Founded nearly a century ago as the Los Angeles Open, the Genesis Invitational is the final PGA Tour stop of the “West Coast Swing” early each year.
The tournament is one of only five tour stops to which the PGA grants “invitational” status. That means the field is typically very competitive and features some of the best golfers in the world.
In California, you should soon have the opportunity to bet on the Genesis Invitational. That’s why we’ve put together this guide to the PGA event, including the most recent odds and some information about relevant bet types.
2024 Genesis Invitational odds
When setting up your betting strategy for the Genesis Invitational, you’ll need the current odds available at legal and regulated California online sportsbooks. See below for odds directly from the online sportsbooks updated 24 hours a day. Click on any Genesis Invitational odds to make a new account and take advantage of the bonus offers.
Genesis Invitational betting favorites
Choosing the winner of a PGA Tour tournament like the Genesis Invitational is very difficult. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.
We’ve outlined four golfers worth keeping an eye on as potential winners.
Viktor Hovland
This young golfer from Oslo, Norway is an Oklahoma State University alum and one of our favorites to one day win this event. In 2022, he entered the tournament with +2500 odds and ended up finishing tied for fourth place. Even though his career is relatively young, Hovland has collected three PGA Tour victories, two international wins and an additional victory at the end of June 2022. He also has three second-place finishes, three third-place finishes and 15 in the top 10.
How long will it be until he hoists the Genesis Invitational trophy? Only time will tell, but we think it can’t be too far off.
Collin Morikawa
For much of his career, Morikawa has not been the biggest fan of the Genesis Invitational. In fact, oddsmakers tend to put him pretty high on their lists due to the fact that he’s an outstanding golfer, but the course at Riviera Country Club has thwarted his attempts at taking a top spot over the years.
At the 2022 iteration, Morikawa had the fifth-best odds (+2000) heading into the tournament. He ended the event tied for second, just two strokes behind that year’s winner, Joaquin Niemann. In 2021, he had the 10th-best odds at +3000 but finished tied for 43rd with a final score of +1. Will his struggles come to an end? Based on how he’s turned around his performances at Riviera, the answer appears to be a solid yes.
Adam Scott
A very hit-and-miss golfer on the Genesis course, Scott has all the tools to come away with a victory. He proved that in 2020 and 2005 with first-place finishes. In 2021, however, he struggled to a tie for 38th place despite having +3000 odds as one of the highest-rated golfers by oddsmakers. In 2022, he fell a bit in the odds to +4000 but managed to tie for second place in the Genesis Invitational. While he’s not the youngest golfer on the block (a pro since 2000), Scott can win the event when things are going his way.
Justin Thomas
As of late June 2022, Thomas had collected 15 PGA Tour victories and one additional win during his professional career. Add to that his six second-place finishes, 12 third-place finishes and a whopping 70 top-10 finishes, and it is easy to see he’s more than capable of being in the running in any event.
In 2021, however, Thomas didn’t make the cut to proceed in the Genesis Invitational. That was a disappointment to fans and bettors, considering he carried +1400 odds into the event that year. Thomas rebounded in 2022, still maintaining the faith from the oddsmakers with +1600 odds as the fifth favorite for the event. He finished in sixth place, just six strokes out of first. Thomas can never really be counted out as a potential win. That’s why we see him as a candidate for the Genesis Invitational year in and year out.
How to bet on the Genesis Invitational
If you’re unfamiliar with betting on golf but you’ve bet on other major sports, you’ll discover some clear differences. As opposed to team sports wagers, golf bets are almost always going to focus on how well an individual golfer performs.
Below, we look at some of the key bet types you’ll find when betting on the Genesis Invitational and PGA golf.
Top 5/10/20
Trying to pick the winner of any golf tournament is incredibly difficult. Thus, sportsbooks have made things at least a little easier with final top 5/10/20 bets. Instead of having to choose an outright winner, you pick a golfer to finish top five at the tournament (ties typically count for this), top 10 or even in the top 20. While betting for golfers in the top five is going to have higher payouts, betting the other two options will have solid potential profit as well.
Head to head
Choose between two golfers as to which you believe will have the higher finish when the tournament concludes. The golfer you choose doesn’t have to win the Genesis Invitational. He just needs to finish higher on the final leaderboard than the other golfer in the head-to-head matchup.
Prop bets
California sportsbooks almost always have a nice selection of prop bets for golf bettors on popular tournaments. These bets are essentially “side bets” you make with your sportsbook. They rarely focus on the actual outcome of the entire tournament. Instead, they allow you to put money on things like if you believe there will be a hole-in-one on a particular day of the tournament, or over/under bets on golfers, or even things like how many birdies a player might accrue.
Every sportsbook has its own prop bets. This means some will have more than others. Make sure you shop around to get the best assortment and best value.
First-round leader
Care to bet on which golfer you believe has the ability to jump out to the lead and hold the top spot at the end of the opening round of the Genesis Invitational? Then, this bet type should pique your interest. He doesn’t have to win the event outright or even play any rounds past the first. All that matters is if you choose the golfer at the top of the leaderboard after Day 1.
3 ball betting
Take the concept behind the head-to-head bet type and add in a third golfer. That’s the idea behind the three-ball bet. Essentially, you are given three golfers and asked to pick which one you believe will lead over the other two when the tournament comes to a close.
Each way
Not confident in choosing the outright winner of the Genesis Invitational but believe a particular golfer will be in the running for the top spot? Then, the each-way bet could be a fit. This asks you to choose a golfer who will either win the tournament or finish in the top five. If you’re right, you win. Not every sportsbook makes you choose a golfer who will be in the top five. Some go deeper, such as the top 10. But it’s important to have that information before you place your bet at your preferred sportsbook.
