If you couldn’t get enough of last week’s Signature Event at Pebble Beach, the PGA TOUR is resetting and running it back for another Signature Event with most of the same cast this week at The Genesis Invitational. After Scottie Scheffler couldn’t quite chase down Collin Morikawa on Sunday in blustery conditions along the coast, the setting for this week’s tournament is inland at The Riviera Country Club, located in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. This year will be the 100th playing of the tournament, which began in 1926 as the Los Angeles Open. All 72 players in the field will be on the same course for Round 1, without any course rotation in the plan for this week.
You can build your betting card on DraftKings Sportsbook at any time throughout the tournament with a wide variety of offerings, including everything from single-player props to full-field scoring props and everything from one-hole results to where a specific player will place for the entire four-round event.
This week, I ran down some of my best bets for the entire tournament earlier on Wednesday, and in this post, we’ll focus on my three best bets for Round 1. Due to the uncertain weather, I’m not going to pick overall leaders but am more focused on players who will be on the course at the same time in the same group. There’s also a chance that the later tee times don’t complete their rounds due to weather, so I stuck with earlier groups for these Round 1 picks.
3 Ball – Round 1: Tom Hoge (+166) over Bud Cauley and Matti Schmid
In the 10:51 a.m. ET tee time, Tom Hoge, Bud Caulley and Matti Schmid tee off from Hole No. 1. In this straightforward three-ball, this pick is simply which of these three golfers will have the lowest round. I highlighted Hoge in my top value plays for the week and I’m a big fan of his upside based on his course history and current form.
Hoge opened last week with a 65 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and finished T14. In comparison, Cauley opened with a 68 and finished T37, while Schmid opened with a 72 on his way to a T73. The advantage in current form for Hoge isn’t just last week, though, since Cauley has missed a cut and finished T68 and T37 in the last three weeks. Schmid has missed three cuts already this season, finishing T56 and T73 in his other two tournaments.
While Hoge did miss the cut in Phoenix, he has played the weekend in four of his five events this season with three top-40 finishes.
Hoge also has a clear advantage in course history, finishing T14 and solo-eighth in the last two Genesis Invitationals held at Riviera. Schmid has never played at Riviera before, while Cauley has missed the cut in two of his six trips to this course and only has one top-20 finish at this track, which came back in 2019.
Even though Hoge can be volatile at times, his advantages his course history and form should be enough to help him deliver this plus-money 3-ball win on Thursday.
3 Ball – Round 1: Hideki Matsuyama (+134) over Ludvig Aberg and J.J. Spaun
Just before noon, Hideki Matsuyama, Ludvig Aberg and J.J. Spaun tee off from hole No. 1 at 11:56 a.m. ET. I’ve been all over Matsuyama coming into this event, including him as my one-and-done pick and in my cash game plays. I was planning on taking him to be the first under par, but with a Par-5 on hole No. 1, I’d rather just take him to have the lowest score at the end of the round.
The last two Genesis Invitational winners are in this group, but Matsuyama won at this course, while Aberg’s win came at Torrey Pines in 2025 when the event was forced to move by wildfires in the area. Matsuyama has a great course history at Riviera and also comes in with outstanding form after his great start to 2026.
After four straight top-20 finishes on the DP World Tour and Japan Tour, he won the unofficial PGA TOUR event at the Hero World Challenge in December against some of the top names in this field as well. A new calendar year hasn’t slowed him down at all, with four finishes in the top 15 to start the season, including a T8 last week after a playoff loss at the WM Phoenix Open. His 67-67-67-69 last week at Pebble Beach shows his consistency and his upside.
The metrics back up Matsuyama’s fast start as well, since he ranks second in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and first in Strokes Gained: Around the Green over the last 20 rounds. Especially coming back to where he won in 2024, he should be set for a great week and a fast start.
Aberg had to withdraw from The American Express and missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. He did seem to find a little rhythm towards the end of last week, but he still finished only T37 at Pebble Beach. He finished T19 in 2024 in his only appearance at Riviera.
Spaun’s 2026 has also started slowing with a T40 at the Sony, a missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open, and a T45 last week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Spaun has played Riviera many times but has missed the cut in five of his seven appearances, with a T33 in 2023 and a 63rd-place finish in 2020.
Both Aberg and Spuan have the ability to go low for a single round and could win the 3-ball, but Matsuyama’s course history and current form are much better, so he’s my favorite in this trio.
Ben Griffin (-128) v Keegan Bradley – Round 1
Let’s simplify this last pick and go just head-to-head between Ben Griffin and Keegan Bradley. Even though Bradley clearly has the experience advantage, Griffin comes in with much better form, and he typically gets off to fast starts.
Griffin and Bradley tee off at 11:15 a.m. ET along with Sam Burns. Burns against Griffin could go either way, but I’m more confident in taking Griffin against just Bradley, which is why I moved to this market.
Bradley is always a boom-or-bust play, but the 39-year-old hasn’t been locked in very often in the early going this season. Captain Keegan had a great season leading up to the Ryder Cup last year, but he has started this year with a missed cut, T43 and T29. Last week at Pebble Beach, he started fast with a 63, but then he faded with a 71-71-70 to a T29.
Griffin made the cut and finished in the top 30 in each of his first three tournaments this season, but last week, he struggled to a T37. Even though he finished behind Bradley, he still outscored him in two of the four rounds. He also showed much better form in his first three tournaments of the season, highlighted by a top-20 in Hawaii, where Keegan missed the cut.
Although Griffin doesn’t have nearly the volume of track record that Bradley brings, he finished T37 with a 72-69-66-75 in his one tournament at this track, back in 2024. Bradley missed the cut in that event with a 71-73 start and also missed the cut in 2023. He hasn’t finished in the top 30 since 2015, but he does have four career top-20s from early in his career, including a runner-up finish in 2012.
Since he’s been playing so much better recently and comes in with more momentum, I think Griffin will be able to outscore Bradley in this Round 1 head-to-head matchup.
