Horse For The Course: PGA DFS Course History - 2025 Genesis Invitational

The battle at the Greenest Show on Grass ended with a first-time winner, Thomas Detry winning by seven shots after making birdies on the final four holes. It was an incredible display all around for the 32-year-old from Belgium, ranking atop the field in strokes gained on approach (+1.79), second in strokes gained putting (+2.11), and third in strokes gained tee to green (+2.80).

Things are taking a detour this week because of the tragedies in the Los Angeles area with the fires that consumed over 57,000 acres of land in various parts of the California coast, which included the normal venue of this week's Genesis Invitational, Riviera Country Club. Luckily, the golf course remained virtually untouched by the devastation, however, the tournament needed to be relocated this year for obvious reasons. So for the second time in four weeks, prepare for the bomb-and-gouge fest at Torrey Pines.

Horse For The Course is an article highlighting players in this week's field with elite course history and is part of our free PGA DFS content here at RotoBaller. For some of the favorite DFS plays of the week check, out the Core Four article written by my buddy, Joe Nicely here at RotoBaller every Wednesday. It's part of our amazing PGA Premium package that includes an all-new PGA Research Station, Lineup Builder & Optimizer, and some of the best articles in the PGA DFS industry! You can sign up now using Promo Code: TDG for an extra discount at checkout!

2025 Genesis Invitational

Things will seem odd this week given the historic place we are being kept from, but this is perhaps an even more fitting venue for tournament host, Tiger Woods, who is returning to Torrey Pines for the first time since 2020. He and these 18 holes created arguably the most memorable golf event in history at the 2008 U.S. Open, and this week will undoubtedly add to the legacy of this property.

The field looks much different compared to four weeks ago at the Farmers Insurance Open, as its demotion from being a signature event already diminished its appeal to the world's best players. Making matters worse, the title sponsor's response to the fires has been met with a ton of scrutiny and caused a few big names to pull out before the opening round.

Now that things have settled down a bit from a Mother Nature standpoint, it will be nice to return to this classic design that is no stranger to captivating moments in both Major Championships and standard PGA Tour events; and with as good of a field as the Tour can drum up these days.

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The Course: Torrey Pines (South Course)

Par 72- 7,765| Greens: Poa annua | Designed By: William Bell

If you are a frequent connoisseur of the HFC article, you saw my explanation of this course a few weeks ago. The South Course at Torrey Pines is the biggest ballpark on tour, playing over 7,700 yards. Most holes have straight, slender fairways that end with average-sized greens well-guarded by bunkers. Rinse, wash, repeat.

Many of the tour stops that consistently produce photo finishes often force players to play the same style of golf. Whether it be the short wedge fests or courses of the absurdly long variety, forcing professionals to employ the same strategy shrinks the outcomes and generally creates more tight-knit leaderboards. The South Course does that from start to finish.

With every thoroughbred the PGA Tour has outside of Xander Schuffele (rib injury) listed in the field, I expect the names for this article to be a little different than the one I wrote a month ago. However, it will be much of the same in terms of key metrics and points of interest: approach play with longer irons, strokes gained on and around the greens (especially on Poa annua surfaces).

Recent Genesis Invitational Winners

• 2024: Hideki Matsuyama (-17) ( at Riviera CC)
• 2023: Jon Rahm (-17) (at Riviera CC)
• 2022: Joaquin Niemann (-19) (at Riviera CC)
• 2021: Max Homa (-12) (at Riviera CC)
• 2020: Adam Scott (-11) (at Riviera CC)

The Horse

Rory McIlroy

• 69.34 Scoring Average  (13 total rounds)

When thinking of guys who perform well at Torrey Pines, Rory McIlroy may not immediately come to mind. He's only competed in an event here on four occasions (three Farmers Opens and the '21 U.S. Open), but, on paper, his game makes so much sense here. The evidence is clear by the great finishes in all four appearances (T7-T16-T3-T5).

The Northern Irishman's strength off the tee gives him a big leg up on the South Course's long par-4s. The true determination of his week will ultimately come on the greens. McIlroy rarely has weeks where he gains over four strokes putting, but when he does, they normally turn out similar to his win at Pebble two weeks ago.

Not much changes for him this week in terms of grass type, however, speeds should be much quicker than he experienced in Monterey. Hopefully, that won't be enough to send him back to putting purgatory.

The Ponies

Collin Morikawa

• 69.75 Scoring Average (11 total rounds)

🚨⛳️😲 #LOOK — LAGC star Collin Morikawa got an unbelievable break last night and his reaction was priceless 🤣

pic.twitter.com/1yIOnRjJXm

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) February 5, 2025

Collin Morikawa and West Coast golf go together like peas and carrots. Even somewhere as daunting as Torrey Pines, the 28-year-old has come close to notching a victory on more than one occasion by capitalizing on his incredible ball striking with long irons to overcome not being the longest player out there.

Putting will always be the main part of Morikawa's game you worry about, and his one missed cut here was due in large part because of it. He's never averaged more than +0.48 in that strokes gained metric at the South Course anyway, so if this is the week he improves upon that, it could have big implications come Sunday.

Sungjae Im

• 70.27 Scoring Average (23 total rounds)

Bounce-back birdie 👏

Sungjae Im holes it from the rough @FarmersInsOpen.

📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/tTSo8bieSZ

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 25, 2025

Having been burned by Sungjae Im in various spots already in this young season at seemingly good course fits, including him here gives me heartburn. However, it is impossible to deny what the 26-year-old has been able to do in three of his last four starts at Torrey Pines (T4-MC-T4-T6 in the last four starts).

The nerve-wracking part here is that his good finishes have come from salvaging holes on and around the green versus tried and true ball striking. That strength certainly has its place, and maybe it's at a punishing place like Torrey Pines. I'm just not so ready to put my money on it. However, the incredibly strong field could reduce interest in him enough to make the gamble worth it.

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Jason Day

• 70.58 Scoring Average (38 total rounds)

Jason Day's fit at Torrey Pines is _______. pic.twitter.com/a74mOYJwrt

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) January 25, 2025

Tied with Keegan Bradley for the third-most rounds played at the South Course of anyone in the field, Jason Day has a long history of good golf at the South Course. His bunker prowess allows him to expand his misses around the greens, but his strokes gained putting has been the driving force behind many of his high finishes.

Interestingly though, he didn't do anything spectacular in either of his two victories at this venue. His ability to stay even-kill across the board is what earned him both titles, which is something he's done well at aside from putting early in 2025. He's only lost strokes on five occasions over his many years of playing the South Course, so there is a chance he turns things around from the struggle he's had with the flat stick to start his season.

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