Genesis Invitational - Data Sickos Recap

Hey folks, back here with the third edition of the data sickos recap for the Genesis Invitational. Because I've gotten a couple questions about it already, these posts are not generated with AI. As a data analyst, I use a lot of good old fashioned automation to help pull the stats but the write-ups you're seeing here are written by me, a human. If they read like AI, that's only because my writing might suck ass. Alright, let's get into it...

Player Round Awards

Roller Coaster Round: Michael Kim - 13 non-par holes in 18 holes on Friday. 5 birdies, 8 bogeys. Included an almost-perfect 8 of 9 non-pars on the back.

Clean Sheet: Sahith Theegala - 16 pars on Thursday

Hot Nine: Jacob Bridgeman: 31 (-5) on the back 9 on Saturday

Disaster Nine: Sepp Straka: 42 (+6) on the back 9 on Saturday

Player Tournament Awards

Most Under Par Holes: Jacob Bridgeman - 24 under par holes. (21 birdies, 3 eagles)

Most Chaotic Holes: Max Greyserman - 5 extreme holes. (3 eagles, including a hole in one! 2 double bogeys). More on him later...

Swinger: Sepp Straka - 12-shot spread between best and worst round. Best: 68 (-3) on Friday, Worst: 80 (+9) on Saturday. Zero under par holes on Saturday.

Eagle Eye: Jacob Bridgeman (tied with Aldrich Potgieter and Max Greyserman) - 3 eagles

Double Trouble: Jake Knapp - 2 double bogeys.

Hole Streaks

Best Streak: Several guys tied with going -4 over three holes. Adam Scott, Min Woo, and Bridgeman.

Worst Streak: Sepp Straka (bogey, triple, bogey on Saturday). Ludvig (triple, bogey, bogey on Thursday)

Streakiest Player: Wyndham Clark - 3 streaks across the tournament

• Friday: Holes 10-12 (3 holes, -3, under par) - #10: birdie, #11: birdie, #12: birdie

• Saturday: Holes 9-11 (3 holes, -3, under par) - #9: birdie, #10: birdie, #11: birdie

• Sunday: Holes 6-9 (4 holes, +4, over par) - #6: bogey, #7: bogey, #8: bogey, #9: bogey

Michael Scott Snip-Snap Reverse Vasectomy Award: Cameron Young - 4 alternating holes on Thursday. Check out his stretch on 2-5.

No Blood: Max Greyserman on Sunday played a three-hole stretch at even par. BUT he did it by making a double bogey on the 12th hole, parring the 13th, and then making his first ever (on the tour, at least...) hole in one on the 14th! He then just....pars out for an even par back 9.

The video of the hole in one is worth taking a look at if you haven't seen it...I am no physics expert, I am merely an idiot that is amazed easily. But the ball flies past the hole by a few inches, bounces backwards in front of the hole, then pitches forwards into the hole after hanging on the lip for a split second. Incredible shot that I would have called bullshit on if it were a video game.

Overperformers

5. Aldrich Potgieter -15 (+65 spots vs pre-tournament)
T7. Ryan Fox -12 (+48 spots)
T16. Marco Penge -10 (+48 spots)
1. Jacob Bridgeman (+45 spots)

Underperformers

T41. Viktor Hovland -3 (-30 spots). Viktor's second week in a row on the underperformers list! For accountability, I said that he would win this week. Oops.
T37. Patrick Cantlay -4 (-29 spots)
T41. Ben Griffin -3 (-27 spots)

Let's talk for a bit about #10 at Riviera....

I have no dog in this fight, I have never played Riviera, never will, and don't have a strong opinion on the 10th hole one way or the other. I'm just here to provide the data.

Rory McIlroy said the 315-yard par-4 “stinks.” Max Homa said it is “either the best hole in the world or the worst.” Jon Rahm said it could be his “favorite hole” on the course. Collin Morikawa called it the “hardest hole” on the famed property. Tony Finau went the other way, praising the “amazing” hole.

‘Impossible golf hole:’ Matt Fitzpatrick criticizes Riviera’s famed (and controversial) par-4

Number 10 played as the fourth easiest hole this week. Pin placement matters, but it still averaged under par every day:

• Thursday: -0.13 avg, 26% under par, 13% over par

• Friday: -0.24 avg, 39% under par, 15% over par

• Saturday: -0.33 avg, 45% under par, 14% over par

• Sunday: -0.16 avg, 31% under par, 16% over par

After all three players in Fitzpatrick's group on Friday made bogey, he claimed that it was "the world's most impossible golf hole". This is why we don't rely on anecdotes, folks! There were only 11 over-par scores on the 10th hole all day, just so happened that three of them were in the same group together. These guys have forgotten more about golf in the past week than I will ever know, but I am confident saying that it is, in fact, not the world's most impossible golf hole. Just a vibes problem in Fitzpatrick's group, gotta pick better playing partners.

Jacob Bridgeman held on for dear life on Sunday to get the win. His final-round 72 beat just four players in the field.

Thanks for reading!