Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – The Genesis Invitational

2024 Genesis Invitational Fantasy Sleeper Report

If you’re able to scout out the right plays, 2024 continues to be a golden year for longshot bettors!

After the likes of Chris Kirk, Grayson Murray, Nick Dunlap and Matthieu Pavon did the business for their backers at three-figure prices, Wyndham Clark did something similar at Pebble Beach – odds of 80/1 were incredibly available in places on the U.S. Open champion.

Fast forward to the Phoenix Open, and a classy field was expected to produce a winner from the top echelons of the sport – but not a bit of it, as 125/1 chance Nick Taylor duked it out with the mammoth 250/1 Charley Hoffman in a playoff.

Embed from Getty Images

In a madcap week that saw rain, hail, howling winds, frost and the increasingly-bizarre behavior of some patrons, it was Taylor and Hoffman that could not be separated at the top of the leaderboard.

They both showed nerves of steel to birdie the first extra hole, before Taylor repeated the feat at the next to secure his fourth PGA TOUR title and his second since the summer.

Surely a small field, high quality Signature Event will see a favorite prevail? If nothing else, 2024 has taught us to expect the unexpected at the Genesis Invitational.

A carefully-crafted 70-player field will see the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay and Max Homa tee it up alongside Tiger Woods, who will be making one of his much-anticipated returns to the competitive sphere.

Hopefully his body is up to the task, because Riviera Country Club is a physically demanding golf course. There’s a need to be constantly hitting big booming draws and fades around tree-lined, doglegging fairways, while the undulating landscape puts increased pressure on creaking joints.

The Poa Annua greens are large in size but feature undulations of their own, so hitting the right parts of them is key, and of course a strong putting week on the grass type that’s not everybody’s favorite will also be required.

Fans of correlating courses will love it this week, with a straight line to be drawn through the likes of Jon Rahm, Max Homa, J.B. Holmes, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson and other Genesis champions – some or all have showcased form in The Masters, Farmers Insurance Open and the Wells Fargo at Quail Hollow; all venues where strong driving is key.

That is as good a place to hang your hat as any this week, but will we see another long odds champion prevail? Let’s see if we can spot a value play or two in our 2024 Genesis Invitational sleeper shortlist.

[membership level=”0″]

You must be a Premium Member to view our exclusive fantasy golf picks.

Already a member?  Sign in Here.

[/membership]

[membership level=”1,2,3″]

Jason Day – 50/1 – Strong drivers tend to enjoy themselves at Riviera, and Jason Day seems to enjoy himself the most on Poa Annua greens – so this could be a match made in heaven.

A rare visitor to Riviera over the years, Day turned up in 2023, lost strokes to the field on approach and yet still finished T6 – so good was his putting across the week.

The good news in 2024 is that the Australian heads to the Genesis Invitational in much better ball-striking form, and having evaded the madness at TPC Scottsdale he should head to California this week feeling fresh and ready to go.

Nicolai Hojgaard – 55/1 – What a six months or so it’s been for Nicolai Hojgaard.

T23 at the British Open in the summer, the Dane won the DP World Tour Championship in November and was very much in contention for a maiden PGA TOUR title at the Farmers Insurance Open in January.

Hojgaard showed off his full ball-striking repertoire at Torrey Pines, and it’s his driving in particular that really catches the eye at Riviera, where – although a debutant – the layout should very much suit his game.

Sepp Straka – 100/1 – If Sepp Straka’s ball-striking improvements continue, it will be a long time before he’s available at 100/1 again.

The Austrian has quality throughout his iron and wedge repertoire, but he’s added length off the tee too since the start of 2023 – reaping the rewards with victory at the John Deere Classic and a T2 turn at the British Open.

Straka is amongst that bracket of players whose short game can go AWOL, but he’s been putting much better since the summer and is now firmly ensconced in the top-25 of the OWGR. Expect him to play like it this week.

Emiliano Grillo – 110/1 – The Argentine’s game has been in a good place for a while now, and that evidently came together in the final round at the Phoenix Open, where he shot the day’s best of 63.

Grillo is a frustrating back because sometimes his ball-striking is on point and his putter goes cold, and other weeks it’s a case of vice versa. But when it all clicks into place, Grillo will be contending for silverware.

Four consecutive finishes of T22 set the scene for a player who is knocking on the door of another PGA TOUR victory.

Kurt Kitayama – 110/1 – We flagged up Kurt Kitayama’s solid claims at the Phoenix Open last week, where he somewhat obliged with a T8 finish.

Riviera is a tad more technical, but so good has Kitayama’s approach play been – in combination with his huge power off the tee – that he has the tools to succeed here.

A gain of +1.18 on the greens at TPC Scottsdale – his best putting show since winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational- should have confidence coursing through Kitayama’s veins.

[/membership]

Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the Genesis Invitational here.

Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2023-2024)

Cover photo via Instagram