How’s this for a first round storyline at the 100th hosting of the Genesis Inviational in California.
England’s Marco Penge, contesting the event for a first time since gaining his 2026 PGA Tour card, was the very last player to tee-up in the rain affected first round of the $20m event.
Last year’s three-time DP World Tour winner and Race-to-Dubai No. 2, had his scheduled tee-off delayed by a few minutes shy of three hours due to heavy late morning rain shutting down play until a rescheduled 2.41pm local time.
And then when poor light halted play at 5.41pm local time Penge was among some 40 players, including World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who had not completed their rounds.
Penge could not have asked for a better start in eagling the first and moved to three-under with a birdie on three. He bogeyed five but then picked-up four birdies from the seventh to 13th and eventually finishing early Friday morning bogey, birdie and bogey for his super round of 66.
WHICH GOLFER SHARED FIRST ROUND LEAD & WHICH GOLFER WAS NEAR LAST …
Marco Penge @PengeMarco brilliantly shared the lead in his maiden @thegenesisinv while World No. 1 @ScottieScheffle fails to get out of first gear posting a bogey-laden 74.
Read: https://t.co/obmVtnTeuJ… pic.twitter.com/gExm4sfITR
— Fatiha (@TOURMISS) February 20, 2026
It had him officially sharing the lead with American Jacob Bridgeman, Rory McIlroy and fellow Englishman Aaron Rai.
While officially a rookie on the PGA Tour, it’s the first ocassion Penge has lead/co-lead after any round in 25 PGAS Tour rounds.
“It’s been a pretty tough start for me on the PGA Tour as I’ve not played that great but I want to be in contention as much as possible,” Penge said.
“That was my goal last year to be contention and be in position to win as much as I can.
“It going to be a little harder over here, playing different courses that I don’t know much about in playing for the first, and also playing against fifty to one hundred best players in the world week-in, week-out.
“Saying that, you need to be on your game consistently.
“I was fortunate enough to have breakfast with Justin Rose last week and I was kind of picking his brain a little bit and he was giving me some good advice which was nice.
“I think all the European guys … Shane Lowry and Rory … are all willing to help and support me, if I need that help. Which is strange in a kind of way as when I am with them, I kind of idolize them in a way.
“I kind of feel like a little kid inside when I am in their presence. So yeah, that is something I need to get used to and start to feel more comfortable with.
“It’s more from a sense of how successful they have been in the game. I just look-up to all of them”.
COMPLETED First-Round Notes – Friday, February 20, 2026
Weather: Thursday: Scattered showers and windy. High of 57. Wind SW 14-20 mph, with gusts to 34 mph. Preferred lies were in use for round one. Friday: Sunny. High of 57. Wind SW 6-12 mph.
Suspension summary: The first round was suspended due to inclement weather at 10:13 a.m. PT and resumed at 1:05 p.m. (delay of 2 hours, 52 minutes). Play was suspended due to darkness at 5:41 p.m. on Thursday with 30 players yet to complete their round. Play resumed Friday morning at 7:00 a.m. and was completed at 9:23 a.m.
First-Round Leaderboard
| Pos. | Player | Total |
| T1 | Marco Penge | 66 (-5) |
| T1 | Jacob Bridgeman | 66 (-5) |
| T1 | Rory McIlroy | 66 (-5) |
| T1 | Aaron Rai | 66 (-5) |
| T5 | Wyndham Clark | 67 (-4) |
| T5 | Ryan Fox | 67 (-4) |
18-hole Lead Notes
- Four 18-hole co-leaders marks the most in The Genesis Invitational history since 2015 (6) and most on TOUR since the 2025 Sanderson Farms Championship (4)
Marco Penge (T1/-5)
- Holds first career lead/co-lead after any round on TOUR in 25th round
- Englishman earned his PGA TOUR card via the 2025 DP World Tour Top 10, claiming the No. 1 position
- Of the 22 rookies on the PGA TOUR for the 2026 season, only rookie in the field
- Qualified for the first two Signature Events of 2026 (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, The Genesis Invitational) by virtue of being the leading player in the final 2025 Race to Dubai Rankings who did not finish inside the top 50 in that season’s FedExCup
- Making fourth start this season (MC/Farmers Insurance Open, MC/WM Phoenix Open, T64/AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am)
- Career-best result in 10 starts on TOUR: T2/2025 Genesis Scottish Open
- Won three DP World Tour titles in 2025: the Hainan Classic, the Danish Golf Championship and the Open de España
Aaron Rai (T1/-5)
- Holds fourth 18-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR in an individual stroke play event and first since the 2023 RBC Canadian Open
- Records his low round at Riviera Country Club with a 5-under 66 (previous 68: R3/2022, R4/2023)
- Making fourth start at The Genesis Invitational (T61/2022, T29/2023, T37/2025)
- Has made two starts on TOUR this season (T50/Sony Open in Hawaii, T73/AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am)
- Has one win in 115 PGA TOUR starts (2024 Wyndham Championship)
- Finished No. 58 in the 2025 FedExCup Fall standings after qualifying for the FedExCup Playoffs for the fourth consecutive year
Jacob Bridgeman (T1/-5)
- Holds third 18-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR (2024 3M Open, 2025 Valspar Championship); 0-for-2 to date
- Making tournament debut opens with a 5-under 66, highlighted by an eagle on No. 1, marking his first time in 207 rounds opening with an eagle
- Has two top-10s in four starts this season (T4/Sony Open in Hawaii, T8/AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am)
- Clemson product in his third season on TOUR; advanced to the TOUR Championship for the first time and finished T27 in the 2025 FedExCup standings
- Career-best result on TOUR: T2/2025 Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches
Rory McIlroy (T1/-5)
- Holds 24th 18-hole lead/co-lead in an individual stroke-play event on TOUR and 3-for-23 converting the victory
- Records his lowest opening-round at Riviera Country Club with a 5-under 66 (previous R1: 67/2016, 2023)
- Making 10th appearance at The Genesis Invitational with three top-10s in nine prior starts (T4/2019, T5/2020, T10/2022)
- World No. 2 makes his second start of the season after finishing T14 at last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
- Finished T3 and T33 in his two DP World Tour appearances in Dubai in 2026
- Seeks to join Horton Smith with 30 PGA TOUR wins (16th all time)
- Has the third most wins on TOUR without a win at The Genesis Invitational over the last 30 years (Tiger Woods/82, Vijay Singh/31)
Miscellaneous Notes
- The Genesis Invitational marks the 100-year anniversary since the first playing of the event in 1926; Riviera is one of nine venues on the PGA TOUR’s 2026 schedule that has hosted a PGA TOUR event for 50 or more years
- The three player-hosted Signature Events (The Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday) are the only Signature Events that feature a 36-hole cut (the low 50 and ties and any additional players within 10 strokes of the 36-hole lead)
- Opening-round scores from notable players in the field:
- La Cañada, California native and winner of last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Collin Morikawa (68)
- 2025 FedExCup champion Tommy Fleetwood (69)
- Two-time Genesis Invitational champion and sponsor exemption Adam Scott (70)
- Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption recipient Sahith Theegala (71)
- Defending champion Ludvig Åberg (72)
- World No. 1 and 20-time PGA TOUR winner Scottie Scheffler (74)
