The PGA Tour returns to the beautiful Riviera Country Club this weekend for the Genesis Invitational, and a few things are going to be different:

• Seven members of the Hawley Ratings top 10, including the top five, will be on hand, the best collection of such talent since the first tournament of the year, the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

• Not just coincidentally, the purse of $9.3 million is the largest since the Masters last fall.

Dustin Johnson is a solid favorite for multiple reasons. He’s been first or second in six of his last eight appearances (and never worse than 11th), going back to the end of last summer. He wrapped up last year by winning the Tour Championship and the Masters and won a Euro Tour event two weeks ago in Saudi Arabia. His record at Riviera also is outstanding with a win, three seconds, and seven other top-10s in the last 12 years. Almost needless to say, he is a pretty god fit for the course too. He took a week off to rest up for this one after the round trip to the Middle East.

As supported by the ratings, there are plenty of other good choices who hope to enjoy some of the most memorable holes on the tour this weekend. Near the top of that list is Xander Schauffele, who is starting to get tired of answering questions about why he finishes second so frequently. He has four finishes in that spot (Phoenix, Farmers, CJ Cup, Tour Championship) in his last eight appearances, plus two others in fifth place and two more in the top 20. The 27-year-old San Diego State product has been in the top 25 in all three prior appearances here.

Another player whose bank account is not suffering is Hawley Ratings no. 1 Jon Rahm. He’s been in the top 20 six straight appearances, with one second (Zozo) and three sevenths.

Riviera, five years short of its 100th birthday, is in the Santa Monica Canyon within the city limits of Pacific Palisades, a bit less than 15 miles north of the LAX Airport and about a mile inland from the Pacific coast. Unless you’ve known a member for a few years and have around a quarter-million of excess cash, forget about joining the club, which self-references as the place “where passion & prestige meet”. They probably could go with a statement even a little stronger when it comes to the course and its scenic, elevated first tee; its bunkered par-three sixth (that’s a bunker within the green); and the tempting but heavily bunker-protected 10th tee, among other fun features. For many players, the strongest challenge will come off the tee boxes and from the fairways. Based on the statistical profiles of players who have been successful on the track over the past eight years, shots gained off the tee, shots gained around the green, and shots gained in approach are the three stats most strongly correlated with success here.

One player is the clear leader in that assessment, per the Hawley course fit statistics. It’s long-hitter Bryson DeChambeau, whose course fit number is better than the second-best player (Bubba Watson) by a whopping 0.56 strokes per round. A delta that large between no. 1 and no. 2 happens only about once every 10 events. DeChambeau is no. 1 among PGA and Euro pros in shots gained off the tee and in the top 10 percent in the other two lists. Bubba is top two percent off the tee, top five percent in approach, and top quarter around the green.

Others whose game measures up nicely per those stats are, in order, Johnson, Will Zalatoris, Rory McIlroy, and Rahm.

As usual, there are a few younger players who are a little bit on the outside but deserving of consideration. Two who have worked their way into the top 100 are Zalatoris, 43rd; and Henrik Norlander, 85th. Zalatoris has made all three cuts in 2021, including a top-10 at the Farmers and a top-20 at Phoenix. Norlander has played the last five events and made the cut in the last four, with bests of runner-up at the Farmers and top-20 at the AmEx.

Challengers who might come from outside the top 100 include Luke List, 131st; KH Lee, 139th; and Bo Hoag, 166th. List, a good fit for the course, has made the last three cuts and was 10th at the Farmers. Lee was runner-up at Phoenix two weeks ago. Hoag missed the cut last week but has top-20s at the Farmers and AmEx this year.