The PGA TOUR heads back to La Jolla, California this week for The Genesis Invitational. This event was supposed to be held at Riviera Country Club, but was moved to Torrey Pines due to the wild fires in Los Angeles. Unlike the Farmers Insurance Open, this tournament will be played strictly at Torrey Pines’ South Course, which measures as a 7,765-yard par 72 and features Poa greens.
This is another Signature Event, so we will have a limited field of just 72 golfers. However, unlike most Signature Events, there will in fact be a cut this week, with the top 50 and ties moving on to the weekend. In addition, anyone within 10 strokes of the lead will make the cut as well.
Below, I have outlined three of my favorite DraftKings plays for the week.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $1M Sand Trap Special [$200K to 1st]
Rory McIlroy ($10,900)
Usually we keep this spot reserved for Scottie Scheffler, but the world No. 1 simply does not look right at the moment. I realize that sounds silly considering he was sitting T3 with nine holes to play last week in Phoenix, but he went on to post three bogeys and a double over his final nine and finish T25 for the week. Scheffler still gained strokes off the tee, on approach and with the putter for the event, and is absolutely in play at Torrey this week.
However, there is simply no reason to spend $1,400 more for Scheffler when McIlroy is sitting at $10,900 and playing arguably the best golf of anyone on the planet. The Northern Irishman is coming off a win at a course in Pebble Beach where many said his edge would be nullified due to the lack of driver needed off the tee. The four-time major champ made a fool of everyone, winning by two strokes over Shane Lowry and gaining 9.63 strokes ball-striking and 4.3 more on the greens.
We now head to a course that was absolutely designed for McIlroy. A 7,765-yard behemoth, where hitting the ball long and straight is absolutely paramount (unless of course your name is Harris English). McIlroy is the best driver of the golf ball in the world and ranks No. 1 in this field in driving distance and second in SG: Off-the-Tee over his past 48 rounds.
Due to where the Farmers Insurance Open is on the schedule, the McIlroy usually doesn’t play Torrey Pines, but he’s posted finishes of T5, T3 and T13 in his three starts here from 2019-2021. In addition, he finished T7 at the 2021 U.S. Open, which of course was held at this course.
McIlroy has now won back-to-back events on both the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR, and has finished T3 or better in five of his past six worldwide starts. He’s on absolute fire right now and has a golf game that’s simply tailor made for Torrey Pines. There is no better DFS play on the slate this week.
Russell Henley ($8,600)
Despite waxing poetic about McIlroy and his chances here due to his driving ability, there is of course more than one way to tackle Torrey Pines, and that’s by simply keeping the ball in the fairway off the tee. Not many golfers on planet earth are better at keeping the ball on the short grass than is Henley, who ranks second in this field in driving accuracy over the past 48 rounds.
In addition, Henley is one of the best iron players in the world, and is absolutely striping them right now, gaining 1.8, 3.0 and 4.5 strokes on approach in each of his past three starts, respectively. The Georgia product has always been known as a shorter-course, bermuda-putting type of specialist, but he gained 7.5 strokes on the poa greens at Pebble Beach, and has now finished T10 and T5 across his past two starts to open 2025.
Henley never plays the Farmers, but did post a T13 finish at the 2021 U.S. Open, which is quite encouraging. With all the rain that Torrey has gotten recently and will continue to get before Thursday, the course should play soft, and Henley will be able to go pin seeking from the fairway. He’s my favorite option in the $8k range, by far.
Adam Scott ($7,500)
Very quietly, Scott has been playing some great golf of late. He finished T22 at Pebble Beach in his last start, which was on the heels of a T15 at Kapalua to open the season. The Aussie gained 2.5 and 3.7 strokes ball-striking over those two events, and now comes to a course that’s treated him quite well in the past.
Scott finished T2 and T10 in his only two starts at the Farmers this decade, while also posting a T35 at the 2021 U.S. Open. He’s very long off the tee and is one of the most underrated putters on the PGA TOUR right now, ranking ninth in this field in SG: Putting over his past 24 rounds.
This price stood out to me being ridiculous at first glance, as Scott should coast his way through the 50-man cut, while boasting easy top-20 upside for just $7,500. This is certainly not a week to get cute, and locking in Scott here provides both a ton of safety and upside.