Past winners of the event include Will Zalatoris, Sahith Theegala and Scottie Scheffler.
For the second straight year, it took a playoff to determine a champion at the Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase.
Boise State sophomore Cole Rueck made a short birdie putt on the 11th hole at Riviera Country Club on Monday to win the 2024 Collegiate Showcase. With the win, he earned an exemption into the Genesis Scottish Open in July. Normally, winners would receive an exemption into this week’s Genesis Invitational, but since the tournament has become one of the PGA Tour’s signature events in 2024, the exemption is being awarded for the other Genesis-sponsored event on the schedule.
Rueck topped Washington’s Petr Hruby on the second playoff hole. Both players finished their round at even-par 71. The playoff began on Riviera’s par-4 10th hole, where both players carded pars. Each player found the fairway on the 11th, but Hruby’s approach went into the greenside bunker while Rueck came up short. However, Rueck chipped it to seven feet for the win, and he knocked it in.
There were two competitions during the Collegiate Showcase, so the amateur group playing with Hruby secured the team competition and earned a $50,000 donation to the Washington golf program.
Kristopher Stiles, the 2024 Pathway Player, finished eighth in the field of 15 collegiate athletes.
This was the 10th playing of the Collegiate Showcase. It is the first year the Showcase winner earns an exemption into the Genesis Scottish Open. Past winners of the event include Will Zalatoris, Sahith Theegala and Scottie Scheffler.
Texas Tech senior Jack Wall earned the PGA Tour exemption with a winning eagle in a playoff.
Less than 24 hours after defending his WM Phoenix Open title for his fifth PGA Tour win, Scottie Scheffler was teeing it up again on Monday.
At a college event in California.
Since 2015 the Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase has provided a college golfer with the chance to play into the field for the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational. A college player is grouped with a Tour pro and two amateur players for a team competition, in addition to the individual, where universities can earn a $50,000 donation to support their golf program.
A University of Texas graduate, Scheffler teed it up with Brian Stark, a graduate student and recent transfer from Oklahoma State.
Scheffler won the showcase in 2018 with a 3-under-par 68 but missed the cut with tournament rounds of 73-76. His fellow current Tour pros to win the event are Sahith Theegala (2017) and Will Zalatoris (2015).
The 2023 showcase came down to a playoff between Kentucky senior Alex Goff and Texas Tech senior Jack Wall after the pair finished the round even par. Both players made birdie on the short par-4 10th, but it was Wall who earned the exemption with an eagle on the par-5 11th.
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — How does a golfer who’s never played Riviera Country Club shoot a 5-under 66, with his only bogeys coming off three-putts, to win the Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase, in the process earning a spot in the Genesis Invitational?
It’s simple.
“I drove it straight today, that helps a lot,” said Wake Forest sophomore Michael Brennan, the second Demon Deacon to win the event in its eight-year history.
He was also driving it long.
“He moves it,” said former Wake Forest golfer and the winner of the first Showcase in 2015, Will Zalatoris, who played in his group. “I’ve obviously gained some distance and he was hitting it 10, 15 [yards] by me. I’m one of the longer drivers on Tour and he’s hitting it by me, so, especially on a 7,300-yard golf course, that helps a lot.”
The one-day, 18-hole event had a 17-player field, its largest yet. Brennan is the second Demon Deacon to win it and Wake Forest is the first school to produce two winners. Brennan, a sophomore who’s won four times already in college, is just like many others in this next wave of young golfers.
“It’s kind of the same thing you’re seeing now on the Tour: no one’s scared,” said Zalatoris. “We saw Tiger do it and we’re seeing a lot of other guys follow his footsteps.
“He shot, what, 66 today, on a golf course that I would argue is probably one of the tougher regular-season events all year, so that’s pretty cool to see.”
Wake Forest golfer Michael Brennan hugs former Wake Forest golfer Will Zalatoris after their round in the 2022 Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase at Riviera Country Club. (Photo: Conner Penfold/amateurgolf.com)
Brennan opened with a birdie and made the turn in 33. He then went birdie-eagle-bogey-birdie on Nos. 10-13. He had one final birdie on No. 16 to win by two over RJ Manke of Washington (68) and by three over both David Puig of Arizona State (69) and Soren Lind of San Francisco (69). Those four were the only golfers to break par.
Jason Gore, the U.S. Golf Association’s Managing Director of Player Relations, played with Puig and sees the same things Zalatoris does in these young players.
“I just see maturity. They’re just so far ahead of where we were,” Gore said. “Better trained. Talk about equipment all you want but they know… they’re better fit, they’re bigger, stronger, faster. They know how to, they’re just well-trained, even with putting chipping… really fun to watch.”
Jerry Haas, Wake Forest’s head coach, caddied for Brennan Monday.
“He’s almost a pro in how he conducts himself,” he said. “He’s a really good kid. I’m lucky to have him.”
Fellow former Wake Forest golfer Cameron Young played the Showcase three years ago and said he shot 80.
“I got to come play in this my senior year. I was playing with Bill Haas. It was snowing in Winstom-Salem [North Carolina], so I hadn’t played any golf. I had putted inside, I had hit some balls off a mat and I got to the first tee with Bill Haas, who obviously is our head coach’s nephew, their very close and all that. I was intimidated. I was nervous. And it’s not the most fun first tee shot either. It’s Riviera Country Club, off a cliff. It’s quite an experience.”
As for Brennan, he gets to stick around sunny Los Angeles for at least four more days. After a couple days of practice rounds, the Genesis Invitational starts on Thursday.
