February 13-16
Riviera CC, Pacific Palisades, California
$9,300,000
Round 2, Round 3, Round 4
Rory McIlroy began his eighth spell as world number one with some flashes of brilliance in an opening three-under 68 in the Genesis Invitational.
McIlroy managed just one birdie in the first round at Riviera but also recorded two eagles in the space of three holes around the turn to make up for a sluggish start.
Day one ended with the Northern Irishman sharing seventh place, four shots off the pace after American Matt Kucharโs brilliant seven-under 64.
Starting from the 10th, McIlroy had to hole from seven feet for par on the driveable par four after needing two attempts to escape from a greenside bunker. He also had to save par from sand on the 14th and 16th.
A strong finish.
โ PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 14, 2020
After a clean second nine, @McIlroyRory sits at 3-under after the opening round @TheGenesisInv. #LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/CeMJt1X73P
A perfect drive on the par-five 17th was followed by a fairway wood to the heart of the green from 289 yards. McIlroy nonchalantly holed the eagle putt from 35 feet to move into red figures.
McIlroy promptly dropped a shot on the 18th after missing the green with his approach but swiftly made amends on the short par-five first with a second eagle of the day from close range before carding his only birdie on the fifth.
โ(It was) good after the start,โ McIlroy told Sky Sports. โI was one over through seven, missed a couple of short ones early on and then went through a stretch of missing a lot of greens.
โI got it up and down on 13, 14, 15, so that was nice to not drop any shots there and then the eagle on 17 kick-started things for me a little bit. I played my second nine a lot better than I played my first nine so I feel good.โ
McIlroy, who finished in a tie for third at the Farmers Insurance Open on his only previous appearance in 2020, added: โIโve been working on a couple of things the last couple of weeks since Torrey Pines. There was some stuff I saw there that I was trying to get away from.
Tigerโs Kobe tribute. 💛💜
โ PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 14, 2020
Brooks' "cute" bomb. 🏌️♂️😂
Roryโs eagles. 🦅🦅
Itโs all in The Takeaway. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/SnCnl3Yqcw
โI weakened my left-hand grip a little bit again, just to neutralise the ball flight a little bit. I feel like I can release the club head and the ballโs not going to go left.โ
Kuchar, the world No.20, set the clubhouse target on seven under par thanks to his bogey-free round early in the day.
Sharing second after rounds of 67 were Americans Russell Henley, Wyndham Clark, Adam Schenk and Harold Varner III, along with South Korean Lee Kyoung-Hoon.
Nine players were on three under with McIlroy, including Australiaโs Jason Day, while Englandโs Paul Casey was in a large group on two under which included Americaโs Brooks Koepka and tournament host Tiger Woods.
Pos. |
Player | Nat |
To Par |
R1 |
1 |
Matt Kuchar | USA |
-7 |
64 |
T2 |
Adam Schenk | USA |
-4 |
67 |
T2 |
Harold Varner III | USA |
-4 |
67 |
T2 |
Kyoung-Hoon Lee | KOR |
-4 |
67 |
T2 |
Russell Henley | USA |
-4 |
67 |
T2 |
Wyndham Clark | USA |
-4 |
67 |
T7 |
Andrew Landry | USA |
-3 |
68 |
T7 |
Bryson DeChambeau | USA |
-3 |
68 |
T7 |
Carlos Ortiz | MEX |
-3 |
68 |
T7 |
James Hahn | USA |
-3 |
68 |
T7 |
Jason Day | AUS |
-3 |
68 |
T7 |
Joel Dahmen | USA |
-3 |
68 |
T7 |
Patrick Cantlay | USA |
-3 |
68 |
T7 |
Patrick Reed | USA |
-3 |
68 |
T7 |
Rafael Cabrera Bello | ESP |
-3 |
68 |
T7 |
Rory McIlroy | NIR |
-3 |
68 |
T17 |
Brooks Koepka | USA |
-2 |
69 |
T17 |
Chez Reavie | USA |
-2 |
69 |
T17 |
Denny McCarthy | USA |
-2 |
69 |
T17 |
J. B. Holmes | USA |
-2 |
69 |
T17 |
J. T. Poston | USA |
-2 |
69 |
T17 |
Justin Rose | ENG |
-2 |
69 |
T17 |
Michael Thompson | USA |
-2 |
69 |
T17 |
Paul Casey | ENG |
-2 |
69 |
T17 |
Scott Stallings | USA |
-2 |
69 |
T17 |
Scottie Scheffler | USA |
-2 |
69 |
T17 |
Sebastian Munoz | COL |
-2 |
69 |
T17 |
Si-Woo Kim | KOR |
-2 |
69 |
T17 |
Sung-Hoon Kang | KOR |
-2 |
69 |
T17 |
Sung-Jae Im | KOR |
-2 |
69 |
T17 |
Tiger Woods | USA |
-2 |
69 |
T17 |
Vaughn Taylor | USA |
-2 |
69 |
T33 |
Brian Harman | USA |
-1 |
70 |
T33 |
Corey Conners | CAN |
-1 |
70 |
T33 |
Jim Furyk | USA |
-1 |
70 |
T33 |
Jon Rahm | ESP |
-1 |
70 |
T33 |
Marc Leishman | AUS |
-1 |
70 |
T33 |
