This article is part of our FanDuel PGA DFS Picks series.
Genesis Invitational
Course: Torrey Pines South Course (7,765 yards, par 72)
Purse: $20,000,000
Winner: $4,000,000 and 700 FedExCup points
Tournament Preview
The Genesis Invitational is an event that all the top players circle every year. One because it is a signature event hosted by Tiger Woods, but two because of the love for the golf course. That of course all changes this year as it was announced that Riviera Country Club would not host the 2025 Genesis Invitational after the devastating wildfires in the Pacific Palisades area in January. Riviera is an all-time classic set up that tests players in so many different ways and is without question a favorite on Tour. Now this the third of eight signature events on the PGA Tour schedule will be hosted at Torrey Pines South. It is a championship venue in its own right, but also is not really dynamic from an architectural standpoint and sometimes leads to a lot of top players skipping the Farmers Insurance Open. That being said, a lot of the top players skipped the FIO a few weeks ago because they knew this signature event was coming. Nevertheless, this is where we are in 2025 for Tiger's event and everyone is hopeful to return to Riviera in 2026.
Speaking of Tiger, the 15-time major champion committed to play in this event last week, however, Woods decided to withdraw on Monday as he said he's still struggling with the loss of his Mother Kultida Woods who passed away last week at age 80. Woods is hopeful to be on property later in the week to support the event that benefits his foundation. It's certainly an unfortunate situation, but it would have been cool to see Tiger tackle Torrey Pines one last time, as he has won eight times on the San Diego course, including the 2008 U.S. Open. Woods is unlikely to make another PGA Tour start until the Masters in early April.
It is still a spectacular field for the Genesis Invitational that includes every eligible top 50 player in the OWGR apart from World No. 2 Xander Schauffele, who continues to battle a rib injury. Scottie Scheffler has seemingly knocked the rust off with good showings the last two weeks as the top ranked player hopes to return to the win column. Scheffler will be looking for PGA Tour win No. 14 and his first in the state of California. Meanwhile Rory McIlroy returns to action after he picked up his 27th Tour win a couple weeks ago at the last signature event at Pebble Beach. The highest ranked players who got a look at Torrey Pines a few weeks ago at the Farmers Insurance Open were No. 5 Hideki Matsuyama and No. 6 Ludvig Aberg. Matsuyama won the season-opening event at Kapalua, while Aberg was the early leader at Torrey Pines before he struggled with flu-like symptoms and fell down the leaderboard on the weekend. Thomas Detry will be looking to go back-to-back after an incredible week at the WM Phoneix Open that ended with him picking up his first PGA Tour win by seven strokes. Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Min Woo Lee and Gary Woodland were the four sponsors exemptions for this signature event.
The Genesis Invitational being one of the three player hosted signature events on the schedule means that we will see a 36-hole cut this week. The top-50 and ties or any player within 10 strokes of the lead will make the weekend. With only 72 players in this elite field, you certainly don't want to be one of the handful that has to head home early. This will also be one of the most penal cuts to DFS players, while the $4 million check for winning makes it one of the most consequential events for OAD leagues. Safe to say, everyone is going to give their max effort in this big of an event.
The Farmers Insurance Open a few weeks ago was fortunate to steer clear of any real weather issues and still had a winning score of just 8-under-par by Harris English. That also included one round on the easier North Course, which won't happen for the Genesis Invitational with all four rounds on the beast that is Torrey Pines South stretching to nearly 7,800 yards. The talk this week will be all the rain that is forecasted to hit the area Wednesday through Friday morning. It will certainly be an adjustment for players and only make this course play even longer. Fortunately the weekend should provide some reprieve as the sun should come out, temperatures should rise and the winds die down. It will be a lot easier to stop balls close to the hole given the softness of the greens, so I would expect something in the 13-to-16-under-par range to be the winning number.
Recent Champions
2024 - Hideki Matsuyama (-17)
2023 - Jon Rahm (-17)
2022 - Joaquin Niemann (-19)
2021 - Max Homa (-12)
2020 - Adam Scott (-11)
2019 - J.B. Holmes (-14)
2018 - Bubba Watson (-12)
2017 - Dustin Johnson (-17)
2016 - Bubba Watson (-15)
2015 - James Hahn (-6)
Key Stats to Victory
- SG: Approach/GIR Percentage
- SG: Off-the-Tee/Club Head Speed
- SG: Around-the-Green/Scrambling
- Proximity 175-200 yards
Champion's Profile
Torrey Pines has always been a place that has rewarded the long hitters, and that will be no different this week especially considering how soft the course should play. Club head speed will play a crucial role given the fact that the rough will also be much tougher to deal with. If you drive it in the fairway players likely won't have to worry as much as they typically do here of balls taking a massive bounce and going over the greens due to the moisture. Expect to see a lot of approaches in the 175-200 yard range and that's a good proximity bucket to look at this week. Good scramblers have also been able to thrive at Torrey Pines for years, and they will certainly be tested early in the week when it's windy. It's also going to hard to rule out those players who putt these poa annua greens well. Give a slight boost to those who ranked high in SG: Putting at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, as well as the FIO a few weeks ago obviously.
