The Genesis Invitational
Purse: €10.6 million (€1.9m to the winner)
Where: Pacific Palisades, California
The course: Riviera Country Club - 7,322 yards Par 71 - is a classic course originally designed by George C Thomas Jnr and William P Bell, although it was modernised in the 1990s by Ben Crenshaw and design partner Bill Coote. Located in the Santa Monica Canyon, a short distance away from Sunset Boulevard, the iconic course has an association with the PGA Tour dating back to its first staging of the LA Open in 1929 and Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead are among the illustrious roll of honour winners.
The fourth hole - a Par 3 of 236 yards - was considered by none other than Hogan to be the “best Par 3 in America” while the 10th, a Par 4 of 315 yards, is considered by many to be the best risk-and-reward drivable Par 4 on the tour.
The field: A stellar lineup for the tournament hosted by Tiger Woods (non-playing this year as he continues his recuperation from injuries sustained in a car crash a year ago). All 10 players from the world's top-10 are playing, with Jon Rahm facing a challenge from Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay to retain the number one spot. Max Homa, who is local to the area, is the defending champion in a field of just 120 players.
Quote-Unquote: "For me, at 25, I feel like kids are believing that they, especially Asian-American, look at me and be like, 'oh, we finally see a kid like this and he can do it and I can do the same'; that's the biggest thing is like when you see one kid out there that just tells you that they love you or you inspire them and you're their favourite golfer" - Collin Morikawa on being a role model to future generations.
Irish in the field: Séamus Power, making his debut in the tournament, is grouped with CT Pan and Kevin Tway (off the first at 3.13pm Irish time). Rory McIlroy is in a marquee group with Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama and Viktor Hovland (off the 10th tee at 7.59pm Irish time).
Betting: Jon Rahm is the market leader at odds of 7/1 but there could well be more value with the 20/1 about Rory McIlroy who has had two weeks to get over his near miss in Dubai and to work out any glitch with his 3-wood.
Séamus Power is looking to bounce back from a rare missed cut in Phoenix and is priced at 55/1. Troy Merritt, who top-fived at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, looks a decent each-way long shot at 125/1.
On TV: Live on Sky Sports (live coverage from 2.30pm).
