Sunday Swing | Jon Rahm Prevails at Genesis Invitational

Welcome back to the Sunday Swing presented by 2nd Swing Golf. This week, the PGA Tour wrapped up the west coast swing at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, CA with the playing of the Genesis Invitational.

Genesis Invitational - Tournament History

The Genesis Invitational debuted all the way back in 1926 at Los Angeles Country Club. This tournament is one of the most historic events on tour – it’s the event where both Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus made their PGA Tour debuts. In 1969, Charlie Sifford, who was the Tour’s first black member, won the event and made history by also becoming the first black golfer to win on the PGA Tour. The course itself features narrow fairways, long and difficult par 4s, and small, tricky greens that can get very firm and fast. Woods, now the tournament host of the Genesis Invitational, teed it up in a regular PGA Tour event for the first time in two years, creating an additional buzz around an already-magnified event.

The previous five champions of this event are as follows:

2023 - Jon Rahm (-17)
2022 - Joaquin Niemann (-19)
2021 - Max Homa (-12)
2020 - Adam Scott (-11)
2019 - J.B. Holmes (-14)

The Big Swing

This week the Big Swing goes to Jon Rahm. It’s already the Spaniard's third PGA Tour win since the beginning of 2023, and it probably won’t be his last. Rahm entered the week as world No. 2 behind Scottie Scheffler and ahead of Rory McIlroy. Rahm looked great from the start as he usually does, opening with rounds of 65 and 68 to surge toward the top of the leaderboard. He entered the weekend just one shot off the lead set by another one of the Tour’s hottest players: Max Homa. Homa and Rahm are the only two players with multiple victories already this season, and they gave spectators quite a treat during the final two rounds. While other challengers such as Patrick Cantlay, Keith Mitchell, and Will Zalatoris flirted with the lead, it was mostly a two-horse race between Homa and Rahm. Homa trailed by three entering the final round, but it was suddenly tied just six holes in – and the two remained neck and neck into the back nine. Then, Rahm put his foot down.

On the difficult par-3 14th, Jon Rahm holed a 45-foot putt from off the back of the green for birdie. He followed that by stuffing it to 3 feet on the par-3 16th to convert another birdie. Homa, unable to build any momentum, settled for a runner-up finish as Rahm made par on 17 and 18 to claim the win.

Winner’s Bag - Jon Rahm

The Callaway Paradym woods seem to fit Jon Rahm’s game to a tee. The win at the Genesis Invitational marks his third win of the young season using Callaway’s newest line of woods. However, it was his approach play that carried Rahm to victory. With the help of his Callaway Apex TCB irons (4-PW) irons were impeccable this week, leading the field in strokes gained: approach (11.922). Here's a look at the full bag of Callaway equipment Rahm used to earn his third win on the PGA Tour this season:

Sunday Swing | Jon Rahm Prevails at Genesis Invitational