Genesis Invitational
Feb 19–22, 2026
The PGA Tour is playing the 100th edition of the Genesis Invitational this week at The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. This signature event features a limited field of 72 top players competing for a $20 million purse.
Riviera has become recognized as one of the gems of the golden age of architecture. It’s also one that has held up remarkably well, relatively, to the modernization of the game. Unlike some properties, Riviera has had the necessary space to expand as players have gotten longer. The course will play a hair under 7,400 yards at The Genesis Invitational this year, but it was already playing over 7,000 yards for the 1948 U.S. Open. The shot values on many holes have changed, but it has remained a strong test of the game’s best. Look forward to watching a captivating and entertaining tournament this week at the RIV!
Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg returns to defend the title he won last year at Torrey Pines, when the tournament was relocated because of widespread fires in the Los Angeles area. Åberg is among the notable names grouped together for the first two rounds in Pacific Palisades, as are each of the PGA TOUR winners from thus far in 2026, highlighted by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa
This group features last week’s winner, last week’s defending champ and the man who nearly took the title wearing gear from the pro shop. McIlroy’s title defense ended in a T14 finish at Pebble, and he’ll look to make his ninth trip to Riviera his first top three result. Morikawa broke a victory drought of more than two years with his dramatic win on the Monterey Peninsula, and now he’s seeking two in a row on a course where he was a runner-up in 2022. Fleetwood turned heads with his Pebble Beach apparel last week enroute to a T4 finish, as the FedEx Cup champ’s T10 finish here two years ago is his best Riviera result.
Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Si Woo Kim
Scheffler got his 2026 campaign off to a hot start with a win at The American Express and has followed with a pair of top five finishes despite slow starts at TPC Scottsdale and Pebble Beach. He’ll look to make it 19 consecutive top 10 finishes at an event where he’s finished T12 or better each of the last four years. Schauffele’s new season is off to a slower start, but his Riviera record includes four top 15 finishes in six trips, while Kim saw his run of four straight top 11 finishes come to an end last week in the windy conditions at Pebble.
Chris Gotterup, Robert MacIntyre, Justin Rose
This group has combined to win three of the five TOUR events so far this year, with Gotterup taking both the Sony Open in Hawaii and WM Phoenix Open while Rose cruised to victory at the Farmers Insurance Open. Gotterup is making his tournament debut, while Rose boasts 13 trips around Hogan’s Alley, highlighted by a T4 result in 2017. Rounding out the group will be MacIntyre, who won twice on TOUR last year and finished T15 in 2022 in his lone Riviera start.
Hideki Matsuyama, Ludvig Åberg, J.J. Spaun
This group features the defending champ and the last player to lift the trophy at Riviera, as Åberg emerged victorious last year at Torrey while Matsuyama’s memorable 62 in the final round earned him a comeback win in 2024. Matsuyama followed his Phoenix playoff loss with a T8 result at Pebble Beach, while Åberg will make just his second career start at Riviera. Rounding out the group will be Spaun, the U.S. Open champ and a Los Angeles native in search of a spark in his fourth start of the season
Alright Knollwood Country Club Members Who Ya Got?
Last week we started the “Beat the Pro’s” weekly tournament challenge. Each of our Golf Professionals will give their 2 picks along with a Dark Horse each week. Follow along, make your picks each week and see how your picks stack up against our pro shop staff!
News Flash - Please do not make Scottie Scheffler your Dark Horse pick!
Nic led the pro shop picks last week with great finishes across the board, however, he continues to pick Scottie Scheffler each week so go figure! Matt Krallman had Akshay Bhatia, who had a 5-stroke lead on the field before succumbing to Pebble the last 27 holes. Matt Kay’s picks were all solid, however, Justin Rose did fade a bit down the stretch to let him down. Here are this week’s picks!
Matt Krallman - Jake Nnapp, Colin Morikawa
Dark Horse - Aldrich Potgieter
Matt Kay - Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler
Dark Horse - Russell Henley
Nic Johnson - Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa
Dark Horse - Pierceson Coody