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Golfweek’s Adam Schupak recaps Max Homa’s second PGA Tour victory at the 2021 Genesis Invitational.
Golfweek’s Adam Schupak recaps Max Homa’s second PGA Tour victory at the 2021 Genesis Invitational.
Take a look at what the top finishers at the 2021 Genesis Invitational took home.
Take a look at what the top finishers at the 2021 Genesis Invitational took home.
Check out how much money each PGA Tour player earned this week at the Genesis Invitational in California.
It pays to play well on the PGA Tour, folks. Just ask this week’s winner, Max Homa.
The 30-year-old native of Los Angeles won his hometown event at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, after two playoff holes against Tony Finau. The 2021 Genesis Invitational amounted to his second win on Tour.
Homa will take home the top prize of $1,674,000 and 550 FedEx Cup points. Finau earned himself more than $1 million, as well. Sam Burns, the 54-hole leader looking for a wire-to-wire victory, finished third, earning $641,700
Check out how much money each player earned this week at the 2021 Genesis Invitational.
Genesis Invitational: Leaderboard | Photos
| Position | Player | Score | Earnings |
| 1 | Max Homa | -12 | $1,674,000 |
| 2 | Tony Finau | -12 | $1,013,700 |
| 3 | Sam Burns | -11 | $641,700 |
| 4 | Cameron Smith | -9 | $455,700 |
| T5 | Jon Rahm | -7 | $344,100 |
| T5 | Viktor Hovland | -7 | $344,100 |
| T5 | Matthew Fitzpatrick | -7 | $344,100 |
| T8 | Francesco Molinari | -6 | $262,725 |
| T8 | Wyndham Clark | -6 | $262,725 |
| T8 | Matt Jones | -6 | $262,725 |
| T8 | Dustin Johnson | -6 | $262,725 |
| T12 | Patrick Rodgers | -5 | $197,625 |
| T12 | Alexander Noren | -5 | $197,625 |
| T12 | Talor Gooch | -5 | $197,625 |
| T15 | Will Zalatoris | -4 | $151,125 |
| T15 | Xander Schauffele | -4 | $151,125 |
| T15 | James Hahn | -4 | $151,125 |
| T15 | Jordan Spieth | -4 | $151,125 |
| T15 | Patrick Cantlay | -4 | $151,125 |
| T20 | C.T. Pan | -3 | $101,835 |
| T20 | Rickie Fowler | -3 | $101,835 |
| T20 | Matthew NeSmith | -3 | $101,835 |
| T20 | Nick Taylor | -3 | $101,835 |
| T20 | Scottie Scheffler | -3 | $101,835 |
| T20 | Branden Grace | -3 | $101,835 |
| T26 | Lanto Griffin | -2 | $67,890 |
| T26 | Jim Furyk | -2 | $67,890 |
| T26 | Cameron Tringale | -2 | $67,890 |
| T26 | Adam Hadwin | -2 | $67,890 |
| T26 | Scott Harrington | -2 | $67,890 |
| T26 | Andrew Landry | -2 | $67,890 |
| T32 | Mackenzie Hughes | -1 | $51,925 |
| T32 | Bo Hoag | -1 | $51,925 |
| T32 | Kyle Stanley | -1 | $51,925 |
| T32 | Andrew Putnam | -1 | $51,925 |
| T32 | Marc Leishman | -1 | $51,925 |
| T32 | Jason Kokrak | -1 | $51,925 |
| T38 | Tyler Duncan | E | $40,455 |
| T38 | Russell Henley | E | $40,455 |
| T38 | Kevin Na | E | $40,455 |
| T38 | Brooks Koepka | E | $40,455 |
| T38 | Adam Scott | E | $40,455 |
| T43 | Joaquin Niemann | 1 | $28,179 |
| T43 | Brendan Steele | 1 | $28,179 |
| T43 | Sepp Straka | 1 | $28,179 |
| T43 | Collin Morikawa | 1 | $28,179 |
| T43 | J.T. Poston | 1 | $28,179 |
| T43 | Brian Harman | 1 | $28,179 |
| T43 | Sebastian Munoz | 1 | $28,179 |
| T43 | Cameron Davis | 1 | $28,179 |
| T43 | Wesley Bryan | 1 | $28,179 |
| T52 | Tom Hoge | 2 | $22,153 |
| T52 | Kevin Streelman | 2 | $22,153 |
| T52 | Tyler McCumber | 2 | $22,153 |
| T52 | Danny Lee | 2 | $22,153 |
| T52 | Charley Hoffman | 2 | $22,153 |
| T57 | J.B. Holmes | 3 | $21,297 |
| T57 | Nate Lashley | 3 | $21,297 |
