Sam Burns builds five-shot lead at The Genesis Invitational

LOS ANGELES — Sam Burns had the ideal start at The Riviera Country Club. His finish was even better. RELATED: Leaderboard | Willie Mack III holds his own at The Genesis Invitational Burns opened with an 18-foot eagle putt and closed with three straight birdies Thursday in The Genesis Invitational, giving him a 7-under 64, the third time this season he has shot 64 in the opening round. The 24-year-old Burns is still looking for his first PGA TOUR victory. On one of the best courses of the year, against another stacked field, it was a good first step. “This golf course at times doesn’t offer you a lot of opportunities,” Burns said. “So I think just with that mindset going in we were just going to take what we could get.” He had a two-shot lead over Matt Fitzpatrick and Max Homa, who grew up 30 miles away in Valencia and used to attend the PGA TOUR event at Riviera as a kid. Patrick Cantlay, coming off chances to win in Palm Springs and Pebble Beach, extended his run of good play with four birdies on his back nine and was in a large group at 67. Dustin Johnson, who has played Riviera as consistently well as anyone over the last 10 years, couldn’t take advantage of the par 5s and still scrapped his way around to a 68, mainly by taking five putts over the last six holes. “You can’t ask for a course in better shape,” said Johnson. “The greens are perfect. It’s firm and fast. This golf course plays really difficult when it’s firm and fast. You have to be in the right position or you’ve got no chance.” Also at 68 were Brooks Koepka, coming off a victory two weeks ago in Phoenix, and Jordan Spieth, who had at least a share of the 54-hole lead the last two weeks as he tries to end a slump that dates to the 2017 Open Championship. Riviera has a reputation of playing tough even as the game evolves. The 72-hole record, 20-under 264 that Lanny Wadkins set in 1985, has stood the longest of any PGA TOUR event. It was tough enough for Justin Thomas, wo opened with a 77 despite birdies on two of his last three holes. Thomas also had three double bogeys, two of them when he three-putted from inside 6 feet (one was a four-putt). Bryson DeChambeau had a 75. Tae Hoon Kim, who won the Genesis Championship on the Korean PGA last fall to earn an exemption, had the wildest day of all. He started by laying up on the short par-4 10th, which proved a smart play with such firm conditions, and made it pay off with a 10-foot birdie. He holed a bunker shot next to the green on the par-5 11th for eagle. Kim made another eagle with a hole-in-one on the 16th hole. He had another eagle attempt from 40 feet on the fringe at the par-5 first, just missing for a tap-in birdie to reach 5 under. And then he dropped four shots on his next three holes and wound up with a 69. Burns kept a steady hand, dropping shots only on the par-3 sixth when he came up short of a front pin, and at the tough 12th hole into a stiffening afternoon breeze when he found a front bunker. He made enough birdies in the middle of his round to atone for a few mistakes. And mistakes were never too hard to find. “It was one of those days where it’s just as easy to shoot 2 or 3 under as it is to shoot 2 or 3 over,” said Rory McIlroy, who had to settle for the latter after a 73. “There’s a couple of good scores out there, but you didn’t have to do too much wrong to be hovering around even par and be on the other side of it.” Fitzpatrick holed a 45-foot birdie putt on the par-3 14th, made birdie on the next par 3 at the 16th and after making the turn, holed a 25-foot eagle putt on No. 1, which has yielded more eagles than any par 5 on TOUR since 2004. “It’s a great start, couldn’t ask for any better,” Fitzpatrick said. “I feel like I struggle a little bit on poa annua, so to see them how they are this week, so firm and fast, they’re as true as I’ve ever seen. It’s a big advantage of me.” The 10th hole, among the best short par 4s in America, created plenty of challenges. In the morning, Cantlay missed his target by 2 yards and was in just a bad spot that he played some 60 feet away from the flag. In the morning, Spieth thought he was in a good spot until he saw a palm tree in his way. Going to the right was dangerous. So was going to the left. He thought about going under a tree. Ultimately, he went left and pulled it off to perfect. “Couldn’t do that again with a bucket of balls,” he told his caddie. “The shot of the day for me,” Spieth said. “That could have easily been a 5 and it turned out to be a 3.”

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Patrick Reed and Collin Morikawa are among several PGA TOUR players trying to unseat Europe's top stars as the 2020 season-long Race To Dubai champion on the European Tour this week. Reed, an eight-time PGA TOUR winner, leads the European Tour's Race to Dubai standings heading into this week's DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates. He leads the way in Europe's season-long race thanks to his victory in the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship and top-15 finishes in this year's three majors. He is trying to become the first American to win the Race to Dubai. His closest competitors are a pair of familiar faces. Reed's fellow American, Collin Morikawa, is third in the standings with the knowledge that regardless of what Reed, or current second-place holder Tommy Fleetwood, do in Dubai, he can also take it all with a win. The 23-year-old is in great shape after his PGA Championship triumph in August, his third PGA TOUR win, and is also the main contender for the European Tour Rookie of the Year. Veteran Englishman Lee Westwood is playing in his 12th consecutive DP World Tour Championship, and at fourth in the standings is the only other player guaranteed to become Europe's No. 1 player should he win this week's tournament. The 47-year-old won the inaugural tournament in 2009 and is the only player to feature in each edition since. The 65-player field is composed of the leading 60 members available on the Race to Dubai, plus 2019 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year Sungjae Im, who is an affiliate member) and four other members inside the top 75 in the world ranking who were not otherwise exempt. Viktor Hovland, winner of last week's Mayakoba Golf Classic presented by UNIFIN, is among that group. Hovland, who like Morikawa turned pro just last year, rose to No. 15 in the world after his win in Mexico. Hovland joined legends Rory McIlroy, Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm as the only Europeans in the last 75 years to win multiple PGA TOUR titles before turning 24. Hovland also joined the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jerry Pate and Lanny Wadkins as the only players in the last 75 years to win the U.S. Amateur and multiple PGA TOUR titles before turning 24. Everyone else on that list won at least one major and a PLAYERS Championship. While the top four have their destiny in their own hands, the 2,000 points available to the winner means mathematically any player could become Race to Dubai Champion with victory in the DP World Tour Championship. Fleetwood and Westwood have both won the Race to Dubai before, in 2017 and in 2009 respectively, with Westwood also winning the former Order of Merit in 2000. Christian Bezuidenhout, who is coming off back-to-back victories in South Africa, Victor Perez, Aaron Rai and Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard champion Tyrrell Hatton would be Race to Dubai Champion with victory provided Reed doesn't finish second alone. The DP World Tour Championship winner receives $3 million while a bonus pool will be awarded to those members finishing within the top 5 on the final 2020 Race to Dubai Rankings, starting at $500,000 for the winner.

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He hasn’t won in a more than a year. Well, that seems like it’s about to change — and he’s more than ready for it to happen.

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