Jacob Bridgeman of Inman, South Carolina has won the 2026 Genesis Invitational in California for his first win on the PGA Tour. On Sunday, Bridgeman posted a winning score of -18 to beat American Kurt Kitayama and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy by a stroke.
Two other golfers were in contention. They were Australia’s Adam Scott at -16, and South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter at -15. McIlroy and Scott are major champions from the past. McIlroy won the 2011 United States Open, the 2012 and 2014 PGA Championship, the 2014 British Open, and 2025 Masters. Scott won the 2013 Masters.
Bridgeman posted an opening round score of -18. He had a first round score of five-under-par 66, a second round score of seven-under-par 64, a third round score of seven-under-par 64, and a fourth round score of one-over-par 72.
Bridgeman’s tournament was highlighted by three eagles. He eagled the first hole on Thursday in round one, the first hole again on Friday in round two, and the 11th hole on Saturday in round three. A week ago, world number one Scottie Scheffler had three eagles in his final round when he finished in fourth place at Pebble Beach.
Bridgeman is the first golfer this season to shoot over par in his final round, but still win the golf tournament. Five golfers accomplished the feat last year. They were Harris English of Valdosta, Georgia (+1 at the Farmers Insurance Open), Brian Harman of St. Simon’s Island, Georgia (+3 at the Valero Texas Open), McIlroy (+1 at the Masters), Ben Griffin of Chapel Hill, North Carolina (+1 at the Charles Schwab Challenge) and J.J. Spaun of Los Angeles, California (+2 at the United States Open).