| T57 | Richy Werenski | 3 | $21,297 |
| T60 | Keegan Bradley | 4 | $20,832 |
| T60 | Brian Gay | 4 | $20,832 |
| T62 | Charl Schwartzel | 5 | $20,460 |
| T62 | Harold Varner III | 5 | $20,460 |
| T64 | Scott Piercy | 6 | $20,088 |
| T64 | Matthew Wolff | 6 | $20,088 |
| 66 | Kyoung-Hoon Lee | 9 | $19,809 |
| 67 | Sung Kang | 10 | $19,623 |
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Tony Finau made an impressive Sunday charge with the low round, a 64, but lost in a playoff to Max Homa at the Genesis Invitational.
Of all of Tony Finau’s close calls and near misses – and there are a lot to choose from – this one at the Genesis Invitational has to hurt the most.
Finau was at his Sunday’s best at Riviera Country Club, shooting the low round of the day and tying his lowest final round on the PGA Tour, a 7-under 64 to pass 54-hole leader Sam Burns. This was the type of Sunday charge that Finau’s fan base has been waiting for and he finally delivered.
“We saw (Burns) get to 13 (under) and I was at 9, 10, so I was still trying to keep the pedal to the metal, trying to make some birdies coming down the stretch,” Finau said.
He did just that and it still wasn’t enough. That’s because eventual champion Max Homa was every bit as good, shooting a bogey-free 66 and tying Finau with a 72-hole total of 12-under 272.
Genesis Invitational: Leaderboard | Photos | Winner’s bag
Finau was beyond fortunate to make a playoff with Homa, who missed a 3-foot birdie putt to win at the last in regulation.
“I was expecting him to make that, but I was ready to play after that no matter what,” Finau said.
Homa's birdie putt lips out.
He currently sits tied for the lead with @TonyFinauGolf.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/zffPdpKiey
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 21, 2021
Given a new lease on life, Finau failed to take advantage. His putter had been his sword on Sunday. He had holed 17-of-17 putts from inside 10 feet during regulation, but his putter didn’t cooperate during extra holes.
After both players hit tee shots left at the first playoff hole, the 282-yard par-4 10th hole, Finau appeared to be in the driver’s seat. Homa’s ball nestled near the trunk of a tree, limiting his options. He was fortunate to be able to play away from the hole and get his ball on the green and save par. Finau had a much more routine chip for his second shot, but it ran nearly 8 feet past the hole. With a putt to win, he missed.
Both players settle for par at the 10th.
They’ll head to 14 for the second playoff hole.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/Y6MIRrVmbh
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 21, 2021
“It was nice to have a look to win a golf tournament, I haven’t had that feeling since on the 72nd hole or in a playoff since Waste Management last year,” he said. “Not the best putt I hit, but I had a chance to win one and unfortunately didn’t get it done this time.”
Finau’s putt was longer than Homa’s miss in regulation, but it felt as if he had returned Homa’s philanthropy and blown a golden opportunity to end his winless streak dating to the 2016 Puerto Rico Open.
Finau took too aggressive of a line at the par-3 14th with his 7 iron and shortsided himself in the left greenside bunker. He blasted to just under 10 feet. After Homa planted his tee shot to 12 feet and cozied his birdie effort to tap-in range, it was do-or-die for Finau.
