Jon Rahm is winless this year and has cut a grumpy figure on the golf course for most of 2022, but the Spaniard is just 8/1 to be smiling on Sunday night after winning the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.
World Class Line-up Assembled in California
The high-class gathering in California boasts the top 11 players in the world, with Rahm joined by Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler, Hideki Matsuyama and Cameron Smith.
Morikawa and Cantlay have the opportunity to take over from Rahm at the top of the world rankings if they win on Sunday.
Rahm has retained his status as top dog due to his consistency. He has won only one tournament since September 2020 – the US Open last year – but has become an almost permanent fixture on PGA Tour leaderboards.
This year Rahm has form figures of 2-14-3-10 and he is desperate to turn his solid play into something more spectacular.
Resurgent DJ Back on Much-Loved Track
Former world number one Dustin Johnson adores Riviera Country Club and has a fantastic record in this event.
His form figures from his last eight Riviera visits are 2-2-4-1-16-9-10-8 – DJ always seems to perform in the Genesis – and his victory in 2017 was by a five-shot margin.
There will be plenty of punters staring at the 16/1 against Johnson’s name this week and licking their lips.
He has seemed more passionate about golf since starring in the Ryder Cup last year. As the senior player on Steve Stricker’s young American side, Johnson had a great responsibility, in which he revelled.
The Carolinian giant became only the fifth player in Ryder Cup history to score a maximum five points in a match.
This year, the bounce appears to have remained in Johnson’s step. After a long break, he returned with 25th place in the Farmers Insurance Open and eighth in the Saudi International.
Those two spins have sharpened DJ up for his beloved Riviera, where he can be fancied to contend on Sunday.
In-Form Niemann Could Prove a Dangerous Outsider
Joaquin Niemann is well suited to the Riviera assignment – and the brilliant Chilean youngster could be worth following each-way at 60/1 for the Genesis.
Niemann has started the New Year in positive mood, with sixth place in the Farmers Insurance Open followed by eighth in the Saudi International.
This week, he tees up at a track he loves – and where his bullet-fade drives set him up well on so many holes.
Niemann impressed at Riviera in the 2017 US Amateur Championship, finishing sixth in the stroke-play section of that event, and he contended to the halfway stage of the Genesis last year.
It is easy to forget just how talented this lad was from a young age – he is a former world number one amateur who is still only 23-years-old. PGA Tour victory No. 2 seems likely to come sooner rather than later.
*All odds correct at time of writing.
