Best Players Never To Win The Genesis Invitational

Images of Rory McIlroy, Jack Nicklaus, the Genesis Invitational trophy, Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler (L to R) — (Image credit: Getty Images)

The Genesis Invitational is 100 years old in 2026 and has been played almost every year since then, aside from 1943, leading to an array of world-class players picking up the trophy.

And many of them have done so at Riviera Country Club, too, widely regarded as one of the finest courses in professional golf. The Genesis Invitational has - with the exception of 2025, 1998 and 1983 - been played at Riviera since 1973. Before that, it was contested there a further 12 times.

Yet, for all of the famous champions, there remains a list of historic golfers who have surprisingly never managed to defeat all of their peers at this tournament.

Below is a list of six all-time greats who are among the best players never to have won the Genesis Invitational.

Scottie Scheffler

The current runaway World No.1 has played this event seven times but has failed to stand on top of the podium when all is said and done.

Scottie Scheffler has, however, won at Riviera before - landing the 2018 Collegiate Showcase which earned the adopted Texan his first PGA Tour start.

He couldn't make the most of that success, though, missing the cut. To this day, it remains the only time Scheffler has failed to play the weekend at the Genesis Invitational.

In six other starts, Scheffler's best result is T3rd, and that arrived in 2025 when the tournament moved to Torrey Pines. His best result at Riviera in the Genesis Invitational is T7th back in 2022.

Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy has 24 standalone PGA Tour titles, but not one of them has arrived at the Genesis Invitational.

By McIlroy's standards, his record at Riviera isn't all that special either. Aside from a best of T4th at the 2019 Genesis Open and a T5th the following year at the inaugural Genesis Invitational, the Northern Irishman has a T10th and five finishes between T17th and T29th to his name - as well as a missed cut in 2021.

The five-time Major winner is rarely bad at this event, but he hasn't often come close to winning. Will 2026 finally be the year?

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods has won pretty much everything the PGA Tour has (or has ever had) to offer. Yet, the 82-time PGA Tour winner never claimed the Los Angeles Open title and - given his injury record of late as well as a number of other factors - it appears as though it will stay that way.

Woods went closest in 1998 when he lost in a playoff to Billy Mayfair, and he lost by a stroke the very next year as Ernie Els sealed the top prize.

But two other top-10s, in 2003 and 2004, was the best he managed in a tournament which also gave a young Eldrick T. Woods his first crack at the PGA Tour in 1992.

Gary Player

With more than 150 professional victories to his name throughout the world, it seems inconceivable that Gary Player never won the Los Angeles Open at least once in his career. But that is the cold, hard truth.

Player and Canada's Al Balding finished T2nd in 1963, three strokes behind the great Arnold Palmer, and that was as close as the charismatic South African would come.

Jack Nicklaus

Arguably the greatest player of all time with a cool 73 PGA Tour titles in his trophy room, Jack Nicklaus is no different than Player, Woods, McIlroy and Scheffler in that he never lifted the Los Angeles Open.

He did manage a solo second in 1978, but he was still two strokes behind Gil Morgan at Riviera Country Club.

Similarly to Woods and Scheffler as well, Nicklaus made his pro debut at this tournament, finishing dead last at Rancho Park after the cut was made in 1962.

For his troubles, Nicklaus picked up around $30 in prize money and a tough lesson in how brutal the PGA Tour can be. Luckily, the 50th place was one of the worst results of his career and the Golden Bear would go on to fare quite nicely indeed.

Lee Trevino

Lee Trevino had 92 professional wins throughout his career, which included six Major championships and 23 PGA Tour victories, but not one of them was at the Los Angeles Open.

Outside of the Majors, Trevino's biggest scalp was The Players Championship in 1980, beating Ben Crenshaw to the big prize by a single stroke. The following year, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Jonny Leighfield is our Staff News Writer who joined Golf Monthly just in time for the 2023 Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup. He graduated from the University of Brighton with a degree in Sport Journalism in 2017 and spent almost five years as the sole sports reporter at his local newspaper. During his time with Golf Monthly, Jonny has interviewed several stars of the game, including Robert MacIntyre, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, and Joaquin Niemann. An improving golfer himself, Jonny enjoys learning as much about the game as he can and recently reached his Handicap goal of 18 for the first time.

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