“Hit a proper putt,” said Finau of his missed effort to extend the playoff. “I think sometimes in those situations almost like match play when you’re forced to make a putt, you probably hit it harder than you would normally hit it and that’s what I did there. I’ve been reading putts all week for speed, that kind of ends up by the hole, maybe a foot by. That one ended up hitting a little harder.”
When Finau replays how he didn’t go home with the winner’s trophy, he should also think about his approach shot at the 72nd hole of regulation. He blasted his drive 319 yards into the fairway, but missed the green from 146 yards and had to scramble for par. One more birdie could’ve been the difference.
In the end, it’s his 10th runner-up finish, 21st top 5, and 37th top 10 for Finau since his last victory. He’s collected a whopping $19.2 million since the 2016 Puerto Rico Open. His time will come and his performance this week showed what he’s capable of doing on a Sunday. He just needs to slam the door shut next time, and there should be a next time relatively soon given his recent run of form (four top-5s in his last five starts worldwide).
“I’ll keep marching on,” Finau said. “I’m not a quitter, I’m not someone that’s going to fade away into the sunset because I can’t win in these situations. I had another great shot today. I don’t know what else I can say other than I enjoy playing good golf and one of these days it will happen for me and hopefully turn into kind of a domino effect.”
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Tiger Woods joined CBS Sports at Riviera during the final round of the Genesis Open, and the familiar scrutiny followed.
It’s a sign of both his enduring stature and his ongoing health status that almost every public statement by Tiger Woods is parsed and analyzed with a level of intensity usually reserved for capricious politicians with a nuclear arsenal. Such was the case Sunday, when he joined CBS Sports at Riviera during the final round of the Genesis Open, which benefits his foundation.
Tiger’s would-be interrogator, Jim Nantz, exhibited more staying power than some players on the final-round leaderboard as he gamely tried to coax Woods into offering specifics on his playing schedule as he recovers from back surgery. For his part, the 15-time major winner was as unwavering as ever in making hopeful noises, remaining non-committal, and revealing nothing.
“I’m still in the gym doing the mundane things you have to do for rehab before I can start gravitating toward something a little more,” Woods said.
Those three special words—“a little more”—almost made Nantz visibly drool. So, he purred, what have you managed to do in terms of golf?
Lengthened my putter, Woods replied. He wore the relaxed smirk of one who knew his cat-and-mouse routine would be of more interest to casual fans than the tournament itself, contested as it was by guys who are seemingly more adept at filling their retirement accounts than their trophy cases.
Jim wanted more. “The Masters. … You gonna be there?”
“God I hope so. I gotta get there first,” Woods said, displaying his enviable gift for making the obvious sound ominous. “This is the only back I’ve got. I don’t have much wiggle room left here.”
By now, Nantz was sounding like a Tinder prospector growing impatient with flirting. He asked if Woods planned to play a PGA Tour event before the Masters.
“I don’t know what the plan is,” came the less-than-illuminating response.
“We miss you,” Nantz signed off, falling a ways short of the interview standard set by another CBS legend of Sunday evenings past, Mike Wallace, and perhaps even that of Jessica Fletcher in “Murder, She Wrote.”
In fairness to Nantz, Woods’ interviews often raise opacity to an art form, unveiling few concrete details and serving only to fuel speculation. Drawing conclusions from Tiger’s comments—particularly these comments—is a fool’s errand, but it seems probable that the security team at TPC Sawgrass can expect a more relaxed time of it at the Players Championship in three weeks. There are a few weeks beyond that before a call needs to be made on Augusta National. He might tease us anew before then.
All of which isn’t to say that nothing was made clear during the 10 minutes Woods spent in a headset in the CBS booth. It was a reminder of a reality that is uncomfortable for broadcasters, executives and fans: that the PGA Tour is now in the post-Tiger era, that he is a cameo actor and not the leading man. He may still move the interest needle unlike any other golfer, but a weekly soap opera cannot sustain itself on the power of a star who seldom shows up on set.
Tiger is the Marlon Brando of “Superman,” not “The Godfather,” an opportunistic scene-stealer when the script falls his way, but no longer capable of shouldering the entire production of the PGA Tour.
