Genesis Invitational returns to Riviera for 100th edition of tournament
PACIFIC PALISADES — The 2025 Genesis Invitational was forced to relocate from its traditional home at Riviera Country Club and be played in at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego due to the horrific impact of the Palisades fire.
This week, the Genesis has returned home to Riviera for the 2026 edition of the tournament that marks the 100th playing of the event. Riviera is one of nine venues on the PGA Tour’s 2026 schedule that has hosted a PGA Tour event for 50 or more years.
Hosted by Tiger Woods and benefiting the Tiger Woods Foundation, the Genesis is one of the PGA Tour’s Signature events, offering both increased prize money and FedEx Cup points. The field features 27 of the top 30 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, including 14 of the top 15 and all of the top 10, highlighted by No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 2 Rory McIlroy. Ludvig Aberg is defending champion.
“Last year was just a horrific and terrible time for this entire community,” Woods said. “It was just a devastating thing. People lost their lives, lost homes, lost valuables that they’ll never, ever be able to replace, so hopefully we can make a positive impact this week and hopefully help repair this community.”
As he continues to recover from a torn Achilles and another back surgery, Woods is unable to play in the event. Despite the recent setbacks to his health, Woods remains optimistic that he can again return to play either on the PGA Tour or perhaps the Champions Tour.
“I entered a new decade (turning 50), so that number is starting to sink in and has us thinking about the opportunity to be able to play in a cart,” Woods said. “That’s something that, as I said, I won’t do out here on this tour because I don’t believe in it. But on the Champions Tour, that’s certainly that opportunity.”
Woods added while he has no timetable for his return, he has reached a point in his recovery where he is able to hit full shots. When asked if the Masters in April was off the table, he responded, “No.”
Having been born and raised in Southern California and having made his debut in this event when he was 16, Woods said he still gets nostalgic when he steps foot on the Riviera grounds.
“For me as a SoCal kid who grew up coming here, coming to this event, LA Open, coming here to Riv, it’s an iconic site,” Woods said. “And for a 16-year-old kid just to be able to start here and then now host his own tournament at the same golf course is pretty special.”
Another Southern California native, Sahith Theegala, also grew up watching and attending this event. Since turning professional, he has made five cuts in five starts at Riviera.
Injuries significantly impacted Theegala’s 2025 season and as a result he didn’t qualify for the 2026 Genesis. So Woods and the tournament committee made him the recipient of the annual Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption, which is given to a minority player each year to give them a chance to compete at golf’s highest level.
“To receive the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption was enormous to me,” Theegala said. “I’m just so, so pumped to be here. I only found out maybe Wednesday of last week. I got the call from Mike (Antolini, tournament director) and was super, super honored. I honestly didn’t expect to be here. It’s probably my favorite event of the year.”
If you polled players in the field this week, nearly all of them would say how much they love coming back to play Riviera each year. Despite its lack of hazards and limited penalty areas, the course is able to provide the world’s best players with a strong test.
“It’s a great golf course. I think it challenges us in some different ways,” Scheffler said. “Then I think you have a lot of history here, and it’s a golf course that’s stood the test of time. The golf course has changed and evolved and I think it’s evolved for the better and it still challenges us to this day, which is pretty cool. Like I said, greens got a lot of slope. The rough is a whole new challenge for us this week. It should be fun.”
While holes like No. 6, No. 10 and No. 18 get a lot of attention from players and spectators, the 12th hole has actually been the toughest hole in the tournament over the past five years.
Scheffler said one reason that the 12th hole is so challenging is the wind, which typically blows into the face of players at that spot on the course.
“The green slopes in most spots,” Scheffler said. “If you land it in the right bunker, it’s probably going to plug. If you hit it left of the green, it typically rolls off into the rough. It’s also a really challenging tee shot, too, and it’s like 500 yards. So there’s a few things that make it quite difficult.”
Theegala calls 12 a great golf hole, adding even when the tournaments moves play up to the tees at around 480, it’s still an uncomfortable tee shot.
“It makes a lot of us look silly,” Theegala said. “A lot of us hit that tree about 180 yards off the tee and we end up in 11 fairway or in the rough somewhere laying up just short of the brink. So the tee shot is tough. There’s a lot of holes where you hit a good tee shot and you kind of take a deep breath and, all right, kind of a nothing second shot, but that’s not the case on 12.
“There’s no easy pin placement in my opinion on that green. That front pin is difficult because that right bunker is dead. The back pin is difficult because you can’t really miss the green anywhere to have an easy up-and-down. You kind of got to lay up to 40 feet essentially and try and two-putt from there.”
Play begins Thursday with a cut to the low 50 players and ties coming after Friday’s second round. Top threesomes for the first two rounds include Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood and McIlroy, who tee off at 9:08 a.m. Thursday, and Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Si Woo Kim teeing off at 11:37.