This week’s Genesis Invitational is the sixth tournament on the PGA Tour’s 2026 calendar. It’s the second straight signature event and it’s the final leg of the West Coast Swing.
There was a three-hour delay in the action early Thursday due to heavy rain causing water to pool up on the greens. Play resumed just after 4 p.m. ET and was suspended again due to darkness at 8:41 p.m. ET. There are 30 players who will have to finish their first round Friday morning.
Keep scrolling to see leaderboard updates, highlights, round recaps and more from Thursday at the 2026 Genesis Invitational.
If you’re looking for the Friday live updates from the Genesis, you can check those out here.
Check tee times and keep tabs on every score carded at Riviera with the 2026 Genesis Invitational live leaderboard. Here’s what it looked like at the top when play was suspended at 8:41 p.m. ET Thursday:
PositionPlayerScoreThru1Aaron Rai-616T2Rory McIlroy-5FT2Jacob Bridgeman-5F4Ryan Fox-4FT5Pierceson Coody-3FT5Akshay Bhatia-3FT5Collin Morikawa-3F
Play was suspended due to darkness at 8:41 p.m. ET on Thursday at the Genesis Invitational. It comes as no surprise given the three-hour weather delay in the mid-morning due to heavy rain causing water to pool up on the greens. The last group off the tee got through nine holes. Almost half the field (34 players, to be exact) will finish their first round Friday morning.
The first round of The Genesis Invitational was suspended due to darkness at 5:41 p.m. PT.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) February 20, 2026
Aaron Rai rolled in a birdie putt at the par-3 16th to get to 6 under for the day and grab the solo lead as play concludes for the day. He has two holes remaining in his first round, which he’ll finish Friday morning. Rai is seeking his second career victory on the PGA Tour. His first came at the 2024 Wyndham Championship. The 30-year-old from Wolverhampton, England finished inside the top 25 in nearly half his starts last season, including a pair of top-5 finishes.
The world’s best player is not exactly looking like the world’s best player Thursday at Riviera. Scottie Scheffler made shot 4-over 39 on the front nine in the first round to get his week started at the Genesis Invitational. He made bogey at holes 2 and 6 before dropping a pair of shots at No. 8 with a double bogey. As of 8:15 p.m. ET, he’s tied for 69th in a field of 72 players, nine shots off the lead and just one shot ahead of Keegan Bradley, who sits in dead last at 5 over.
Rory McIlroy’s game appears to be rounding into form for the 2026 season. He fired a 5-under 66 in the first round of the Genesis Invitational and was tied for the lead with Jacob Bridgeman when he signed his scorecard just after 8 p.m. ET. Read more about McIlroy’s day from Golfweek’s Adam Schupak.
Jacob Bridgeman was the leader alone when he signed for a 5-under 66 in the opening round of the Genesis Invitational just after 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday. Bridgeman started hot with an eagle at the first, which was quickly erased by a double bogey at No. 4 to take him back to even par. He caught fire on the back nine, though, with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 10 and 11 and again at Nos. 16 and 17.
Bridgeman, a 26-year-old from South Carolina, is still seeking his first PGA Tour victory but is showing promise early in his career. He had five top-10 finishes in 2025 and has yet to finish outside the top 20 in four starts this season. He was T-8 at Pebble Beach last week.
“It was great,” Bridgeman said of his opening round Thursday at the Genesis. “It’s kind of a flashback to last week. Kind of we got today what I think I expected on Sunday at Pebble and it ended up being great. But the rain was tough. The wind might have been a little bit harder than the rain, but yeah, it was cool. I’m glad to be here, glad to be playing Riv.”
Adam Scott might have gotten to write a 1 down on his scorecard for the par-3 14th if it hadn’t rained a lot Thursday morning. Instead, his ball embedded just inches from the hole. He tapped in for birdie to get to 2 under for the round.
The last time we saw Jacob Bridgeman was when we watched his half-hour excursion around the 18th at Pebble Beach while the leader and eventual winner Collin Morikawa waited behind him. He seems to have flushed that debacle because he’s off to a hot start at the Genesis. He made birdie at No. 17 just after 7 p.m. ET to grab a share of the lead with Rory McIlroy at 5 under.
In his past two starts, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has struggled on the first day and then stormed back to put himself in contention over the weekend. So far at the Genesis Invitational, it seems like he’s sticking to that game plan. Scheffler is 2 over through six holes as of 7:10 p.m. ET on Thursday, seven shots off the lead and nearly dead last on the leaderboard. But as he’s shown us recently, a slow start doesn’t mean he’s out of it.
The lead in Apple TV’s Stick is enjoying himself at Riviera Country Club.
How’s this for a hot start?
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler teed off just after 5:15 p.m. ET to get his week started at the Genesis Invitational. It remains to be seen how many holes he’ll be able to finish after the three-hour weather delay pushed everything back, but he’ll definitely be completing his opening round Friday morning.
Rory McIlroy rolled in a birdie at the par-4 eighth hole to get to 4 under for the day and grab the solo lead for the first time this week. As of 5:15 p.m. ET, he’s one shot ahead of a tie for second between Akshay Bhatia and last week’s winner, Collin Morikawa.
After a nasty round of heavy rain and blowing winds forced a three-hour break in the action, the sun is out as players continue the first round at the Genesis Invitational.
