Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour gambling-tips column, featuring picks from GOLF.com’s expert prognosticator, Brady Kannon. A seasoned golf bettor and commentator, Kannon is a host and regular guest on SportsGrid, a syndicated audio network devoted to sports and sports betting, and is a golf betting analyst for CBS Sportsline. You can follow Brady on Twitter at @LasVegasGolfer, and you can read his picks below for the 2026 Genesis Invitational, which gets underway Thursday in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
The L.A. Open, Hogan’s Alley, Riv … just a few of the different monikers that have been given to this glorious golf course and this wonderful tournament, now formally referred to as the Genesis Invitational. Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., returns as the host course in 2026 for this limited-field Signature Event after missing out last season due to the wildfires in the Los Angeles area.
Despite having never won at this golf course, Tiger Woods is the tournament host for what is my personal favorite non-major tournament on Tour. Most players on the PGA Tour will agree that Riviera is their favorite course of the regular Tour stops on the calendar. There are 72 players in this week’s field. There is a 36-hole cut that will allow only the top-50 players and ties and/or anyone within 10 strokes of the lead to advance to the weekend.
George Thomas designed the golf course nearly 100 years ago. It plays to a par 71 and measures over 7,300 yards. Some of the Tour’s most famous holes reside at Riv. The short, par-4 10th hole is arguably the best short par 4 in the world. The sixth hole is a par 3 with a sand bunker in the middle of the green. The fourth hole is par 3 that has been lengthened to a mammoth 273 yards. The fairways and rough are made up of Kikuyu Grass, which props the ball up beautifully in the fairway but is a sticky, nasty turf to deal with in the rough and around the greens. The greens are large, undulating, and are Poa Annua, which is the same species we have seen recently at Pebble Beach last week and at Torrey Pines last month.
The fairways are relatively narrow here at Riviera. There are plenty of trees, barrancas, elevation change and doglegs in both directions — many different obstacles that can impede a player’s approach into the greens and thus, the Greens in Regulation numbers at this course are some of the toughest on the circuit. This makes Scrambling extremely important, and as I mentioned, pitching and chipping out of the greenside Kikuyu can be especially challenging. Much like a major championship venue, Riviera will test every part of one’s game.
An incredible number of champions here in Pacific Palisades are also major champions, specifically Masters champions: Ben Hogan, Fred Couples, Nick Faldo, Adam Scott, Bubba Watson, Mike Weir, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama, Tom Watson, and Craig Stadler have won both at Riv and Augusta National. In addition to Augusta, I used Torrey Pines, the Plantation Course at Kapalua, and St. Andrews (the Old Course) as my correlated courses this week.
Patrick Cantlay (33-1)
Hailing from Southern California and attending UCLA, Cantlay has plenty of experience at this golf course and has finished top 5 three times. Cantlay was also top 5 at Torrey Pines last season when it hosted the Genesis Invitational, stepping in for Riviera because of the aforementioned wildfires. He also finished ninth at the Masters in 2019 and eighth at St. Andrews in 2022. Cantlay has two top-15 finishes out west to begin this season, including last week at Pebble Beach, where he ranked 12th in that field for SG: Tee to Green.
Matt Fitzpatrick (35-1)
The Englishman was also top 15 at Pebble last week where he ranked sixth in the field for SG: Tee to Green. Prior to that, Fitzpatrick finished top 10 in Phoenix. He’s been as high as fifth here in L.A., seventh at Kapalua, and took 21st at St. Andrews in 2022. Twice, Fitzpatrick has been top 10 at the Masters. Over the last 24 rounds, Fitzpatrick ranks 15th in this field for Scrambling and is currently third on Tour in Greens in Regulation Percentage.
Sam Burns hits a putt at the 2025 U.S. Open.
Getty Images
Sam Burns (42-1)
While Bermudagrass is typically figured to be the preferred putting surface for Burns, he was masterful last week on Poa Annua at Pebble Beach, ranking fifth in that field for SG: Putting. He’s finished top 10 and top 5 here at Riviera before and was eighth at Kapalua in 2025. Over the last 24 rounds, Burns ranks fourth in this field for Scrambling. If the tee-to-green game matches his short game this week, Burns will be in contention once again.
Min Woo Lee (48-1)
The young Aussie came up one shot shy of forcing a playoff last week at Pebble Beach. His putting was superb, ranking second in the field for SG: Putting for the tournament. He can bang it off the tee and currently ranks fourth on Tour in Total Driving. Lee finished 21st at St. Andrews in 2022 and has finished 14th and 22nd at the Masters. We have seen Australians fare quite well here at Riviera in the past and a lot of that likely has to do with their familiarity with Kikuyu grass. I’m going to lean on that plus strong current form in banking on Lee to have another excellent showing out west.
Jason Day (70-1)
Eleven years separate Lee and Day but both Australians have excellent short games and as I mentioned, the familiarity with Kikuyu grass. Day has finished ninth here at Riviera in his last two trips. He has multiple top-10 finishes at Kapalua and the Masters, finished fourth at St. Andrews in 2015, and is a two-time champion at Torrey Pines. Day is currently 19th on Tour in Greens In Regulation Percentage and finished runner-up at the American Express one month ago in his first start of the 2026 season.
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