Ryan Armour | USA |
-1 |
70 |
T33 |
Scott Piercy | USA |
-1 |
70 |
T33 |
Sergio Garcia | ESP |
-1 |
70 |
T33 |
Talor Gooch | USA |
-1 |
70 |
T42 |
Aaron Baddeley | AUS |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Adam Hadwin | CAN |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Adam Long | USA |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Alexander Noren | SWE |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Bronson Burgoon | USA |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Chris Stroud | USA |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Emiliano Grillo | ARG |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Erik Van Rooyen | RSA |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Hideki Matsuyama | JPN |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Kevin Chappell | USA |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Kiradech Aphibarnrat | THA |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Kyle Stanley | USA |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Lanto Griffin | USA |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Luke List | USA |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Martin Laird | SCO |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Matthew Fitzpatrick | ENG |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Nick Taylor | CAN |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Nick Watney | USA |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Patrick Rodgers | USA |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Ryan Moore | USA |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Ryan Palmer | USA |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Scott Brown | USA |
Par |
71 |
T42 |
Sepp Straka | AUT |
Par |
71 |
T65 |
Adam Scott | AUS |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Andrew Putnam | USA |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Brian Gay | USA |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Brian Stuard | USA |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Bubba Watson | USA |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Cheng Tsung Pan | TPE |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Danny Lee | NZL |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Dustin Johnson | USA |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Jason Kokrak | USA |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Joaquin Niemann | CHI |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Jordan Spieth | USA |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Kevin Tway | USA |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Martin Trainer | USA |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Max Homa | USA |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Phil Mickelson | USA |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Rory Sabbatini | SVK |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Steve Stricker | USA |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Tony Finau | USA |
1 |
72 |
T65 |
Xander Schauffele | USA |
1 |
72 |
T84 |
Aaron Wise | USA |
2 |
73 |
T84 |
Branden Grace | RSA |
2 |
73 |
T84 |
Brendon Todd | USA |
2 |
73 |
T84 |
Charley Hoffman | USA |
2 |
73 |
T84 |
Collin Morikawa | USA |
2 |
73 |
T84 |
Danny Willett | ENG |
2 |
73 |
T84 |
J. J. Spaun | USA |
2 |
73 |
T84 |
Jim Herman | USA |
2 |
73 |
T84 |
Matthew Every | USA |
2 |
73 |
T84 |
Pat Perez | USA |
2 |
73 |
T84 |
Sam Burns | USA |
2 |
73 |
T84 |
Troy Merritt | USA |
2 |
73 |
T84 |
Tyler Duncan | USA |
2 |
73 |
T97 |
Bud Cauley | USA |
3 |
74 |
T97 |
Cameron Smith | AUS |
3 |
74 |
T97 |
Cameron Tringale | USA |
3 |
74 |
T97 |
Dylan Frittelli | RSA |
3 |
74 |
T97 |
Joseph Bramlett | USA |
3 |
74 |
T97 |
Justin Thomas | USA |
3 |
74 |
T97 |
Kevin Na | USA |
3 |
74 |
T97 |
Matthew Wolff | USA |
3 |
74 |
T97 |
Peter Malnati | USA |
3 |
74 |
T97 |
Roger Sloan | CAN |
3 |
74 |
T97 |
Russell Knox | SCO |
3 |
74 |
T108 |
Cameron Champ | USA |
4 |
75 |
T108 |
Francesco Molinari | ITA |
4 |
75 |
T108 |
Jason Dufner | USA |
4 |
75 |
T108 |
Jhonattan Vegas | VEN |
4 |
75 |
T108 |
Jimmy Walker | USA |
4 |
75 |
T108 |
Keegan Bradley | USA |
4 |
75 |
T114 |
Abraham Ancer | USA |
5 |
76 |
T114 |
Nate Lashley | USA |
5 |
76 |
T114 |
Sam Ryder | USA |
5 |
76 |
117 |
Charles Howell III | USA |
6 |
77 |
118 |
Sean Yu | TWN |
7 |
78 |
119 |
Matt Jones | AUS |
8 |
79 |
120 |
Kyong-Jun Moon | CHN |
9 |
80 |