Jacob Bridgeman began the final round of the Genesis Invitational not only closing in on his maiden PGA Tour title, but also just 18 holes away from potentially breaking a long-standing record at the tournament.
Helped by one round of 68 and two rounds of 64, Bridgeman had opened up a six-shot lead after 54 holes on 19 under at Riviera Country Club, with Rory McIlroy his closest contender.
That brought his 54-hole score to 194, opening up the tantalizing prospect of breaking the 72-hole scoring record at the event. But who would he need to surpass to break it?
The answer is Lanny Wadkins, who won the title for the second time in 1985 with the all-time scoring record at the tournament.
Wadkins carded rounds of 63, 70 and 67 over 54 holes, and he completed an overall score of 264 with his 64 in the final round to cruise to victory by seven over Hal Sutton.
Wadkins' achievement, which is also the Riviera Country Club 72-hole scoring record, meant Bridgeman went into the final round of the 2026 tournament needing “only” a two-under 69 to beat it.
While that would still represent Bridgeman’s worst round of the week, it was by no means a foregone conclusion as he headed to the first tee box on Sunday.
Evidence of that can be found just four years ago, when Joaquin Niemann also had a 54-hole score of 194 on his way to beating Collin Morikawa and Cameron Young by two.
However, the Chilean wasn’t quite able to repeat the scintillating form of his opening two rounds, which resulted in two 63s and was followed by a 68 in the third round.
Instead, Niemann made a 71 in the final round to finish with an overall score of 265, just one short of matching Wadkins’ record.
No doubt ahead of the final round of the 2026 edition, Bridgeman would have gladly accepted a similar score if it meant he would add a PGA Tour win to his resume.
However, with the prospect of a place in the history books with the lowest score at the tournament also a possibility, he’d have begun the day eyeing the chance of both achievements.
