Torrey tests the best during the third round
Torrey Pines GC’s South Course showed its teeth to the world’s best players during Saturday’s third round of The Genesis Invitational. With 18 holes to play to crown a champion, the leaderboard is primed for excitment in the final round.
The third round started off with a dunk as Ludvig Åberg, the world’s No.6-ranked golfer, aced the par-3 third hole.
“I hit a little cut pitching wedge up in the wind and landed behind it and came back,” Åberg said. “It was a really cool moment. I’ve never made a hole-in-one in tournament play before, so it was a first for sure.”
With the ace, Genesis donated $10,000 to wildfire relief efforts through the Birdies For Good initiative. Through three rounds, 615 bridies or better have been made, which equals an overall donation of $194,200.
Tony Finau is responsible for a number of those donations as he posted the low round of the day. His five-under-par 67 moved the six-time PGA TOUR winner and world’s 30th-ranked player up to T4 on the leaderboard, four shots behind the leader, Patrick Rodgers (8-under 208).
Rodgers, who played collegiately at Stanford University, has deep ties to Los Angeles. He holds a one-shot lead over Denny McCarthy (7-under 209). Both McCarthy and Rodgers are looking to carry momentum into Sunday’s final round in search of their maiden victory on the PGA TOUR.
“I played awesome today, it was great,” Rodgers said after the round. “It’s rare to have a pretty clean day out at Torrey Pines. Just especially the length of the golf course, the rough and then playing the back nine into the breeze. That finishing stretch is no joke. So, yeah, definitely proud of the round that I put together.”
While Rodgers leads, there are 11 players within five shots of the lead. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. World No. 3 Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood and Long Beach native and UCLA product Patrick Cantlay are all among that group looking to chase down the lead over the final 18 holes.
The final round of the 2025 Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines gets underway at 6:45 a.m. PT with live coverage on GOLF Channel (10 a.m.-12 p.m. PT) and CBS (12-3:30 p.m. PT).