Pacific Palisades, Calif – Jacob Bridgeman captured his maiden PGA Tour victory in dramatic fashion at the 2026 Genesis Invitational, holding off a late charge from Rory McIlroy and Kurt Kitayama to win by one stroke at the iconic Riviera Country Club.
The 26-year-old former Clemson standout entered the final round with a commanding six-shot lead after blistering opening rounds of 66-64-64. He stretched his advantage early on Sunday with birdies on the first and third holes, but those would be his only red numbers on the card as the putter cooled — he failed to birdie any of the final 15 holes — and challengers closed in.
McIlroy drained a long birdie putt on the 18th to reach 17-under, while Kitayama posted a strong finish to join him in a tie for second.
After McIlroy’s heroics on 18, Bridgeman two putted from 19 feet, calmly converting a nervy 3-foot par putt, to seal the win.
The victory came in his 66th PGA Tour start during his third full season and marked him as the first player since Adam Scott in 2005 to win at Riviera in his tournament debut.
“I kind of had everything under control especially to start the day and I felt great throughout the day,” said Bridgeman during the winner’s press conference. “Then some guys started making a little run and they got a little closer. I had a couple unfortunate breaks.
“Yeah, it got a lot tighter than I wanted it to. But I don’t think it will get any easier than a six-shot lead so I’ve got to figure out how to make it a little bit — how to make that gap bigger to finish the day. First win here, probably one of the coolest places that I could have done it, and of course having Tiger as the host is a dream come true.”
For the win, Bridgeman earned $4 million from the $20 million purse, a three-year PGA Tour exemption, and the keys to a Genesis GV80 Coupe Prestige Black. The victory also vaulted him to the top of the PGA Tour’s money list ($5,216,960) and No. 20 in the Official World Golf Rankings — a career best.
Hosted by Tiger Woods, the event saw Bridgeman achieve something even the 15-time major champion never did: win his hometown Genesis Invitational.
