Spieth relishing opportunity to go head-to-head against Reed

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Current FedExCup leader Hideki Matsuyama along with the rest of the top 10 players in the world are set to tee it up at the storied Riviera Country Club for this season’s Genesis Invitational. Max Homa looks to defend his hometown title after a dramatic playoff victory over Tony Finau a year ago. FIELD NOTES: All of the world’s top-10 ranked players, including No. 1 Jon Rahm, are set to play at Riviera … Other than the winners-only Sentry Tournament of Champions, this is the first ‘Invitational’ event of the season with a limited field of just 120 players … Aaron Beverly is the 2022 recipient of the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption. Beverly was a celebrated college golfer, competes on the APGA Tour (where he won the Tour’s Fall Series Finale at Wilshire Country Club), and will be making his PGA TOUR debut … Reigning FedExCup winner Patrick Cantlay is back in action and riding some early-season momentum. Cantlay has gone fourth-ninth-T4 to start the 2022 calendar year, and contended throughout the week at the WM Phoenix Open … Some recent past Genesis Invitational winners set for a return include Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott, Bubba Watson and Max Homa – who is looking to become the first player since Phil Mickelson in 2008-09 to go back-to-back … Other sponsor’s exemptions have an international flair. Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Rickie Fowler, Min Woo Lee, Robert MacIntyre, Thomas Pieters and Jaekyeong Lee are playing. Jaekyeong Lee won the Genesis Championship in South Korea last fall. COURSE: The Riviera Country Club, par 71, 7,322 yards. This is the 59th time the George C. Thomas Jr. and William P. Bell design will host the Genesis Invitational. It has hosted three major championships in the past, was just announced as the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open venue and will also host the 2028 Olympic golf competition. The club has been long ranked as one of the best in the world. It features a compact design with primary rough of club-grabbing Kikuyu – making it a challenge for the best players in the world with every club in the bag. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 550 FedExCup points. STORYLINES: Can another California kid take the title at Riviera this week? While Max Homa topped the field last season, there’s no doubt world No. 2 Collin Morikawa would like to etch his name on the trophy … Dustin Johnson looks to break out of an early-season funk at Riviera, where he won in 2017. Johnson hasn’t notched a top-10 result on TOUR since the TOUR Championship in September … There’s still a spot to be filled for the Genesis Invitational, which comes after the Collegiate Showcase on Monday. The Collegiate Showcase is now in its eighth year. Past winners include Will Zalatoris, Scottie Scheffler (PGA TOUR Rookies of the Year, both) and Sahith Theegala, who led after 36 holes in Phoenix … This is the final event of the TOUR’s West Coast Swing before it heads to Florida next week … With Tony Finau’s playoff loss a year ago, he has now finished runner-up at the Genesis Invitational twice … The event was played without fans in 2021 but tournament organizers are set to have a full spectator experience for this season … This is the first event of the 2022 season to offer 550 FedExCup points to the winner. 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Lanny Wadkins (1985). 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, George Archer (Round 3, 1983 at Rancho Park GC), Ted Tryba (Round 3, 1999 at Riviera CC). LAST TIME: Max Homa won for the second time on the PGA TOUR, defeating Tony Finau in a playoff. Homa overcame a tough lip-out on the 72nd hole to regroup in the playoff. He made a par on the second playoff hole, the par-3 14th, to Finau’s bogey after he couldn’t get up-and-down from the sand. That par-saver came after Homa’s tee shot on the first extra hole nestled against a tree and forced him to punch out a wedge with a miraculous recovery effort. This was Finau’s 10th runner-up finish on TOUR since his maiden TOUR victory at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open (he would, however, go on to win THE NORTHERN TRUST later in 2021). Homa’s victory was a hometown-boy-done-good story, as he first attended the annual event at Riviera when he was just a 2-year-old. Sam Burns, the 54-hole leader, finished one shot back of Homa and Finau after three bogeys in four holes on the back nine. Burns was third alone. Cameron Smith finished fourth alone, while Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Matthew Fitzpatrick rounded out the top five. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 4 p.m.-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-7 p.m. (CBS). Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m. (CBS) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 2–8 p.m. ET. Saturday, 2–7 p.m. Sunday, 1-6:30 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes

