Rory McIlroy was one stroke short as Jacob Bridgeman withstood final day nerves and plenty of pressure to claim his maiden PGA Tour win at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.
Having started the day six back from the lead, McIlroy had finally found some birdies on the back nine, on 11, 12 and 17 to sit two strokes back from Bridgeman, whose momentum had stalled on Sunday with the title on the line.
On the 72nd hole, the Masters champion drained a lengthy birdie putt from the back fringe, the ball trickling up to the hole and eventually dropping, sparking a euphoric reaction in the galleries surrounding the green, among whom stood tournament host Tiger Woods.
Rory made things interesting on 18 👀 pic.twitter.com/83dMfV0fyV
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 22, 2026
Bridgeman - one-over for his round - was now faced with the nerve-jangling prospect of two-putting from 17ft to seal the win and avoid a three-way playoff with McIlroy and Kurt Kitayama, who'd carded 64 on Sunday to reach 17 under.
Under extreme pressure, Bridgeman left his first putt 3ft short amid oohs and murmurs from the gallery. But the 26-year old from South Carolina composed himself and rattled in the three-footer to seal the win on 18-under par.
A dream realized.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 22, 2026
Jacob Bridgeman is a PGA TOUR winner for the first time @TheGenesisInv. pic.twitter.com/eXJuSRUu2W
It had all looked so much easier at the outset on Sunday, Bridgeman holding a six-stroke lead overnight after two successive rounds of 64 had seen him speed clear of the field.
His playing partner McIlroy held second on his own on 13-under but Bridgeman stretched his lead to seven shots with birdies on the par-5 first and the third, with McIlroy only responding in kind on the former.
However, the birdie trail ran cold for Bridgeman from then on and he dropped strokes on the fourth and seventh holes after missing both greens left.
His saving grace was that the chasing pack were stalling, with McIlroy bogeying the sixth and then missing short birdie putts on the eighth and ninth, wincing as they both slipped by.
By that stage, McIlroy had shed the mantle as main challenger with Kitayama birdieing four of the first five holes and then the first two holes of the back nine to climb to to 15-under, four back from the lead.
Adam Scott also hit a purple patch to briefly surpass McIlroy, birdieing six of the first 14 holes in a blemish free round to reach 14-under. The 2013 Masters champion would add further birdies on the final two holes for a round of 63, finishing on 16-under in fourth.
McIlroy finally jump-started his challenge early on the back nine, birdieing the par-5 11th and then holeing out from the greenside bunker for birdie on the 12th.
Bridgeman, content to play conservatively, parred eight holes on the trot from the eighth to 15th before bogeying the par-3 16th after finding the bunker in front of the green and pitching out to 40ft.
With Kitayama in the clubhouse at 17-under, one shot adrift of Bridgeman, McIlroy birdied the 608 yard par-5 17th to get to 16-under.
This left him two shots behind coming up the last. Then followed the heroic birdie putt at the back to leave himself an outside shot at a playoff.
But Bridgeman, having crucially found the heart of the green with his approach, wasn't to be denied.
Earlier on, Shane Lowry had carded his best round of the week with a four-under par 67, birdieing three of the final four holes to finish with a flourish.
Lowry, who fell out of contention early after a poor opening round, finished on seven-under overall, in tied-24th.
