Blog#314 Rounds 2, 3 & 4 Genesis Invitational February 23, 2026 #FINISH

Blog#314 Rounds 2, 3 & 4 Genesis Invitational February 23, 2026 #FINISH

ROUND 2 Temperature 54* light wind,15 players are-6 or better.

Looks like several of the top players McIlroy, Schauffele, Lee, Fitzpatrick could win.

I think Penge will fade, Bridgeman playing very well and if he continues to putt well he may win, however this should be McIlroy’s tournament.

1 Marco Penge-12 Bogie free, birdies 5 of last 7 holes, top 10 on DP for PGA card. #16

1 J Bridgeman-12 64 Starts with eagle finishes with 3 birdies. Outstanding putting. #1

2 R McIlroy-11 65 Bogie free eagle on 11, McIlroy RD, he should win. #2

4 Adam Scott-9 Two eagles 6 birdies but bogies 18. #4

4 X Schauffele-9 Eagles 1st hole 2nd day in a row 1 bogie 5 birdies, 4 bogies RD1. #7

5 Max Greyserman-8 66 Eagles 1st then 1 bogie 4 birdies, no wins and he lost last

year in a playoff at the Rocket Mortgage to rookie Aldrich Potgierter. #24

5 M W Lee-8 Eagle on 1 then 2 birdies but bogies 18 both RDs. #12

8 Matt Fitzpatrick-7 66 Eagles#1, 2 bogies 5 birdies, has played well this year #24

12 Aaron Rai-6 70 Four bogies, drops him from 1st place. #28

16 Jordan Spieth Two bogies yesterday and DB today on 12 but 6 birdies. #12

43 Scottie Scheffer E 68 Starts slow, 2 bogies 1st 7 holes then 4 birdies 0 bogies. #12

CUT Sam Burns, Russell Henley, Keegan Bradley, Justin Rose, Chris Gotterup, Jason Day.

ROUND 3 Warmer today 64* wind 5-9 MPH

1 J Bridgeman-19 Birdies 3 of his 1st 4 holes for a 3 shot lead, then 2 bogies 1 eagle #11 & 4 more birdies to build a 4 stroke lead. Last week in RD 4 he dropped from 2 strokes off the lead to 4 strokes behind to finish tied for 8th. He has low RD of day

2 R McIlroy-13 Two birdies 1st 6 holes, 2 strokes behind then just misses several long birdie putts to shoot par, 1 bogie and 1 birdie on next 12 holes. Going to take a better effort to win.

3 Aldrich Potgieter-11 Eagles 1st, bogies 3 then 4 birdies, South African 21 years old.

OWGR 95 FedX 134 1 PGA win.

5 X Schauffele-10 70 Three birdie 1st 10 holes for 2nd place but bogies 16&18.

7 M Penge-9 74 Reality sets in 5 bogies to drop from #1.

15 J Spieth-6 70 Two bogies, total of 4 and 1 DB, same as Bridgeman but not enough birdies,

22 S Scheffler-5 66 Up 24 spots 1 bogie 6 birdies, 4 on back 9, but 74 RD1 a killer.

FINAL ROUND Weather same as yesterday. Now its Bridgeman’s tournament to win.

Lets see how he holds up paired with Rory and a 6 stroke lead.

1 J Bridgeman-18 72 Birdies 1&2, after 6 holes 7 stroke lead. $4M

2 R McIlroy-17 64 Pars front 9, back 4 birdies 0 bogies. $1.8M

2 K Kitayama-17 Almost catches Bridgeman, but only bogie on #11 and1 shot short. $1.8M

4 A Scott-16 Best story, 2 RDs of 63 with 70&72 at 45 years old. $1M

5 A Potgieter-15 Very good young player with 4 RDs in 60’s. $840K

6 J Knapp-13 Having a great year, 73 RD1 then 65,67,66. $760K

7 C Morikawa-12 Shoots 65 on RD4 one bogie 7 birdies. Two great weeks in a row. $603K

COMMENTARY

Like most tournaments there is usually a turning point on the back 9 of the final RD. When

Bridgeman took a 7 stroke lead after the 6th hole it looked like he would win easily . However Kitayama came back from 9 down and Rory got hot on the back 9. Hole #16 a par 3 was the swing hole, Bridgman hit his tee shot into the bunker and left himself with a 30+ putt for par.

He missed by an inch or less and went about 6 yards past the hole leaving another difficult putt for a DB. McIlroy missed a long putt by less than an inch which would have been a birdie. If Bridgeman misses for DB his lead is down to 1, but he makes a clutch putt and still leads by 3. Kitayama birdies 16&17 but still 1 shot short. Although Bridgeman faded with 3 bogies 12 pars 0 birdies on the last 15 holes, he played safe with his lead and well enough to win.