2026 Genesis Invitational: 3 storylines to know, Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood

The PGA Tour is continuing to roll right along and this week offers its second Signature Event of the season in the Genesis Invitational.

Collin Morikawa captured the first at Pebble Beach, he tied the lowest score to par in the process, and topped an absolutely stacked leaderboard when it was all said and done. The Signature Events are designed to put the Tour’s best players on its most illustrious courses and let the stories fall into place and it stands to reason that it will happen again this week in Los Angeles.

Here are 3 storylines to keep your eyes on as action gets set to unfold.

The Genesis is indeed back in Los Angeles

You will recall that the Genesis Invitaitonal was not played at Riviera Country Club last year following devastating wildfires in the area. Ludvig Aberg ultimately won the event, but he did so at Torrey Pines South.

This is a particularly special edition of the Genesis as it is marking the 100-year anniversary since the first playing of the event all the way back in 1926. Riviera specifically is a PGA Tour staple as it has hosted a Tour event for over 50 years.

While Aberg is the reigning champion it should be noted that the last player to win the tournament at Riviera specifically was Hideki Matsuyama the year prior. That was a pretty special effort from Hideki as he rallied from a 6-stroke deficit before lifting the trophy.

Rory McIlroy is looking for something specific

Last year saw Rory complete the Career Grand Slam so suggesting that he is still “chasing” anything else would be outrage; however, there are still marks and achievements for him to reach across his career.

McIlroy is seeking his 30th PGA Tour victory which is a pretty elite club. The Masters took home all of the headlines, but Rory won several events last year and it is only logical to believe it will happen at some point this season. Last week at Pebble was his debut on the year (T14) and he will likely find himself in the mix as the weekend unfolds.

Tommy Fleetwood has improved every year at the Genesis

The world now knows that Tommy Fleetwood can win on the PGA Tour following his heroics at the Tour Championship and it feels like everyone believes that more wins are on the way soon.

Interestingly, Fleetwood has improved each and every single year that he has teed it up at the Genesis:

If that trend were to continue then Fleetwood would finish inside of the top 4 this year which gives him a strong likelihood (a theoretical one to be clear) of walking away with the win.