The future of the Tour, right now at least, rests on an ensemble cast rather than a standout star. Actors like Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson—will carry the show, each adding his own unique spice to the blend. But none of them has grabbed the game by the throat over the last decade in which Woods has receded as inexorably as a melting glacier.
For all the back and forth during Sunday’s broadcast, we remain none the wiser about when Woods might next make a competitive appearance. But whether it comes at the Players or at the Masters or at one of the sundry stepping stone Tour stops along the way, it should be seen for what it is: an occasional gift to be enjoyed rather than a guarantee to be expected.
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The host of the event, Tiger Woods spoke on Sunday during the final round of the 2021 Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.
A fifth back surgery kept Tiger Woods out of the field at this week’s 2021 Genesis Invitational, but it didn’t keep him away from his hosting duties.
Woods, 45, made his PGA Tour debut at Riviera Country Club in 1992 as an amateur at just 16 years old and has served as the Los Angeles-area tournament’s host since 2017. During Sunday’s final round the 82-time winner on Tour appeared with Jim Nantz on the CBS broadcast to talk about his Tiger Woods Foundation entering its 25th year, what he’s been able to do while recovering from back surgery and what he’s seen this week from outside the ropes.
When asked about his back, Woods said he’s feeling fine but admitted to feeling a little stiff.
“Still in the gym, still doing the mundane stuff you have to do for rehab, the little things before you start gravitating to something more,” said Woods.
In his time away from the game while recovering, Woods said he has lengthened his putter so he doesn’t have to bend over as far. In fact, it’s the same length as his sand wedge now, and for good reason.
“I do a lot of putting drills blading putts, hitting the equator with my sand wedge and I figured if I do a lot with that, I’ll lengthen my putter to the same length and it helped,” explained Woods.
At the end of the interview, Nantz asked the question that’s been swirling around in the minds of golf fans for the last month: Will Woods play the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in seven weeks?
“God I hope so. I’ve got to get there first,” Woods said with a chuckle. “A lot of it is based on my surgeons and doctors and therapist and making sure I do it correctly. This is the only back I’ve got, I don’t have much more wiggle room left.”
Woods had surgery on Dec. 23, 2020, and made the following announcement via his Twitter account Jan. 19, 2021: “Tiger has recently undergone a microdiscectomy procedure to remove a pressurized disc fragment that was pinching his nerve after experiencing discomfort following the PNC Championship. His doctors and their team have determined it to be successful and expect him to make a full recovery.
“I look forward to begin training and am focused on getting back on Tour,” added Woods in the post.
The 15-time major champion played in just nine official events in 2020 and had one top-10 – a tie for ninth in the Farmers Insurance Open, his first event of the year. In December, Woods stole the show with his son, Charlie, at the PNC Championship.
Woods didn’t provide a timetable for his return to competition.
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Sam Burns holds a two-stroke lead heading at Riviera as he attempts to claim his first PGA Tour title in wire-to-wire fashion.
Sam Burns has been leading the Genesis Invitational since shooting a tournament-best 7-under 64 on Thursday.
He overcame windy conditions on Saturday and finished off a 74 on Sunday morning, the highest score of any player in the top 10, to claim a two-stroke lead.
Here are Five Things You Need to Know about the 24-year-old former LSU star from Shreveport, Louisiana, who is bidding for his debut victory on the PGA Tour.
2014 AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year; a three-time state champion at Louisiana; All-American and Jack Nicklaus Award winner in 2016-17. He may not have grabbed the headlines as quickly as Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff but he’s got game and he’s definitely been “trending.”
How does Burns, who qualified for the 2016 U.S. Open as an amateur, keep a level head on a tough course playing under tough conditions?
“I think growing up with older siblings I was forced to be that way just because I couldn’t overpower them, I couldn’t really do what I wanted to do,” he said on Friday. “I know a golf course like this, when you kind of run hot around here and start getting a little hot emotion, it definitely doesn’t help.”
