In a field full of golf’s biggest stars, 26-year-old Jacob Bridgeman stood alone this week at the Genesis Invitational
The Clemson product tore up Riviera Country Club over the first three days and then held on Sunday to beat Rory McIlroy and Kurt Kitayama by one to claim his first career PGA Tour victory.
Bridgeman arrived on Sunday with a six-shot lead over McIlroy. While the gap was big, Bridgeman knew that he couldn’t stumble during the final round and open the door for McIlroy. Playing conservative wasn’t going to cut it. He had to stay aggressive and keep the pedal down to fend off a generational great.
“I think maybe the only thing would be I know he’s going to play well tomorrow. I know that I can’t back up at all,” Bridgeman said on Saturday.
“I think the way I’ve been playing is pretty aggressive and it’s been working. I don’t know that I’m going to change anything. And if that aggression gets me into a little bit of trouble, that’s OK. Maybe it will kind of balance out with some good ones. I don’t think anything’s going to change. Hopefully I can come out firing again.”
Bridgeman opened with a birdie at the first and poured in another at No. 3 to stretch his lead to seven. He made the turn at even par for the round and arrived at the 10th tee with a five-shot lead on Kurt Kitayama and a six-shot edge on McIlroy, Adam Scott and Aldrich Potgieter.
Bridgeman said this week has been “fun and easy,” but the golf gods never make it that simple. As he parred his way through the back nine, Kitayama made a furious charge to close the gap to one with two holes to play. Bridgeman parred the par-5 17th and arrived at the 72nd hole needing to make a four to secure the title and avoid the playoff.
He split the fairway, hit his approach to 19 feet and two-putted to lift the trophy at Tiger Woods’ tournament and take home the $4 million check that goes with it.
Below is a breakdown of what everyone in the field earned this week in Southern California. The tournament has a $20 million purse with $4 million going to the winner.
What every player made at the 2026 Genesis Invitational
WIN. Jacob Bridgeman, $4,000,000
T2. Kurt Kitayama, $1,800,000
Rory McIlroy, $1,800,000
4. Adam Scott, $1,000,000
5. Aldrich Potgieter, $840,000
6. Jake Knapp, $760,000
T7. Xander Schauffele, $602,200
Collin Morikawa, $602,200
Cameron Young, $602,200
Tommy Fleetwood, $602,200
Ryan Fox, $602,200
T12. Scottie Scheffler, $415,000
Min Woo Lee, $415,000
Jordan Spieth, $415,000
Alex Noren, $415,000
T16. Marco Penge, $319,000
Sam Stevens, $319,000
Akshay Bhatia, $319,000
Pierceson Coody, $319,000
T20. Ludvig Aberg, $259,500
Robert MacIntyre, $259,500
T22. Harris English, $224,500
Sahith Theegala, $224,500
T24. Shane Lowry, $178,250
Matt Fitzpatrick, $178,250
Matt McCarty, $178,250
Max Greyserman, $178,250
T28. Rickie Fowler, $136,500
Aaron Rai, $136,500
Tony Finau, $136,500
Hideki Matsuyama, $136,500
Ryan Gerard, $136,500
Nick Taylor, $136,500
T34. Tom Kim, $109,000
Si Woo Kim, $109,000
Patrick Rodgers, $109,000
T37. Patrick Cantlay, $92,250
Max Homa, $92,250
Corey Conners, $92,250
Sami Valimaki, $92,250
T41. Viktor Hovland, $78,000
Ben Griffin, $78,000
Wyndham Clark, $78,000
44. Jhonattan Vegas, $70,000
T45. Ryo Hisatsune, $64,000
Taylor Pendrith, $64,000
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: golf.com