“My favorite golfer is Tiger Woods. To be playing in his event is pretty dang cool. Maybe I’ll get to see him out here this week.”
The Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase tees off Monday at Riviera Country Club.
The Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase tees off Monday at Riviera Country Club and once again, a spot in the Genesis Invitational—Tiger Woods’ tournament—is up for grabs.
The one-day, 18-hole event will be held for the eighth time. Past champions include Scottie Scheffler (2018), Sahith Theegala (2017) and Will Zalatoris (2015).
The 17-golfer lineup for 2022 features RJ Manke, Washington (2), Michael Brennan, Wake Forest (13), Andy Lopez, Texas Tech (19), Alex Fitzpatrick, Wake Forest (22) and David Puig, Arizona State (60), as the highest ranked golfers in the field, according to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin men’s individual rankings.
Minnesota’s Lincoln Johnson will try to make it a Gophers double, as Angus Flanagan won it in 2021. Ethan Mangum of the College of William & Mary is the inaugural Pathway Player in the Showcase. The invitation, which was first extended this year, will be “awarded to a player with a minority background who is excelling on the golf course and academically.”
Pairings and tee times are below. Times listed are ET.
It took three playoff holes but Angus Flanagan punched his ticket to the Genesis Invitational with some playoff magic.
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — It took three playoff holes, but Angus Flanagan punched his ticket to the Genesis Invitational with some playoff magic.
Flanagan, who’s from England and plays for the University of Minnesota, birdied the third playoff hole to edge Tim Widing of the University of San Francisco and earn the final spot in the PGA Tour’s annual visit to Riviera Country Club, which starts on Thursday.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Flanagan said moments after receiving his tournament credential just off the third green. “Being able to tee it up against the best in the world, players I’ve looked up to. … seeing guys out here that growing up, looking up to, having their pictures on my wall, it is surreal. It’s probably not going to sink in till tomorrow morning when I come back out here and I have my player’s badge.”
In Flanagan’s group was PGA Tour pro Denny McCarthy.
“We had a great day out there. He’s got a really solid game, good enough to play at this level, I believe,” McCarthy said.
After Flanagan bogeyed the 18th hole and walked off the green thinking he was going to miss out by a shot, McCarthy gave him some words of encouragement.
“I said, ‘Even if it didn’t work out today, you got great things ahead of you.’ He was super positive,” he said.
The University of Minnesota’s Angus Flanagan chips on to the 18th green during the 2021 Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 15, 2021. Photo by Todd Kelly/Golfweek
McCarthy said watching Flanagan shake off a bad break and taking a bogey 6 on the seventh hole was telling. “He kept it together after that. He was very talkative to me. The whole day he wanted to learn about how I became a pro, asking me questions, picking my brain.
“Having Angus today, he’s a really nice kid and he’s got a bright future. It was good to see his game,” McCarthy.
McCarthy was sufficiently impressed that he decided to walk with the group of spectators watching the playoff.
“You can contribute a lot of what happened today to him,” Minnesota men’s golf coach Justin Smith said of McCarthy. “He’s just the most classy person. It was an incredible experience for Angus.”
Moments after making his clinching birdie, Flanagan reached into his golf bag to quickly spread word of his victory.
“I texted my teammates, my girlfriend, my dad,” he said.
Smith, who may caddie for Flanagan this week, said Riviera suits his game.
“Angus drives it amazing, he’s playing well, his iron control. … I mean, he’s just a great ball-striker,” Smith said. “You gotta control your ball to get it to the right spot on these greens.”
Flanagan is efficient and doesn’t spend a lot of time overthinking his next shot. He simply gets up and goes.
“He’s playing golf shot, he never plays golf swing,” Smith said.
Flanagan played in one other PGA Tour event, the 2020 3M Open in Minnesota. He earned that spot after winning the 2020 Minnesota Golf Champions event. He also won medalist honors at the 2020 Western Amateur Championship. But now he joins a stacked Genesis field that includes the top four in the Official World Golf Ranking and seven of the top ten.
“Everything we do is to try to see these young men play at the highest level and we had an incredible opportunity here and he goes out and performs like that,” Smith said during a walk back to the clubhouse. “It’s amazing to see him do it.”
Widing had a chance to win the event outright on 18 but he lipped out a putt. His PGA Tour playing partner Will Zalatoris was nonetheless impressed.
“I couldn’t believe it was six years ago that I played in the first Showcase,” said Zalatoris, who won the inaugural event in 2015. “It’s a lot of fun. I was rooting hard for Timmy today. It’s kind of crazy to think that six years ago I was him. It’s fun to see the next generation come up.
“We’re going to see a lot of him. He played a heck of a round today. He can absolutely murder it off the tee, he hit some great irons shots, he made a bunch of really nice par saves. All around he played a really nice round today. If he keeps doing what he’s doing, we’re going to see a lot of him.”
Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase scores
T-1. Angus Flanagan, Minnesota* 71 (E)
T-1. Tim Widing, San Francisco, 71 (E)
3. Kyle Petrovich, Oakland University, 72 (+1)
4. Callum Bruce, San Diego State, 75 (+4)
5. Alex Goff, Kentucky, 76 (+5)
6. Bryce Waters, Wyoming, 77 (+6)
7. Kyle Suppa, USC, 78 (+7) * won in a playoff
Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase winners
2021 – Angus Flanagan, Minnesota
2020 – Sean Yu, San Jose
2019 – Lukas Euler, Kentucky
2018 – Scottie Scheffler, Texas
2017 – Sahith Theegala, Pepperdine
2016 – Charlie Danielson, Illinois
2015 – Will Zalatoris, Wake Forest
