Genesis Invitational: First round resumes Friday morning after rain suspension; updated Round 2 tee times shift the schedule

The 2026 genesis invitational was interrupted by weather and finished daylight, creating a compressed schedule for Friday that pushes resumed first-round play into the morning and delays the start of Round 2. The changes affect tee times for featured groups and impose new timing for television and streaming windows.

What happened at the Genesis Invitational and what’s new

Rain delayed play on Thursday, and the first round was later suspended because of darkness. Organizers set a resume time for the incomplete first round on Friday morning at 10: 00 a. m. ET, with the second round now scheduled to begin at 10: 40 a. m. ET after a 25-minute shift to the Round 2 schedule. The event notice also listed the same timings in Pacific Time, with the resumption at 7: 00 a. m. PT and Round 2 starting at 7: 40 a. m. PT.

Several high-profile pairings received updated start times. One featured group now tees off for Round 2 in mid-morning, with Rickie Fowler scheduled alongside Tom Kim and Max Greyserman; that group’s Round 2 start was moved from 10: 27 a. m. ET to 10: 52 a. m. ET under the revised sheet. Broad viewing windows for the second round were held for late afternoon and early evening, and exclusive early streaming coverage was set to begin in the mid-morning.

Behind the headline

The Riviera Country Club’s design and green characteristics amplify the effect of schedule disruption. The course, known for its architect’s concept of “half-par” holes, tends to produce both birdies and bogeys in abundance. Accuracy becomes progressively more important as the round unfolds: missed fairways become costlier after the fifth hole, where each missed fairway was measured to carry roughly a one-third-stroke penalty.

Poa annua surfaces at Riviera demand precise commitment on short putts in the 6- to 9-foot range. Tour-wide performance from that distance sits in the mid-50s percentage-wise, but at Riviera the make rate drops to about half — a meaningful difference given the frequency of those attempts. Approach shots at Riviera often require shaping the ball in both directions to reach certain pins, raising the premium on iron play and short-game control.

Player form notes in the tournament preview underline which competitors might gain from the compressed schedule and the course traits. Harris English has recent strong finishes at this event, with a top-12 and a seventh-place showing in his last two appearances at Riviera; over those eight rounds he logged meaningful gains around the green and putting. That sequence, combined with solid fairway performance at a recent coastal event, made a Top-10 price on English notable in betting markets.

Other names highlighted for upside included Ludvig Åberg, who showed late-round strength in a recent start, and Sepp Straka, who returned a close second-place finish last week after otherwise mixed recent results. Rickie Fowler entered the week on a string of top-20 finishes, a consistency that has produced steady leaderboard appearances even if outright wins remained infrequent. Tony Finau’s recent trend showed reduced driving advantage, with lost strokes off the tee in the majority of his last dozen starts.

What we still don’t know

• Which of the remaining first-round groups will complete their holes early enough to avoid further delay to Round 2.
• How the shifted tee times will affect featured-group visibility and which early starters will gain a weather or course-condition edge.
• Final leaderboard positions and the complete list of players who will be in contention once all resumed play concludes.
• How short-term course conditions will evolve through Friday afternoon and whether putting performance will track the lower make rate historically seen at Riviera.

What happens next

• Completion and restart: The incomplete first round finishes in the morning, allowing Round 2 to begin under the revised start list; trigger — play resumes on schedule and daylight holds.
• Weather or darkness linger: Additional delays force further compression of the schedule into Saturday, creating more rounds-in-a-day scenarios and altering recovery windows; trigger — renewed rain or insufficient daylight.
• Control-based players surge: Competitors with strong short-game and on-green performance benefit from the course’s demand for precise putting in the 6-to-9-foot range; trigger — greens play tight and make rates hover near the lower Riviera average.
• Early leaders fade: Players who miss fairways late in the round incur cumulative penalties that push them down the leaderboard, emphasizing the premium on accuracy after Hole 5; trigger — missed fairways near or past the fifth hole become frequent in late rounds.

Why it matters

The schedule adjustments change competitive rhythms for players and viewing plans for fans. A compressed timeline raises the importance of recovery, warmup management and strategic tee-time preparation, especially on a course that penalizes missed fairways increasingly as the round progresses and where short putts convert at a lower rate than the Tour average. For bettors and tournament followers, the revised start times and noted player form — including those with proven short-game gains — will factor into market movement and expectations as resumed play concludes and Round 2 unfolds.