Burns held a share of the 54-hole lead in Houston, but shot 72 on Sunday and finished T-7. Burns has struggled in the final round, shooting in the 70s in five of his seven final rounds for an average score of 70.57, nearly two strokes higher than his Thursday-Friday scoring average. Still, he’s confident his time will come.
Genesis Invitational: Leaderboard | Photos | How to watch
“Comparison is kind of the thief of joy. I try to stay as far away from that as possible,” he said. “There’s no timeline for me.”
Burns grew up pals with Carter Toms, son of 2001 PGA Championship winner David Toms.
“He’s spent a lot of time around the house, gone on vacations with us, played a lot of PlayStation upstairs,” David Toms recalled to PGA Tour.com in 2019. “Just watched them grow up – and watched him become a great golfer.”
For Burns, that included joining the Toms family on a trip to Fort Worth, Texas, and witnessing the 13-time PGA Tour winner’s final victory in person at the 2011 Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club. “One of the things I remember was I was watching when he holed the wedge for eagle. That was pretty cool to see,” he said. “And I just remember everybody was really excited to watch and, you know, as a 14-year-old kid watching any PGA Tour player, much less a guy that you knew, in contention that it was just a really special moment.”
Might that be a memory that Burns tries to tap into on Sunday?
In the final round of the 2018 Honda Classic, Burns, 21 at the time, drew Woods in his final round pairing. When asked if he had ever played with Woods, his childhood favorite, Burns answered, “Only on the video game.” He even had the chutzpah to say to Woods as they walked off the first tee, “Man, it’s crazy all these people who came out to watch me today, isn’t it?”
That wasn’t the only burn from Burns. He beat Woods straight up, shooting a bogey-free 68 to Tiger’s 70. If he can shoot another number like that this Sunday with Dustin Johnson and others breathing down his neck, Burns likely will be handed the Genesis Invitational trophy by none other than tournament host, Tiger Woods.
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Tyler McCumber required surgery to remove a fingernail so he could play at the Genesis Invitational, and he’s contending early.
No pain, no gain for Tyler McCumber.
The 29-year-old former Florida Gator shot a bogey-free 4-under 67 at Riviera Country Club in the opening round of the Genesis Invitational just days after smashing his hand in a sliding window door and having surgery to have the fingernail removed.
“Tuesday morning I was coming out to the course and I went to open the windows to cool off the hotel room before I left,” he explained. “It went underneath the back of the nail bed and lifted half of the back of the nail up.”
McCumber booked a flight back home to Florida Tuesday night figuring he wouldn’t be able to play, but visited the Tour’s on-site doctor on Wednesday, and the emergency surgeon happened to be a hand specialist.
Genesis Invitational: Leaderboard | Photos
“He said, ‘We can bandage it up, obviously you can’t play because it’s just too painful, or we can do a procedure where we just rip off the nail, but half of the nail is still intact.’ So, he numbed the finger and ripped off the nail,” said McCumber, who videoed the procedure and said, “watching the video is almost more gross than in person.”
Leaderboard after Round 1 @TheGenesisInv:
1. @SamBurns66 -7
T2. @MattFitz94 -5
T2. @MaxHoma23
T4. @Wyndham_Clark -4
T4. @Patrick_Cantlay
T4. @JoacoNiemann
T4. @MattJonesGolf
T4. @JayKokrak
T4. Scottie Scheffler
T4. Tyler McCumber
T4. Alex Noren— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 19, 2021
McCumber hit five balls on the range after the procedure.
“Basically, I was able to kind of see if I could hit balls that next day and I was. I just kind of altered my glove and kept this on all day and putted with it on,” he said. “It’s just gone numb. It hurt this morning a little bit. It’s a lot less without the fingernail on there, but you can tell it’s just kind of bleeding all the way through this bandage. Yeah, I mean, Riviera will take your mind off the pain.”
So much so that McCumber shot one of only two bogey-free rounds on Thursday.
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Sir Nick Faldo made a longshot pick to win the Genesis Invitational, and he’s leading after the first round.
Nick Faldo won six major championships and 43 titles in all. Was a Ryder Cup stalwart. Got inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1997. Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2009.