McIlroy didn’t need much time after the restart to get going, as he has birdied the fourth hole to get to 3 under and tie Akshay Bhatia for the lead. The official yardage for the hole on the scorecard is now 273 yards (it’s playing 220 for Thursday’s first round) but it was just a day ago that McIlroy expressed dissatisfaction with the layout of the hole now. “Well, like 15 percent of the field hit the green last time when it was played at its original yardage at 230,” he said.
McIlroy hit his tee shot on Thursday 212 yards and onto the green. He faced a 30-footer for birdie and rolled it perfectly on line and into the cup for a 2.
McIlroy is playing with Tommy Fleetwood and last week’s winner, Collin Morikawa.
After a nearly three-hour weather delay, golf balls are flying once again at Riviera. There are 33 golfers (11 threesomes) who still need to start their first rounds. The last first-round tee time of Brian Campbell, Wyndham Clark and Marco Penge was originally set for 2:41 p.m. local time. Sunset is 5:41 p.m. local time (8:41 p.m ET).
The PGA Tour reports that first-round play will resume at 1 p.m. local time (4 p.m. ET) and that would make the delay nearly three hours. The next group to hit the first tee when golf returns will be the trio of Rickie Fowler, Tom Kim and Max Greyserman.
The first round was suspended at 10:13 a.m. local time (1:13 p.m. ET) due to inclement weather. Water was seen on several greens, and umbrellas are out en force on the golf course, which is clearing out for now. There are 11 threesomes who have yet to start their first rounds. Sunset will be 5:41 p.m. local time.
Bhatia has birdied three of his first four holes, including a lengthy putt on the par-3 fourth, and is 3 under already on the day and has the early lead. Bhatia held a two-shot, 54-hole last Saturday at Pebble Beach before settling for a tie for sixth.
Here’s the weather forecast for Thursday at the Genesis. Preferred lies will be in effect. Golfweek’s David Dusek reports from the Riv that the first round could be a stern test with some weather rolling in.
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Who’s in the field for the 2026 Genesis Invitational?
There are 72 players in the field. All 10 of the top-ranked players in the latest Official World Golf Ranking are playing as well as 19 of the top 20, with the only one not at Riviera being Justin Thomas, who continues his recovery from surgery.
11:39 a.m. ET – Cameron Young, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry12:08 p.m. ET – Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy2:25 p.m. ET – Chris Gotterup, Justin Rose, Robert MacIntyre2:37 p.m. ET – Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Si Woo Kim2:49 p.m. ET – Min Woo Lee, Jordan Spieth, Daniel BergerWhat is the cut rule for the 2026 Genesis Invitational?
The Genesis is one of eight signature events on the PGA Tour and one of the three (player-hosted) events that has a cut. The cut rule for the Genesis is the top 50 and ties plus any player within 10 shots of the lead will advance past 36 holes.
Inside the Numbers at the Genesis Invitational
66: That’s how many consecutive stroke-play winners on Tour had shot a first-round score of even par or better until Ludvig Aberg won the 2025 the Genesis Invitational with an opening round of two-over-par 74 at Torrey Pines (South).
Who to watch out for at the Genesis Invitational
Ludvig Aberg. A year ago, the Swede gained 5.58 strokes on the final 12 holes, and at least two strokes on every player in the field during this stretch en route to his second Tour title. His 2026 campaign is off to sluggish start through three events: WD, MC, T-37. He’s seeking to become the first player to defend the Genesis Invitational since Phil Mickelson 17 years ago.
Rory McIlroy. He can become the first player in 19 years to reach 30 wins on the PGA Tour and tie Horton Smith for 16th on the all-time win list. McIlroy finished T-14 last week in his season debut on the PGA Tour.
J.J. Spaun. The Los Angeles native played in his hometown tournament for the first time in 2016 after receiving the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption. Spaun, who won the 2025 U.S. Open, is one of three players this season to rank in the Top 20 in both par 3 and par 5 scoring average along with Hideki Matsuyama and Russell Henley. He has never averaged under par on par 3s in a season in his PGA Tour career. Spaun has birdied or better 24 of 32 (75 percent) par 5s, the second-best rate on the PGA Tour.
About that newly lengthened fourth hole at Riviera
Rory McIlroy gave a short reply to his thoughts on the lengthening of Riviera Country Club’s par-3 fourth hole to more than 270 yards. “I actually think it’s a horrible change,” he said. Not a lot of love for a hole that Ben Hogan once called “the greatest par 3 in America.”
Why such a harsh assessment on stretching the famed hole, part of Hogan’s Alley, to 273 yards on the scorecard, some 40 yards from a year ago?
What is the prize money for the 2026 Genesis Invitational?
Like the two other player-hosted signature events (Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial), the Genesis awards the winner $4 million of the $20 million total purse. The other five dole out $3.6 million to the winners.
Where is the Genesis Invitational played?
The Genesis has been played since 1926. The tournament has had several names over the years and has been played on 12 different golf courses, including Torrey Pines South a year ago when the tournament had to be moved to La Jolla after the fires in the Los Angeles area. Riviera has hosted 60 times in all and every year since 1999 (with the exception, of course, being 2025).
Where does Riviera rank according to the Golfweek Raters?
Riviera Country Club ranks third in the state of California in the latest Golfweek’s Best 2025: Top private golf courses in every state list. It also checks in at No. 17 on the Golfweek’s Best 2025: Top 200 Classic Courses in the U.S. list.
The golf course measures 7,383 yards and will play as a par 71. Architectural credit goes to G.C.Thomas, Jr. and W.P. Bell.
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