FanDuel Value Picks
The Chalk
Rory McIlroy ($12,500)
It's really hard to go against McIlroy this week. He has been top-4 in six of his last seven starts worldwide and gained strokes on the greens in his last nine starts. McIlroy has also finished T5-T3-T16-T7 in four career starts at Torrey Pines, which includes the 2021 U.S. Open. We know he is still arguably the best driver in the game and a great long iron player. 2025 is lining up to be one of McIlroy's best.
Justin Thomas ($11,400)
Thomas continues to play at an elite level coming off a T6 finish in Scottsdale which was his fourth top-six result in his last six starts. His iron play and short game are so locked in right now, as he has gained strokes in both areas over his last 10 starts. Thomas ranks 16th in SG: Approach and 24th in SG: Around-the-Green this season, and he is also leading the PGA Tour in putts per GIR. The 15-time winner has finished top-25 in four of his five career starts at Torrey Pines.
Ludvig Aberg ($11,100)
I really like the value we are getting here from Aberg. He is a perfect course fit for Torrey Pines given his tremendous driving ability and consistent iron play. The Swede was right in the mix for the win a few weeks ago at Torrey Pines before struggling with flu-like symptoms on the weekend, which seemed to extend into the following week at Pebble where he ended up withdrawing. Aberg should be back to 100 percent and ready to do some damage.
The Middle Tier
Sepp Straka ($10,100)
Straka just is not going away and neither should you. After another good showing in Scottsdale, the Austrian has now finished top-15 in five of his last six starts. His iron play has been so good recently gaining over one stroke per round on approach in his last eight tournaments. Straka ranks top-5 this season in SG: Approach, GIR percentage and proximity 175-200 yards. He has two finishes of T16-or-better in five starts at Torrey Pines in his career.
Rasmus Hojgaard ($9,900)
Hojgaard was in the mix last week in Scottsdale and I anticipate that is something we will see a lot of going forward. Hojgaard is sixth on Tour this season in club head speed and eighth in SG: Tee-to-Green. He has finished T22-or-better in five of his last six starts worldwide. The 23-year-old's power and consistent ball striking should make him a threat at Torrey Pines.
Taylor Pendrith ($9,800)
In an event we are looking for ball-strikers, why not the man leading the PGA Tour in the ball-striking stat (Total driving rank + GIR rank). That would be Pendrith who is fifth in total driving and second in GIR percentage this season. That's been a big reason for his great run of finishers over the last several months. Pendrith has finished outside the top-25 just once over his last 11 starts with five top-10s in that stretch. He has finished top-10 in his last two starts at Torrey Pines as well.
The Long Shots
Davis Thompson ($8,600)
This is not a range that I like very much, but if I'm going to take a shot with anyone I'm looking to buy low on Thompson. It's been a disappointing start to 2025, but the 25-year-old has still only missed one cut over his last 16 starts. Thompson's consistent driving and short game play is certainly something that catches my eye coming to Torrey Pines. He has gained strokes off the tee in his last 15 starts and around the greens in nine of his last ten starts.
Cam Davis ($8,400)
Davis is the ideal build for Torrey Pines, and what doesn't get enough credit is how sound his short game is. The Aussie ranks ninth this season in SG: Around-the-Green, and he has gained strokes in that department in 10 of his last 12 starts. Davis is also top-25 in both SG: Approach and GIR percentage coming off a strong T5 showing at Pebble Beach a couple weeks ago.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($7,900)
Bezuidenhout brings some solid value in the $7K range off a strong T4 finish in Scottsdale. That continued this run of elite short game play and putting. The South African now ranks 17th in SG: Around-the-Green, fifth in scrambling, fifth in SG: Putting and 14th in putts per GIR. It's hard to go against that even with some spotty ball-striking numbers at this price. Bezuidenhout has made the cut in 10 of his last 11 starts and gained over a stroke per round on approach in all three appearances at Torrey Pines.
Strategy Tips This Week
Based on a Standard $60K Salary Cap
I mentioned it earlier, but these player hosted signature events where such a low percentage of the field is actually eliminated after two rounds, it makes it so crucial to go 6-for-6. This is one of those situations where we need to ride the guys who are playing well early in the season in gaining strokes in some of the key areas. Given the way things start to really fall off after the $9K range, I'm probably going to pass on Scheffler, who doesn't really have much history to speak of at Torrey Pines anyways. I also think Spieth is priced to high at $10, 500 coming off his first strong finish in basically a year heading to a course that doesn't really suit him. It wouldn't be a bad idea to go back to guys who have some recent confidence at Torrey Pines like English ($9,500), Sam Stevens ($9,200) and Andrew Novak ($8,300), even though this is a different set of conditions and a stronger field.
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