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GUYANCOURT, France – Since winning the TOUR Championship on Sunday, Tiger Woods has been a little busy. The usual obligations that come with winning a PGA TOUR event were heightened by the hysteria following his first victory in five seasons. Then he met up with his American teammates before they jumped on a plane for Paris. Rest, training, more team camaraderie, then a Tuesday morning practice round to get acquainted with this week’s Ryder Cup venue. Oh, and there were also the congratulatory text messages. Lots of them. He’s trying to respond but more than 150 remain on his phone. So, no, he hasn’t had time to assess the fallout from his victory at East Lake, including the Sunday TV ratings. “Are they good?â€� Tiger asked Tuesday. Uh, yes, Tiger. They’re good. The NBC Sports Group reported that Sunday’s telecast was the highest-rated in the history of the FedExCup Playoffs and the highest-rated on TOUR in 2018 (majors excluded). “An unforgettable event in golf,â€� said Mike McCarley, the network’s president of golf. Tiger, though, simply hasn’t had time to process unforgettable. Less than 48 hours after completing a year-long comeback from career-threatening back surgeries, Woods has turned his attention to beating the Europeans on their home turf for the first time in 25 years. Not until next week will he have a chance to reflect on the improbable climb back into the winner’s circle. “I saw a couple of [videos] on some French news channel [of] the people rushing behind me, but I haven’t sat down and watched it yet,â€� Woods said. “I still have this event to do. “Post-Ryder Cup, it will be a different story. I will look back and soak it up and really reflect on what really transpired that entire week.â€� Tiger’s prep work began in earnest on Tuesday as part of a practice foursome with Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed. Woods and DeChambeau have publicly spoke about a partnership once play begins on Friday, but neither they, nor U.S. Captain Jim Furyk, would confirm any such plans. “It would be awesome to play with him,â€� said DeChambeau, playing in his first U.S. team event since the 2015 Walker Cup. “Is it going to happen? We’re still working on it. We’re still trying to figure out who is going to best fit with each other – not me personally but for everyone that’s going out that day.â€� Even Mickelson was asked how he would respond should Furyk lean toward putting together his two most decorated veterans. “I think we would both welcome it,â€� he said. And does he think it will happen? “I do have an idea of what Captain Furyk is thinking,â€� Mickelson said, ending his response there. While there could be competition to partner with Woods this week, his track record at the Ryder Cup is not exactly up to his standards. He has a career 13-17-3 mark in seven previous appearances, and is 4-8-1 in Foursomes, which will be played in the two afternoon sessions on Friday and Saturday. Plus, he’s only played on one winning U.S. team – 19 years ago when the Americans rallied to win at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. Woods did not play in 2008 due to reconstructive knee surgery that summer, and two years ago at Hazeltine, he was sidelined with the back issues but was part of the team as a vice-captain. “We haven’t done well,â€� Woods said. “… My overall Ryder Cup record, not having won as a player since 1999, is something that hopefully we can change.â€� Four years ago after the most recent U.S. road loss – at Gleneagles in Scotland – Woods and Mickelson were part of a Ryder Cup task force that set out to change the losing culture. Not only did their efforts pay off two years ago, it also helped bring the two together. Woods was also an assistant captain for the winning U.S. team that included Mickelson a year ago at the Presidents Cup. “Those team events where we’ve worked together, I think, we realized that we both have a lot more in common than we thought,â€� Mickelson said, “and I think that we both have really come to appreciate working together to achieve things. I’ve really enjoyed my time with him. Their friendship seemed to publicly accelerate this year with a practice round at the Masters, a pairing for the first two rounds of THE PLAYERS Championship, and then the recent announcement of a Thanksgiving weekend match-play showdown in Las Vegas. Whether that translates into a revived partnership this week is another matter. Fourteen years ago, U.S. captain Hal Sutton sent out the Woods-Mickelson duo in the first Four-ball match at Oakland Hills. They fell behind early and lost to Colin Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington. They then lost the afternoon Foursomes to Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood, thus ending the experiment. Why would it be different this time, Mickelson was asked. “I’d say we would be more prepared, most likely, would be the general answer,â€� he responded. “But if I … try to share an insight as to why things went well or didn’t went well, it always come across as I’m taking a shot at somebody, and I don’t want to do that anymore.â€� Laughs ensued – although nobody was laughing four years ago when a frustrated Mickelson spoke his mind after the latest U.S. loss in Europe. Of course, a Woods-Mickelson pairing – while still unlikely at this point — might be pretty good for TV ratings this week. Even Tiger would know that.

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