Cal Golf: Collin Morikawa, Max Homa Tee Off in Big-Name Groups at The Genesis

All eyes on Tiger Woods, making his first start in official event since The Open in July.

Cal alums Collin Morikawa and Max Homa will tee off in high-profile threesomes on Thursday at The Genesis on the Riviera Country Club course at Pacific Palisades.

Morikawa, ranked No. 9 in the world, is matched with No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 16 Jordan Spieth in a threesome set to start at 12:15 p.m.

Homa, who has climbed to No. 12 in the world, is partnered with No. 6 Xander Schauffele and No. 15 Tom Kim.

But all eyes will be on Tiger Woods, who is set make his first start in an official PGA Tour event since missing the cut at the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews last July. Woods will play Thursday and Friday with No. 2 Rory McIlroy and No. 7 Justin Thomas.

Morikawa finished in a tie for second place at The Genesis a year ago, shooting rounds of 67-67-68-65 to finish 17 under and share the spot with Cameron Young. They were two strokes behind Joaquin Niemann, who built a huge lead the first two days by carding back-to-back 63s on the par-71 course.

The total purse for The Genesis this season has been bumped up from $12 million to $20, and no one will benefit more than Sunday’s winner. Niemann took home $2.16 million in 2022 but first place earned $3.6 million this week.

Morikawa pocketed $1.068 million last year, less than half of this year’s runner-up prize of $2.18 million.

Morikawa, 26, owns five PGA Tour victory, including two majors, but he has not won since the start of the 2021-22 season. This year, he has two top-10 finishes among six events, including runner-up at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. But he missed the cut last week at the Phoenix Open.

Homa, 32, already has won twice this season, at the season-opening Fortinet Championship in September and at the Farmers Insurance Open in late January. That boosted his career total to six PGA Tour wins, four of them since the start of the 2021-22 schedule.

He finished in a tie for 10th place at The Genesis last year.

Homa had some disappointing moments while finishing in a tie for 39th place last week at the Phoenix Open, as evidenced by this club-throwing incident:

Can’t look less cool if I tried https://t.co/bp1p0JFEjK

— max homa (@Maxhoma) February 12, 2023

Although he is a bit farther down on the Official World Golf Rankings, Homa is No. 4 on ESPN’s PGA Tour Power Rankings, trailing Jon Rahm, Scheffler and McIlroy.

Here’s what ESPN had to say about Homa:

The California native has already won twice in his home state this season, picking up victories at the Fortinet Championship in Napa and Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. He finished 10th in the Genesis Invitational last season, after claiming his second PGA Tour win in the event in 2021.

All eyes will be on Woods, who has yet to walk 18 holes four days in a row this year. He was the course for 16 in a practice round Wednesday and is eager for this event.

"I am very rusty, but I've come off a rusty situation before and I've done well," Woods said. "Plus, I know this golf course. I know I haven't had a lot of success on this golf course, but I knew what to practice for, shots to hit at home getting ready."

It’s been nearly two yeas since Woods, 47, was seriously injured in a car accident not far from the Riviera Country Club. He said his surgically repaired right ankle still gives him trouble but that he wouldn’t have entered this week’s event if he didn’t believe he could challenge the leaders or perhaps even win.

“It's gotten so much better the last couple months," Woods said. "I'm excited to go out there and compete and play with these guys.”

Cover photo of Tiger Woods by Rob Schumacher, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo