Hello, friends and degenerates! This week, the PGA Tour continues its West Coast Swing, rolling into Los Angeles and Riviera Country Club for the Genesis Open.
Perhaps more than any event that doesn’t take place at Augusta National, the Genesis Open at Riviera is one of the most predictable tournaments of the year. For some reason, there are a ton of horses for this course… es. Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, and, of course, Bubba Watson, just to name a few who routinely populate the leaderboard here.
In fact, reading the recent list of winners here sounds pretty close to George Steinbrenner running down the list of people he’s had to let go for George Costanza — just replace “Billy Martin” with “Bubba Watson.”
So, who will take home the title this week? Here’s a look at your can’t-miss, no-doubt, slam-dunk, mortal locks for the Genesis Open.
Genesis Open
Riviera Country Club – Pacific Palisades, California
February 14 – 17, 2019
(Courtesy: GolfOdds.com)
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ODDS to Win:
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| Dustin Johnson | 8/1 |
| Justin Thomas | 12/1 |
| Jon Rahm | 14/1 |
| Rory McIlroy | 14/1 |
| Bryson DeChambeau | 14/1 |
| Tiger Woods | 20/1 |
| Bubba Watson | 20/1 |
| Xander Schauffele | 20/1 |
| Phil Mickelson | 20/1 |
| Jordan Spieth | 25/1 |
| Tony Finau | 25/1 |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 25/1 |
| Patrick Cantlay | 25/1 |
| Paul Casey | 30/1 |
| Matt Kuchar | 30/1 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | 35/1 |
| Marc Leishman | 35/1 |
| Cameron Smith | 35/1 |
| Adam Scott | 35/1 |
| Sergio Garcia | 40/1 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 40/1 |
| Chez Reavie | 50/1 |
| Branden Grace | 50/1 |
| Charles Howell III | 50/1 |
| Adam Hadwin | 50/1 |
| Rafael Cabrera Bello | 60/1 |
| Jason Kokrak | 60/1 |
| Tyrrell Hatton | 80/1 |
| Cameron Champ | 80/1 |
| Sungjae Im | 80/1 |
| Si Woo Kim | 80/1 |
| Scott Stallings | 80/1 |
| Andrew Putnam | 80/1 |
| Kevin Na | 80/1 |
| Martin Laird | 80/1 |
| Aaron Wise | 100/1 |
| J.B. Holmes | 100/1 |
| Keegan Bradley | 80/1 |
| Abraham Ancer | 100/1 |
| Sung Kang | 100/1 |
| Luke List | 100/1 |
| Charley Hoffman | 125/1 |
| Kevin Tway | 125/1 |
| Kevin Streelman | 125/1 |
| Danny Willett | 125/1 |
| Beau Hossler | 125/1 |
| Russell Henley | 125/1 |
| J.T. Poston | 125/1 |
| Harold Varner III | 125/1 |
| Jimmy Walker | 125/1 |
| Ryan Moore | 150/1 |
| Joaquin Niemann | 150/1 |
| Charl Schwartzel | 150/1 |
| Martin Kaymer | 150/1 |
| Kyle Stanley | 150/1 |
| Pat Perez | 150/1 |
| Trey Mullinax | WD |
| Bud Cauley | 150/1 |
| Brendan Steele | 150/1 |
| James Hahn | 150/1 |
| Brian Gay | 150/1 |
| Jhonattan Vegas | 150/1 |
| Brian Harman | 150/1 |
| Steve Stricker | WD |
| C.T. Pan | 150/1 |
| Bill Haas | 150/1 |
| Jim Furyk | 150/1 |
| J.J. Spaun | 150/1 |
| Chris Stroud | 150/1 |
| Kiradech Aphibarnrat | 150/1 |
| Anirban Lahiri | 200/1 |
| Peter Uihlein | 200/1 |
| Ollie Schniederjans | 200/1 |
| Danny Lee | 200/1 |
| Patrick Rodgers | 200/1 |
| Jason Dufner | 200/1 |
| Ernie Els | 250/1 |
| Nick Taylor | 300/1 |
| Fred Couples | 300/1 |
| Field (all others) | 14/1 |
Mortal locks:
Dustin Johnson — It seems like anywhere you go the first 10-12 weeks of the PGA Tour season, Dustin Johnson’s name appears as one of the favorites. It stands to reason as DJ seems to do most of his winning early in the campaign. To say Johnson’s resume at Riviera is good is an understatement. With six top-3 finishes — including a win here in 2017 — I’d be taking the action on DJ regardless of the odds. At 8/1, he’s as sure a thing as you’ll find.
Bubba Watson — The number of great betting choices at 20/1 at the Genesis Open are insane, and includes three-time and defending tournament winner Bubba Watson. Any time a guy has won three times at a venue, you have to put him in the “horses for courses” category and at least give him a look. Watson last teed it up at the Waste Management where he finished T-4. Take the good form and good vibes at Riviera and you’ve got a recipe for some more victory tears from Bubba on Sunday.
Best Bets:
Tiger Woods — Maybe it’s the fact that I grew up watching Big Cat demolish people routinely without so much as appearing to break a sweat, but I find it next to impossible to NOT to take the action on anything he’s involved in. In my opinion, its a crying shame he’s not in the Hall of Fame. His numbers might be a little skewed based on his time in Colorado but, come on — don’t punish the guy. He still hit 399 homers during the steroid era without… oh, sorry. Wrong Big Cat. I’ll take Tiger at 20/1 and you should, too.
Phil Mickelson — Let’s be honest, going back-to-back on the PGA Tour is tough. I’d imagine going back-to-back on the PGA Tour at age 48 is even tougher. That said, Phil Mickelson has a chance to do just that this week at Riviera and, just like the previously mentioned Big Cat, Lefty is getting 20/1 money. That’s hard to ignore before you consider his incredible track record at Riviera. In his last nine starts here, Mickelson hasn’t missed a cut on the way to collecting two wins and two runner-up finishes. Please, sir, I’d like some more.
Fun Under $5:
Fred Couples — One of these days, a guy like Boom Boom or Bernie Langer are going to show up at a PGA Tour event with their walkers and AARP cards and take the young bucks to the woodshed. At 300/1, my love of Freddie Couples and my desire to see the aforementioned happen far exceeds my desire to hang on to this $5 bill.
There you have it, friends and degenerates. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go find out how I’m going to get on Team Eldrick for next year’s Celebrity Cup. I mean, really — Kid Rock? More juice than Golfstradamus? Is it 1999? I need a better publicist. Err, a publicist.
Until next time, go and choose wisely…
-Golfstradamus
