Jacob Bridgeman holds on to win the Genesis Invitational
On one of the most historic golf courses in the world, Jacob Bridgeman made his mark on Sunday afternoon at Riviera Country Club.
Two months and three days after his wedding, the 26-year-old South Carolina native has another memory that will last a lifetime after winning for the first time on the PGA Tour and threatening the tournament scoring record at the Genesis Invitational.
“To do it against this field is way better than I ever dreamed of,” said Bridgeman, who won by one shot over Kurt Kitayama and Rory McIlroy. “The fans were super supportive all day and to win on this course is a dream come true. I grew up watching it on TV.”
Starting the final round with a six-shot lead, Bridgeman birdied the first and third holes to take a seven-shot lead and send an early message to the other 50 players that he would be difficult to catch. He carded an over-par 72 to finish at 18 under for a four-day total of 266 – two short of the 72-hole standard achieved at the 1985 Los Angeles Open by Lanny Wadkins, who won by seven shots with rounds of 63, 70, 67 and 64.
Wadkins’ record-breaking performance 41 years ago earned him $72,000 and made him the ninth golfer to earn more than $2 million in his career. Bridgeman took home $4 million on Sunday while Sepp Straka and Brian Harman share the final $51,000 spot.
What makes Bridgeman’s feat even more remarkable is the fact that he had never played against Riviera before. What he lacked in experience, he more than made up for with instinct, ingenuity and composure, especially during a crucial stretch of eight straight pars from holes eight to 15 on Sunday to become the 100th tournament champion.
Kurt Kitayama hits the first green during the final round.
(Caroline Brehman / Associated Press)
“I didn’t play golf Monday or Tuesday because of the weather and I was just a little exhausted.” he said. “I played my pro-am on Wednesday and I just had a casual round and let my caddy guide me. It wasn’t a lot of practice. I feel like I had my first experience learning the course on Thursday and Friday, everything was a lot more familiar. I knew where certain hills were and where the starting lines were, so I started to feel a little more comfortable.”
Bridgeman, who had a stellar college career at Clemson (setting a school record with 50 career rounds in the 60s) before turning pro in 2022, was so comfortable with the putter Friday while grouped with Akshay Bhatia and Maverick McNealy that Bhatia’s caddy, Joe Greiner, asked him at No. 17, “Are you sure you’re not from the West Coast?”
The last player to earn his first PGA Tour victory at Riviera was James Hahn, who beat Dustin Johnson and Paul Casey in a playoff at the 2015 Northern Trust Open.
“This morning I let myself think about winning and everything was under control, but the guys started racing and it got a little tighter than I wanted too,” Bridgeman said. “It’s one of the coolest places I could have done it.”
Ludvig Aberg of Sweden, winner of last year’s Genesis at Torrey Pines, tied for 20th at nine under after a final round of 66.
The day before, Bridgeman had tied the 54-hole tournament record of 194 points set four years ago by Joaquin Niemann, who then managed to equalize par in the final round to win by two strokes at 19 under.
As strong as Bridgeman played the first three rounds, eclipsing Wadkins’ record seemed almost inevitable. Instead, he had to have nerves of steel to parry the final two holes and hold on to victory.
Bridgeman stumbled with bogeys at Nos. 4 and 7 and was wary of two-time Riviera champion Adam Scott, who jumped to second place alongside McIlroy, Kitayama and Aldrich Potgieter after starting the back nine with back-to-back birdies. He cut the margin to three with consecutive birdies at the 17th and 18th to cap his second 63 in three days and finished alone in fourth at 16 under.
Rory McIlroy hits from the fourth tee in the final round.
(Caroline Brehman / Associated Press)
“It’s fun to birdie the 18th with this amphitheater,” Scott said. “Today I didn’t do my best and still got a great score.”
History has proven that no track is safe on Sunday at Riviera. The last time the tournament was played there, in 2024, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama overcame a six-shot deficit to win by three shots after shooting a 62 – the lowest final round score ever recorded on the course.
“The bowling was a lot tougher than the first three days,” Bridgeman said. “They were harder to hit. For the putts on 17 and 18, I had no idea how hard to hit them.”
Kitayama, who started the final round nine shots behind, almost pulled off an even bigger comeback, coming within one shot when he made a 32-foot birdie at No. 17, and Bridgeman made bogey at No. 16 to fall to 18 under.
Ken Venturi completed the greatest finals comeback in tournament history, shooting a 63 to erase an eight-shot deficit at Rancho Park in 1959.
McIlroy hit his 30-foot birdie putt just hard enough to fall onto the famous 18th green and move into a tie for second place with Kitayama. Then, as tournament host Tiger Woods looked on, Bridgeman nervously left his birdie putt three feet away, but made par and the crowd roared.
“I thought it would be a lot easier,” Bridgeman admitted. “He was easy until 16, then I made it harder. I was completely nervous on that five-footer for bogey. I couldn’t feel my hands on the last two greens.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was tied for last after the first day and barely made it into a tie, but played the final two rounds at 11 under par to finish tied for 12th.
