Jacob Bridgeman Avoids Collapse, Wins Genesis Invitational for First PGA Tour Title

Leading by as many as seven shots in the final round, the 26-year-old finished with a one-stroke victory over Rory McIlroy and Kurt Kitayama.

Jacob Bridgeman won the Tiger Woods-hosted Genesis Invitational for his maiden PGA Tour title. | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

What a difference a week makes. 

Last Sunday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Jacob Bridgeman’s 72nd hole was quite the whirlwind. The 26-year-old, playing in the penultimate group and needing an eagle on the finishing par-5 to have a chance at squeezing into a potential playoff, sliced his tee shot onto the beach below the fairway. That yielded a lengthy rules discussion that led to Bridgeman hitting a wedge shot against the rocks, causing the ball to ricochet into the ocean. Another rules discussion ensued before a third and final one once he was on the green, with whipping winds swaying his ball. Impressively, Bridgeman salvaged a bogey. 

The sequence of events didn’t come without controversy, though. The eventual champion, Collin Morikawa, a group behind, was forced to stand over his ball in the fairway for nearly 20 minutes, watching this all unfold. 

Fast forward to a Sunday later at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, and Bridgeman, on the par-4 18th, was clinging to a one-stroke advantage, although it was seven just a few hours earlier. He placed his 301-yard drive in the middle of the fairway, knocked his approach to 19 feet and two-putted. 

One of golf’s hottest players had broken through.

MORE: Final results, payouts from the Genesis Invitational

“This is way, way better than I’ve ever dreamt it,” said Bridgeman, who finished at 18 under par with a final-round 1-over 72. “I thought it was going to be a lot easier than that.”

Bridgeman, who had four consecutive top 20s to begin his season, entered the final round with a six-stroke lead over Rory McIlroy after a third-round 64. He played the front nine in even par, birdieing the 1st and 3rd holes but giving those back with bogeys at Nos. 4 and 7, but maintained his substantial advantage. 

A dream realized.

Jacob Bridgeman is a PGA TOUR winner for the first time @TheGenesisInv. pic.twitter.com/eXJuSRUu2W

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 22, 2026

Of course, when the trophy is in sight, that’s when the nerves intensify. Bridgeman, one of the game’s premier putters, got wobbly with the flatstick. However, the 2022 ACC Player of the Year at Clemson made several comebackers to save par and keep himself atop the leaderboard. 

Then a bogey came on the par-3 16th after his tee shot found the bunker. Meanwhile, Kurt Kitayama was charging. After a 3-under front nine, the two-time Tour winner rattled off birdies at Nos. 10, 11, 16 and 17. And with a chance to tie the lead on the last, he two-putted from 35 feet. Had Kitayama completed the comeback, it would have been the event’s biggest since Ken Venturi rallied from eight behind in 1959. 

“I played awesome, had a dream start to the day,” Kitayama, who shot 7-under 64, said. “Didn’t really go into it thinking I had a chance, just kind of plugged along, and coming down the stretch figured if I could make some birdies, add a little pressure, but overall, great day.”

McIlroy, with a balky putter, failed to climb up the leaderboard throughout most of the afternoon. But with birdies on Nos. 11, 12 and 17, he got within two strokes of Bridgerman and trailed Kitayama by one. The five-time major champion then sank a putt at 18 from 25 feet, off the fringe of the green, sending the crowd into a frenzy. 

“I just kept plugging away and trying to make something happen,” McIlroy said after a final-round 67. “I felt like I could have made something happen on the front nine if I holed a few putts, but I didn’t.”

When he did on the last, though, Bridgeman was perhaps a bit fazed. A once seemingly shoo-in victory now rested on a 3-and-a-half-footer for the win that likely felt much longer. Yet, he dropped it in the cup—and, at one of the Tour’s marquee events, was a Tour winner after 66 career starts. 

“I didn’t really feel really crazy nervous until I had a five-footer for bogey on 16; that one was sketchy,” Bridgeman said. “I hit a really good putt and luckily it went in, and then I was really nervous from there on out. I couldn’t even feel my hands on the last couple greens, I just hit the putt hoping it would get somewhere near the hole, and both of them I left a mile short, but I’m glad it's done now.”

And for the second consecutive week, Bridgeman had a 72nd hole he couldn't wait to complete—and one he’ll never forget. Only the second time, the feeling afterward was much, much sweeter.