Not bad in the broadcast booth, either.
Seems he’s a pretty good prognosticator, too.
During Thursday’s broadcast of the first round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club north of Los Angeles, Faldo disclosed his pre-tournament pick to win the star-studded affair featuring eight of the top-10 players in the world that is played in the shadow of Hollywood.
Sam Burns.
Sam Burns? The guy ranked 149th in the official world rankings? Was 100-1 shot to win? Is winless on the PGA Tour and a winner of one Korn Ferry tournament?
That Sam Burns?
Genesis Invitational: Leaderboard | Photos
“He’s a ball-striker and this is a ball-striker’s course,” Faldo said. “He’s played well lately and yes, I picked him before the tournament started.”
Well, Burns looked really good and made Faldo look good.
Keyed by an eagle on the first hole from 19 feet and then finishing with three consecutive birdies, Burns posted a 7-under-par 64 to stand two clear of the field when he signed his card. His two bogeys were more than wiped out by the eight red numbers.
“It’s a great compliment,” Burns, 24, said after the round when told Faldo picked him. “Anytime a guy like that says you’re going to play well, it’s always a good sign, I guess.”
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Burns has touched contention in each of his three previous starts but couldn’t keep up his good play on Sunday. He quickly put whatever disappointments hit him at Pebble Beach last week behind him and was ready to go once he drove into the parking lot at Riviera.
“It’s golf, man,” he said. “It will eat at you if you let it. I think just forgetting the bad ones and learn as much as you can. I think we just hope to keep putting ourselves in that position.”
Burns gave credit to his caddie, Travis Perkins, for his solid round.
“Travis did a great job of putting us in the right spots,” he said. “I think a lot of this good play goes to him. He’s been really good out there and he’s kind of kept me calm and amps me up a little bit when I need it.
“I think we were just pretty consistent throughout the round. We knew we were going to have a tough stretch there to kind of start the back nine. I think just being patient out here. This golf course at times doesn’t offer you a lot of opportunities, so I think just with that mindset going in we were just going to kind of take what we could get.”
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Matthew Fitzpatrick rode a hot putter to an eagle and four birdies and the early lead at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.
Matthew Fitzpatrick is making his 77th start on the PGA Tour this week and is still searching for his first victory. But the Englishman is off to a dreamy start in Tinseltown.
When told that his 5-under 66, the lowest round among the early wave of finishers, tied his lowest first-round score of his Tour career, Fitzpatrick responded, “Oh, really?”
Sure, there were a few loose swings in there and one bogey on the card, but not too shabby to tour Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, in 66 strokes. Fitzpatrick’s round was highlighted by a 24-foot eagle putt at No. 1. For the round, Fitzpatrick crouched into his spider-like pose to read the lines and holed 125 feet of putts, gaining more than three strokes on the field with his putter.
Genesis Invitational: Leaderboard | Photos
Low round of the day. ✍
5-under 66 gives @MattFitz94 a 1-shot lead @TheGenesisInv. pic.twitter.com/ClOb0GZYT9
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 18, 2021
“On the whole it’s a great start, couldn’t ask for any better,” Fitzpatrick said.
Starting his morning on the back nine, Fitzpatrick broke into red figures early with a birdie at the par-5 11th, which was set up by a wedge to 3 feet. He gave the stroke back with a bogey at 13, but then he found his touch with the short stick on the par 3s, rolling in a 43-foot birdie at the 14th hole and a 10-footer at 16.
On the second nine, Fitzpatrick got off to a magical start with the eagle at the first and tacked on another birdie by stiffing his approach from 156 yards to inside 3 feet at No. 7. Overall, he hit 7 of 14 fairways and 8 of 18 greens, but managed to scramble 9 out of the 10 times he missed a green.
The 26-year-old Englishman has won six times on the European Tour and entered the week ranked No. 20 in the world. With only one first-round lead to his credit, Fitzpatrick’s fast start on Thursday could be just the start he needs to ensure he’s part of the trophy hunt on Sunday.
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