Genesis Invitational golf betting tips
Betting golf is far from the easiest thing you’re going to do as a California sports bettor. It is notoriously difficult to choose the outright winner. Moreover, golf can be such a fickle sport that even the top linksters in the world have been known to slide into a slump and have horrible tournaments.
Here are two tips for betting on the PGA and the Genesis Invitational:
- Don’t restrict yourself to the winner: Choosing the winner of a tournament such as the Genesis Invitational is extremely difficult. On any given day, any golfer in the professional field can rise up to take the highest place on the leaderboard at the conclusion of a PGA event. You can help yourself out by keeping your opportunities to win a little broader than you might for other sports. Instead of trying to pick the outright winner, consider focusing your bets on top five, top 10 or top 20 finishers, or even betting each way.
- Shop for the best lines: Restricting yourself to a single sportsbook means you are stuck with whatever lines its oddsmakers devise. By having accounts with multiple online California sportsbooks, you can find the best odds available. Shopping for the best lines is a solid strategy that helps you maximize your bankroll and keeps your bets spread out across multiple books.
How to bet on golf online in California
Betting on the PGA has never been easier than now, thanks to the expansion of sports betting across the United States. Here in California, signing up with online sportsbooks will be a snap.
Once you’ve decided which sportsbooks best fit your preferences, follow the relevant link from our website. That gives you access to our exclusive bonus offers, which are the best currently available to the public in California.
After clicking our link, you’ll sign up for a new account. The process doesn’t take very long and requires you to provide personal information such as your home address, Social Security number, phone number, birth date and more.
Once you’ve finished with that step, accept the terms and conditions as required by the sportsbook. This is a great time to read through them, though you can always come back and peruse them at a later time.
From that point forward, you just have to claim your bonuses, download the CA sports betting app to your cell phone or tablet and then make your initial deposit.
After you complete those steps, you’ll be ready to start betting on the PGA Tour and other sports. You can find all of the available sports from the home page of your online sportsbook. Then, select your bets to appear immediately on your bet slip. Don’t worry—that bet isn’t yet set in stone. You have the opportunity to confirm any bets before they are finalized.
Registering at a legal California sportsbook also grants access to one of the fastest-growing forms of sports betting: live betting. This includes live betting on golf.
Genesis Invitational PGA Tour history
The Genesis Invitational began its life as the Los Angeles Open and was first played in 1926. The event has had multiple names over the years, including the Northern Trust Open and the Nissan Open.
Since 1973, the tournament has called the Pacific Palisades‘ Riviera Country Club home. There have been a few exceptions. In 1983, the event was hosted at Rancho Park Golf Course in Los Angeles, and in 1998, it was hosted by the Valencia Country Club in Valencia, California.
The event, which has become the last stop in the PGA Tour’s West Coast Swing, was the tournament in which Jack Nicklaus made his professional debut in 1962 at the age of 21 years old. (He tied for 50th and earned $33.33 in winnings.)
The Genesis Invitational is one of just five tournaments allowed to be an “invitational” format by the PGA Tour along with the Arnold Palmer Invitational, RBC Heritage, Charles Schwab Challenge and the Memorial Tournament. That has kept the field of golfers at 120.
Last 10 Genesis Invitational winners
Taking the top spot at the Riviera Country Club is no easy task, which is why even some of the best golfers in the world never had a chance to take the top spot, including Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.
Below, we take a look at the past 10 winners of the California PGA Tour stop.
| Year | Golfer | Final Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Joaquin Niemann | -19 |
| 2021 | Max Homa | -12 |
| 2020 | Adam Scott | -11 |
| 2019 | J.B. Holmes | -14 |
| 2018 | Bubba Watson | -12 |
| 2017 | Dustin Johnson | -17 |
| 2016 | Bubba Watson | -15 |
| 2015 | James Hahn | -6 |
| 2014 | Bubba Watson | -15 |
| 2013 | John Merrick | -11 |
Multiple Genesis Invitational winners
There have been 17 different players to win the Genesis Invitational (or previous iterations of the event) since it was founded.
The most wins are four, which MacDonald Smith and Lloyd Mangrum accomplished. Smith’s came in 1928, 1929, 1932 and 1934, while Mangrum won his titles in 1949, 1951, 1953 and 1956.
Three golfers have won it three times. Those are Ben Hogan (1942, 1947 and 1948), Arnold Palmer (1963, 1966, and 1967) and Bubba Watson (2014, 2016 and 2018).
A total of 12 golfers have won the event twice in their careers, as of the 2022 event. Those are Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson, Mike Weir, Corey Pavin, Fred Couples, Lanny Wadkin, Gil Morgan, Tom Watson, Billy Casper, Paul Harney, Sam Snead and Harry Cooper.
Longshot winners of the Genesis Invitational
We don’t have to look hard to find longshot winners of the annual West Coast event. In 2022, Joaquin Niemann took home the top spot in the PGA Tour event with a two-stroke lead over second-place finishers Collin Morikawa (+2000) and Cameron Young (+15000). He entered the event with +6000 odds.
In 2021, it was Max Homa carrying +6000 odds as he headed into the tournament. He won via a playoff over Tony Finau (+2500).
In 2019, +10000 odds were what oddsmakers gave J.B. Holmes, who went on to win that year by one stroke over Justin Thomas after a come-from-behind victory on the final day. If that wasn’t impressive enough for a longshot victory, James Hahn stunned oddsmakers in 2015 as he won the event via a playoff over Paul Casey and Dustin Johnson despite +20000 odds to win the Genesis Invitational heading into the tournament.