There is a slightly smaller field due to the “invitational” status of the Genesis Invitational but the talent level is high! That starts with Dustin Johnson coming in a solid favorite to win outright at +550. Johnson is the only player to come in under +1200 as that’s where Jon Rahm sits with Rory McIlroy.

That’s fitting as Johnson is still ranked No. 1 in the world by the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and he’s currently third in FedEx points. Heading into the 2021 calendar year he finished out 2020 by winning the Masters, going T6 at the U.S. Open, and carding a T2 at the Houston Open.

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As for Rahm, he’s No. 2 on the OWGR list with McIlroy in the seventh spot. Every player from Johnson to Thomas is ranked in the top-ten. To be exact, eight of the OWGR top-ten players are in the field and riding high on the favorites leaderboard heading into the opening round.

Here are the top-five favorites according to Intertops.

Dustin Johnson +550

Jon Rahm +1200

Rory McIlroy +1200

Xander Schauffele +1400

Justin Thomas +1400

2021 Genesis Invitational Preview

Where: Pacific Palisades, California

Course: Riviera Country Club

Format: Stroke Play

Par: 71

Length: 7,322

When: February 18 –21, 2021

Purse: $9.5 Million.

TV Coverage: CBS, Golf Channel

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Get ready for players to use just about every club in their bags this week. The Riviera does not have any “gimmie” holes! Everything is protected by trees lining fairways to surgically placed bunkers.

Ben Hogan famously called the Par-three No. 4 hole “the greatest par-three in America.” They now have a plaque to commemorate Hogan’s comment as the green is protected by rolling terrain, roughs, and ball swallowing bunkers.

The course plays into a small canyon area giving several holes natural outcroppings along the fairways. Many of the greens are raised which always forces players to have command of their short game.

2021 Genesis Invitational Predictions

Xander Schauffele +1400

Xander Schauffele has had a string of great finishes the last several weeks. His 2021 results include a second-place finish at the CJ Cup and a pair of T2s at the Phoenix Open and the Famers. His last seven outings include two T17 finishes and then everything is T5 or better. He’s one great putt away from adding a 5th PGA Tour win to his resume.

Jon Rahm +1200

Rahm has two recent top-twenty finishes at Riviera Country Club with one of them being a T9 in 2019. He won the BMW and pulled in a T2 at the ZOZO. He’s upped his rank to 4th for total driving on the PGA stats list and sits at .825 Off-The-Tee. He’s also raked 1st for making putts within 3’ at 100% out of 258 attempts. Meaning, look for him to go for great shots onto the green.

Adam Scott +3300

Adam Scott is the all-time money earner at the event and the defending Champion with his two-stroke win last year. Two weeks ago he finished T10 at Torrey Pines and has finished in the top-ten six times in his last twelve outings. Scott, at +3300 and going for a repeat, is worth considering.

Others I Like: You have to like Dustin Johnson as the favorite but there are too many great players down the leader board. For instance, Jordan Speith at +3300 has been looking more and more like the Speith that was a force on the Tour several seasons ago. A win could jump- start a multi-win season for Speith.

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Genesis Invitational Odds

NOTE: Daniel Berger, last week’s winner at Pebble Beach, has withdrawn from the event.

Dustin Johnson +550

Jon Rahm +1200

Rory McIlroy +1200

Xander Schauffele +1400

Justin Thomas +1400

Bryson DeChambeau +1600

Patrick Cantlay +1600

Brooks Koepka +2200

Tony Finau +2500

Daniel Berger +2800 (WD)

Collin Morikawa +2800

Viktor Hovland +2800

Adam Scott +3300

Hideki Matsuyama +3300

Jordan Spieth +3300

Bubba Watson +4000

Scottie Scheffler +5000

Joaquin Niemann +5000

Max Homa +6000

Sergio Garcia +6600

Marc Leishman +6600

Abraham Ancer +6600

Carlos Ortiz +6600

Russell Henley +6600

Kevin Na +6600

Matthew Wolff +6600

Will Zalatoris +8000

Matthew Fitzpatrick +8000

Si-Woo Kim +8000

Cameron Smith +8000

Francesco Molinari +10000

Gary Woodland +10000

Corey Conners +10000

Cameron Davis +10000

Cameron Tringale +10000

Sam Burns +10000

Jason Kokrak +10000

Rickie Fowler +10000

Lanto Griffin +10000

James Hahn +10000

Maverick McNealy +10000

Matt Kuchar +12500

Talor Gooch +12500

Brian Harman +12500

Henrik Norlander +12500

Kevin Streelman +12500

Brendon Todd +12500

Kyoung-Hoon Lee +12500

JT Poston +15000

Charley Hoffman +15000

Luke List +15000

Matthew Nesmith +15000

Keegan Bradley +15000

Wyndham Clark +15000

Adam Hadwin +15000

Russell Knox +15000

Nate Lashley +15000

Alex Noren +15000

Brendan Steele +15000

Cameron Champ +15000

Joel Dahmen +15000

Emiliano Grillo +15000

Chez Reavie +15000

Charles Howell III +15000

Matt Jones +15000

Sebastian Munoz +15000

Harold Varner III +15000

Mackenzie Hughes +20000

Martin Laird +20000

Dylan Frittelli +20000

Jim Furyk +20000

Doug Ghim +20000

Peter Malnati +20000

Vaughn Taylor +20000

Michael Thompson +20000

Branden Grace +20000

Tom Hoge +20000

J.B. Holmes +20000

Scott Piercy +20000

Doc Redman +20000

Patrick Rodgers +20000

Brandt Snedeker +20000

Kyle Stanley +20000

Sepp Straka +20000

Nick Taylor +20000

Lucas Glover +25000

Adam Long +25000

Pat Perez +25000

Charl Schwartzel +25000

Richy Werenski +25000

Stewart Cink +25000

Mark Hubbard +25000

Wesley Bryan +30000

Padraig Harrington +30000

Robby Shelton +30000

Brian Stuard +30000

Austin Cook +30000

Harry Higgs +30000

Bo Hoag +30000

Sung Kang +30000

Denny McCarthy +30000

Troy Merritt +30000

Brian Gay +30000

Tyler McCumber +50000

C T Pan +50000

Ryan Armour +50000

Tyler Duncan +50000

Jim Herman +50000

Andrew Landry +50000

Andy Ogletree +50000

Robert Streb +50000

Camilo Villegas +50000

Jimmy Walker +50000

John Augenstein +50000

Danny Lee +50000

Xinjun Zhang +50000

Tyler Strafaci +50000

Kim Tae-Hoon +100000

Scott Harrington +100000

Willie Mack +100000