakeabet.com

The California wild fires have moved this year’s Genesis from Riviera to Torrey Pines in San Diego.  As we all recall, the Tour was just here a few weeks ago for the Farmers but this is a dramatically different field, and includes one of the strongest fields on the PGA Tour, featuring 66 of the top 100 and 46 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings. Seven of the world’s top 10 players are in action, including World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, and defending champion Hideki Matsuyama.

Notably absent are Xander Schauffele (injury), along with LIV Golf players Tyrrell Hatton and Bryson DeChambeau. The depth of talent extends far beyond the top 10, with stars like Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland, and Tony Finau among the contenders, making this an elite test at Riviera.

Here’s who we have our eye on this week.

Rory McIlroy – 7/1  to win   Rory is hot.  The last three times he’s teed it up he’s gone Win, T4, Win.  This is one of the longest tracks on tour and we already know about Rory’s length.  But he’s also third in the field in overall strokes gained at this venue.  This feels like a great place for him to stay hot having taken last week off and Scottie still perhaps recovering from the hand injury and the rust of the holidays.  Might be a good week to use Rory for one and done as well.

Jordan Spieth – 45/1 to win

There may not be many more chances to grab Jordan before he drops down to odds that are about half of this so it’s worth taking a shot now.

Daniel Berger – 90/1 to win

Berger finished in the top 10 at the US Open in this venue and almost took down Detry last week down the stretch.  These are great odds if he can keep the hot hand going this week and possible get over the finish line.

Sepp Straka – Top 10  (+290) and top 20 (+110)

Sepp has been a machine this year.  Four out of his last five starts have been in the top 15 and that includes a win.  Let’s ride the hot hand and getting inside the top 10 should be doable.  He’s not the longest driver of the ball but his accuracy should make up for it this week on these demanding driving holes.  He can grind out pars with the best of em and his putter has been hot.

Sungjae Im – Top 10 (+220) and top 20 (-115)

Another ball striking machine who has been trending, we like Sungjae this week.  With the exception of a missed cut here at the Farmers in 2023, he’s been top 6 in the out of the last four visits.  He’s also wonderful around the greens and sneaky long to go along with his accuracy.   He’s likely going to gain strokes in every major category this week.  He finished 4th last month at this venue and all signs point to a strong finish this week.

Rasmus Hojgard – Top 10 (+270) and top 20 (+100)

There’s no course history here so this is really just about riding the hot hand of a player whose hitting the ball beautifully right now.  Twin brother of the more popular Nicolai, Rasmus was in contention last week at the Waste Management and has finished top 14 in three of his last four events and almost took down Rory at the DP World Tour.  He keeps it going this week.

Taylor Pendrith – Top 10 (+250) and top 20 (+100)

Perfect combination of trending and course fit here.  Pendrith finished top 16 in three out of the last four times at this venue and his last four out of the last five starts have been in the top 20.  Why wouldn’t he cash this week?  He drives the ball a mile and has accuracy to go along with it.  He should be hanging around the top of the leaderboard  this week like he has been for the past two months.