The PGA TOUR will be hosting the Genesis Invitational at the South Course (par 72, 7,765 yards, POA greens) of Torrey Pines this week, instead of its usual home in Riviera CC, due to the tragic wild fires in the Los Angeles area last month. As a Signature Event, the Genesis Invitational features a $20 million purse and a limited field of 72 golfers. After the first two rounds, there will be a top-50 and ties cut.
Below, I have featured some head-to-head matchups bets to consider for the Genesis Invitational.
Tommy Fleetwood over Sunjae Im (-115)
While Im has the upper hand in course history at Torrey Pines, with three top-10 finishes in his last four stats at the venue, his recent play has been very concerning. In his last two starts, Im has finished T33rd at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and T57th at the WM Phoenix Open, including a 4-over 75 in the final round of that latter start, which is his worst score since last June. During both these outings, Im struggled mightily as a ball striker, losing over 4.0 strokes on approach, which is very worrisome, as the 26-year-old’s iron play has been his calling card throughout his career.
Fleetwood on the other hand hasn’t finished worse than T22nd in his last eight starts, including a pair of T3s on the DP World Tour. In his most recent start, Fleetwood bested Im at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am with a T22 finish and while Im finished the event 68th in SG APP, Fleetwood ranked ninth. The Englishman has only competed at the South Course once with a T50 when this venue hosted the 2021 U.S. Open, but Fleetwood’s compelling form as a ball striker should translate into success at this track requires strong iron play. With Fleetwood playing far better golf than Im right now, Fleetwood is a strong bet to win this matchup.
Shane Lowry over Tom Kim (-115)
Lowry is on the heels of a runner-up finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, in which he gained strokes across the board, including 5.6 strokes on the POA greens of Pebble Beach. Lowry will competing on POA putting surfaces again this week at Torrey Pines and at this famous venue, the Irishman has carded three top-25 finishes in seven starts. Evident from his showing at Pebble Beach, Lowry’s flat stick is by far at it’s best on POA greens and coming into this week, the former Open Championship winner has finished inside the top-13 in seven of his past eight starts worldwide.
On the other side of this matchup, Kim is coming off an underwhelming T44 finish at the WM Phoenix Open, in which he shot over par in both of his final two rounds. Kim has now finished outside the top-40 or missed the cut in six of his last seven starts and he ranks 64th in total strokes gained when we compare this field’s last 24 rounds, while Lowry ranks 22nd. Plus, Kim has never competed at Torrey Pines before in his career. Lowry has an edge over Kim in every department this week and Lowry needs to be attacked quickly to win this matchup, as these are odds are likely to keep moving in his favor.
