STAR GOLF PREVIEW: Genesis Invitational

G’day golf fans.

We’re starting to head into the business end of the PGA Tour with the Players’ Championship coming up next month and then the Masters looming on the horizon in April, writes BLUE HORSESHOE.

After Collin Morikawa’s thrilling win in a tight finish at the stunningly picturesque Pebble Beach, the tour heads south, down the California coast to Los Angeles, where the Genesis Invitational is hosted by Tiger Woods at the Riviera Country Club.

Before I set out my picks and reasoning, for those who don’t know me or haven’t read my selections over the last few years, I don’t do favourites. If you want to back Scotty and Rory every week, be my guest. They are both generational golfers who have won plenty and will win plenty more.

My column is more for the value hunter. The golf fan who wants to keep an eye on the golf over the weekend and doesn’t want to risk a heap of cash for a red hot favourite but would rather find a golfer in the field who represents great value for a win or top 5/10 finish.

Those are the selections I look for. Generally, my selections run at anywhere from 50/1 to 250/1. Occasionally I’m right and I win handsomely and as we all know; there’s no better feeling in the world than hitting a really big winner.

So, with that out of the way let’s see if we can find one straight out of the traps this week.

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Sam Burns – Currently ? with starsports.bet 

Sam Burns has a long track record of good form here at Riviera, but not all of his memories here are good. He threw away a strong chance to win in 2021 when he capitulated late in round four and left the door open for Max Homa and Tony Finau to stroll through and fight out a playoff between themselves. Homa ended up winning that year, but Burns must have had nightmares about how he let that one slip away for many nights after. With all that being said, I’m going with Burns to win this week because he has rock solid form here and he is in great current form, only just missing out at Pebble Beach last week, another tournament he had every chance of winning. Burns looks hot.

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Sepp Straka – Currently ? with starsports.bet 

I find the big Austrian to be continually underrated by the markets. He is a multiple PGA Tour winner and a Successful Ryder cup team member. When he’s on form the easy swinging Straka is a match for anyone in the world. He looked really good last week at Pebble and was only really undone by a bit of sloppy final round on Sunday. He looks great each way value to me.

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Nico Echavarria – Currently ? with starsports.bet 

This young man is very high on my radar in 2026. He has now shown that he can live and thrive on the PGA Tour and I think this year he kicks on and gets more wins. He’s a real ball striker and this course is an iron players dream. I think he’s a great shout for a top ten finish this week. NOTE: Watch this guy as we head into the majors I think he’s gonna come in at a big number this year.

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Andrew Novak – Currently ? with starsports.bet 

Here is another golfer that is deeply unfashionable and yet he is currently ranked 35 in the OWGR rankings. He has a PGA Tour win and finished top ten in a bunch of tournaments last year. He is another excellent iron play exponent and has been trending well in his last couple of starts this season. I think his price is a nonsense and I really fancy him for a top ten finish here this week.

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RECOMMENDED BETS
BACK Sam Burns 1pt each/way at 33/1 (⭐ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Sepp Straka 1pt each/way at 40/1 (⭐ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Nico Echavarria 0.5pts each/way at 150/1 (⭐ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK Andrew Novak 0.5pts each/way at 175/1 (⭐ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)

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(FEB 2026): PROFIT/LOSS: +21.15 points

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