We head into another Elevated event with the 2025 Genesis Invitational. It’s the first of the three Player hosted events this season which is hosted by Tiger Woods.

Due to the Palisades fires this tournament has been moved from Riviera Country Club and will be played at the South Course at Torrey Pines.

Torrey Pines plays host to the Farmer’s Insurance Open each year. The tournament is played on the North and South Courses the first two rounds with the Final two rounds finished at the South Course. Harris English won the Farmer’s Insurance Open just two weeks ago with a score of eight under par.

Obviously it doesn’t make much sense to look at the history of the Genesis Invitational considering it won’t be played at the same course. When looking at past performances at Torrey Pines it’s important to note that strokes gained metrics in any given year are from three rounds at the South Course as the North Course does not have Shotlink capabilities. This is helpful for this week but it’s also important to note that previous performances in the Farmer’s were in weaker fields than what we’ll see this week. It could play closer to the setup for the 2021 US Open but keep in mind that it was four years ago and included many golfers who now play on LIV.

The Field is absolutely stacked with Scheffler, Mcllroy, Thomas, Morikawa, Cantlay and many more teeing it up. Basically everyone except Xander who is still tending to a rib injury. Tiger will also make his return to Torrey Pines where he’s won eight times in his career including the 2008 US Open. He came 9th here most recently in 2020.

Torrey Pines South Course is the longest course played in the yearly PGA Tour rotation. It is a 7,765 yard par 72 with Poa greens.

There are ten par fours, four par threes and four par fives. The par fours are long and difficult. Four of them play as the four most difficult holes on the course. The shortest plays 389 yards, there are two 400-450 yards, six 450-500 yards and the 12th hole is 505 yards and plays as the most difficult hole boasting a 36% bogey rate.

The par threes are no cake walk with one playing 177 yards, one just over 200 yards and two over 225 yards. The par fives will need to be taken advantage of playing as the four easiest holes on the course.

Driving Distance is beneficial at Torrey considering the length. Fairways are difficult to hit and the rough is long and penal. Most golfers will look to hit it as far as possible off the tee with the average drive coming in at 287 yards. Fairway percentage is well below tour average coming in at only 52 percent.

A combination of hitting out of the rough and hitting a high percentage of long iron shots lead to many missed greens. Greens in regulation percentage is below tour average at 62 percent. As mentioned with reliance on long irons, 26% of all approach shots come from over 200 yards. Another 40% come from 150-200 yards.

Greens will be missed so some around the green play will be relied upon. It can get tricky around these green complexes with scrambling percentage well below tour average. The struggles don’t end once golfers get in the greens with Torrey Pines boasting a very high three putt percentage with many putts being missed inside of ten feet.

Overall Torrey Pines is a difficult task that requires golfers to showcase all facets of their game. Golfers will need to flash power off the tee or find plenty of fairways. They’ll need to show patience on and around these greens to have a successful week.

The field consists of 72 golfers; with the Top 50 and ties plus anyone within 10 shots of the lead making the cut to play the weekend

GenesisInvitational: Key Stats and Figures

• Driving Distance
• Proximity 200+ yards
• Around the Green
• Fairways Gained
• Approach

Golfers to Consider

Rory Mcllroy

Rory has been off to a great start to 2025. He came 4th in Dubai last month and then won at Pebble Beach. He finished 2024 with a win at the DP World Tour Championship.

Rory has also played well at Torrey in the past. He came 16th in his most recent appearance at Torrey Pines in 2021 but had top five finishes in each of his previous two times playing the Farmers. He also finished 7th here in the 2021 US Open.

Sungjae Im

Im hasn’t been great lately but does have two top 5 finishes this year. One of which was at the Farmers at this very course. Im has only missed the cut once in eight appearances at Torrey Pines. His best finishes were 4th this year, 4th in 2023 and 6th in 2022.

It’s easy to see why he’s had success here considering he’s 2nd in strokes gained around the green, 6th on approaches over 200 yards and top 15 in 3 putt avoidance and off the tee over the last 24 rounds.

Will Zalatoris

Zalatoris looks to have put the injury concerns behind him. He’s had some flashes this year with his best finish coming at the AMEX coming 12th. He’s made the cut in all three of his tournaments this year.

He’s another guy who’s played well at Torrey Pines. Zal finished 13th most recently in 2024. He lost to Luke List in a playoff in 2022 when he gained 12.4 strokes tee to green. In 2021 he had a 7th place finish.