Genesis Invitational Rounds 1 & 2 Highlights + Round 3 Odds

The West Coast swing on the PGA Tour continues apace with this week’s Genesis Invitational.

Ahead of the start of the tournament there was huge excitement as Tiger Woods announced he would play in his first tournament since last year’s Open. Through the halfway stage, several of the game’s biggest names are congregated near the top of the leaderboard and we are set for another hugely exciting weekend. Here our Genesis Invitational Rounds 1 & 2 Highlights

Homa is California dreaming yet again, Woods makes cut

Max Homa won this tournament back in 2021, and is aiming to continue his hot start to the year following his victory at the Farmers Insurance Open just a few weeks ago.

Homa has won four PGA titles in his home state of California and has put himself in an excellent position to contend for title number five.

He got off to a hot start, shooting a superb -7, 64 in round 1. He followed that positive start with a -3, 68 yesterday and leads the tournament outright by one stroke.

Jon Rahm has already won twice this season and once again finds himself bang in contention. He finished his second round just one shot behind Homa and will be looking to make a move today.

Keith Mitchell is another player to have enjoyed a fine start to the season. He could have headed into today in a share of the lead, but a dropped shot on his final hole yesterday will see him start today’s third round from one off the pace.

Collin Morikawa should have won the opening tournament of 2023, but collapsed in the final round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Morikawa stands alone on -8, two strokes behind Homa and will be hopeful of a positive weekend.

Patrick Cantlay is nicely in contention and is currently three strokes behind Homa. Rory McIlroy will be looking to reclaim his world number one ranking and will start today with a four shot deficit to make up.

Tiger Woods has made headlines for all the wrong reasons this week, but has played solid enough on his return. Woods hovered around the cut mark yesterday, but a birdie on the 17th hole ensured he would be around for the weekend. A win looks off the cards, as he will start today’s round eleven shots off the lead.

Genesis Invitational Round 3 Betting Preview

With so many of the world’s best players near the top of the leaderboard, the betting for the Genesis is wide open.

Despite sitting a stroke off the lead, it’s Jon Rahm who heads into the weekend as the tournament favorite. Rahm has been nothing short of sensational in the past few months and leads the Tour in so many statistics including scoring average, driving accuracy and eagles.

Rahm has been lethal off the tee this week and if he continues to drive the ball well, he could well be the man to beat.

Whenever Max Homa competes in California he turns into a beast. Homa has six PGA victories, with four of those coming in his home state, and he looks on course for victory number five.

Homa will head into today’s third round holding a slim one stroke lead, but he won’t be put off by those chasing behind. He has developed a reputation for keeping cool and composed and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he were to cement his lead further heading into the final 18 holes.

It’s now been over a year since Collin Morikawa last tasted success on the PGA Tour, but he has positioned himself well to end that drought this weekend. Currently the third favorite for the title, he will be hoping to build on the positive start he has made and play himself into the lead.

The value angle of the day could lie with world number two Rory McIlroy. The Nothern Irishman has dropped just one shot through his first 36 holes but hasn’t quite been able to make the crucial putts count. McIlroy has won from this far off the pace before, and if his putter can get hot he will strongly fancy his chances of success.

2023 Genesis Invitational Odds courtesy of JazzSports

Golfer	Odds
Joh Rahm	+250
Max Homa	+300
Collin Morikawa	+650
Rory Mcilroy	+900
Patrick Cantlay	+1100
Keith Mitchell	+1200
Lee Hodges	+2200
Scottie Scheffler	+3300
Will Zalatoris	+5000
Sungjae Im	+6600
Field	+175