Sandman Golf Crush & Fade: The Genesis Invitational

Welcome to v5 of Crush & Fade on Enter Sandman Sports. We’ll reflect on last week’s performance before turning our eyes forward to La Jolla for The Genesis Invitational which is generously hosting the tournament after the Pacific Palisades area was so affected by the SoCal fires.  Struggled last week in our Top20 plays but did hit the TGL pick so need to right the ship a bit this week.

TGL

Lots of talk about how the numbers continue to dwindle for viewership.  Is the fledgling league already in trouble?  I still think they are trying to find their way early with timing and technology.  Nielsen numbers showed a 300,000 viewer drop from the previous week.  Obviously this trend is not something that the TGL is looking for…yikes.

2025 Sandman Golf Crush & Fade TGL Record – 3-1

No matches this week.

Last week LA GC rolled literally…they drained putts from everywhere en route to a 6-2 victory over Boston Common.

NO CRUSH: Back next week

Waste Management Phoenix Open

Congrats to Thomas Detry who wins his first event on the PGA Tour and becomes the first Belgian born player to win on Tour.  Detry was rolling in front of the crazies at TPC Scottsdale and didn’t appear to be feeling any pressure as all he did on Sunday was go out and tie for the lowest score of the day.

The Genesis Invitational

The Tour returns to Torrey Pines due to the fires in and around Riviera.  This tournament is an elevated event with roughly 70 player teeing it up and a limited cut of Top50 and ties plus anyone within 10 strokes of the lead.  Unfortunately, Tiger Woods will not be playing this week due to the passing of his mom Kultida Woods at the age of 80.  He was planning on playing and had been working his way back into shape after his latest surgery, but mentally he is not ready. 

The defending champion is Hideki Matsuyama.  He rolled to a 17-under performance last year topped off by a dominant 9-under 62 on Sunday.

I have my eyes on a few guys this week who have shown the proven capability at Torrey the past few years.

Sandman Top Bets

Last week, I struggled with the Top20 plays.  I’m going to get aggressive this week with the elevated event and try to find some gems to crack the Top10.

A reminder that each week I will highlight some players I think might be good plays in this category. I might stretch to find the value and steer clear of the chalky plays in some tournaments.

I am a golf picker that loves recent form and course history more than anything.

So with those themes in mind and looking to get back on track, I am locked in on Top10 plays and really like defending champ Hideki Matsuyama, Taylor Pendrith, Harris English and a longer play with Justin Rose this week.

• Hideki Matsuyama is the defending champ this week but it is a bit of a misnomer considering last year’s tournament was played at Riviera.  I still think Hideki will have all the vibes coming this week and will perform better than he played at The Farmer’s a few weeks back.
• Taylor Pendrith has all the pieces working right now.  He has the track record, the recent performance & he played well at The Farmer’s earlier this year.  Give me the Big Canadian Maple to deliver a Top10 for The Nation.
• Harris English is the defending champ from The Farmer’s and seems to have all the vibes going right now.  His temperament is perfect for the difficult South Course. 
• Justin Rose has been playing solid and we are going to see how the TGL success translates over to the real deal.  I’m loving Justin this week at +900!

CRUSH: Hideki Matsuyama Top10 +200 CRUSH: Taylor Pendrith Top10 +330 CRUSH: Harris English Top10 +400 CRUSH: Justin Rose Top10 +900

Picking guys to FADE can be a bit trickier given there isn’t a bet you are playing but rather looking at some of the chalkier picks that I think might struggle this week.

I love the young Swede Ludvig Aberg but he has been sick and struggling with his game.  I’m going to go with that streak until he shows otherwise.

Scottie Scheffler has been human since returning from his wine glass, ravioli-making incident…the guy probably gets it rolling this week but I think he still seems to be lacking some confidence in his game so I’m fading him in the Top10 especially given the number here.

FADE: Ludvig Aberg Top10 +240 FADE: Scottie Scheffler Top10 -250

Good luck this week!

The Sandman