It was a wet and wild start to the Genesis Invitational where the world number one is in last place. Here's Ben Coley's preview of round two.
Golf betting tips: Genesis Invitational three-balls
2pt double Fitzpatrick and Homa to win their three-balls at 4/1 (Betway; 19/5 General)
A three-hour suspension early in round one means we're still waiting for it to finish at the time of writing, with world number one Scottie Scheffler only reaching the 11th hole before darkness fell.
Scheffler is 11 shots back in a share of last place so already needs a miracle, though he's almost pulled off one of those in each of the last two weeks. Still, he's surely going to need to retrieve at least a couple of shots to remain a factor in this tournament and, as one of the Signature Events that does feature a cut, right now a rare weekend off is more likely.
He'll return to a good birdie chance that could make or break things and that's also the case for our day one three-ball double, where Taylor Pendrith has already tied with Jhonattan Vegas, and Tony Finau is tied with both playing partners with little more than a hole to play. He's greenside in two at the 17th but both Lucas Glover and Max McGreevy are in good positions too.
Regardless of how that plays out, Pendrith relied on his putter a little too much for comfort while Vegas found a sudden but significant return to form with his irons. The Venezuelan ranks dead last on the PGA Tour in strokes-gained approach, part of the reason for expecting his poor run to continue. On Thursday, nobody hit their irons better.
I'll switch horses to MATT FITZPATRICK first of all.
He too hasn't yet finished round one so credit to those bookmakers who have pressed on with round two prices regardless. We know the outcome of the group – Aaron Rai is five ahead and will likely win the three-ball and lead after round one – and there's no reason not to chalk it up in good time and encourage business.
We'll take the bait and rely on Fitzpatrick getting his own back. The former US Open champion continues to hit the ball really well but has been left behind on the greens, and while his putter has been a little cool lately, he'd still be a short price to outperform Rai in that department over the following 18 holes.
Rai had one of those days, chipping in early and then gaining upwards of four strokes putting over the next 16 holes. For those not fluent in the language of strokes-gained, this would be an exceptional number for an exceptional putter. Rai, who arrived here out of sorts, is not one of those.
The third member of the group is Garrick Higgo, one of the form players of the autumn but quiet so far in 2026. For me that's a neat summary of the player: very good when firing at a lower level, but yet to prove himself at this one. He has the talent to do so in time but is four-over through 16 and could end the first round in last place.
Fitzpatrick is a general 23/20 and that looks good in what I think is a match.
The second selection is MAX HOMA at a general 5/4. Note that one firm does go a step bigger at 6/4 but they're yet to price up the Fitzpatrick match.
The case for Homa is very simple. He's an LA-born course specialist and past champion who is definitely back on the right path. He made just one bogey on a tough first day despite not driving it well, evidence of how good he is at scoring around here, and seems set for another productive day.
In with him are Kevin Yu and Denny McCarthy, one exceptional ball-striker, one exceptional putter, but neither the complete package.
Both played to type on Thursday, Yu undoing some good work with a horror show on the greens, McCarthy putting well but ranked 68th of 71 in strokes-gained tee-to-green, and more of the same will leave them vulnerable to a player who knows every blade of grass at Riviera.
The double pays just a shade under 4/1 generally.
Posted at 07:45 GMT on 20/02/26
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