Jacob Bridgeman became the latest player to win his first PGA Tour title, claiming victory at the 2026 Genesis Invitational – and joining close friend Chris Gotterup as a tour winner in the process.
He had a six-shot cushion to start the final round but still had to grind out every hole to get over the line.
Gotterup may have missed out at Riviera, but he has put together a strong run over the past several months, picking up three wins including the WM Phoenix Open earlier this month.
The pair could very well become regular contenders on tour over the next decade or so, having already shown they can compete with some of golf’s best.
Bridgeman also got a congratulatory message from Tiger Woods after sealing his victory at Riviera.
But one thing that the South Carolina native will not forget is just how tough it was to get over the finish line late on Sunday at Riviera.
Jacob Bridgeman opens up about nerves at the Genesis Invitational
After clinching his first win at Riviera, Jacob Bridgeman spoke about how he couldn’t feel his hands while putting on the final few holes.
The 26-year-old even said he had no idea how hard to hit his putts on the last two greens.
“Poa annua is such a tricky surface to putt on, I feel like the speed is hard to gauge,“ he began by saying.
“Especially the slope is hard to see in the shadows sometimes and with kind of the spotty grass.
“So I don’t see the slope as well so I didn’t really know what’s uphill, what’s downhill, all kind of things.
“Was talking to Rory after the round, he said poa annua is one of the places where sometimes you don’t know if it’s downhill, uphill.
“So I knew what was required for the shots, the putts coming down the stretch, but I had – normally when I’m over the ball I know exactly what my body’s going to do and I had no idea.”
Jacob Bridgeman understands Chris Gotterup’s comments now
After his victory at Riviera, Bridgeman explained that he now fully grasps the meaning of Gotterup’s comments, which were made after the latter’s win in Phoenix three weeks earlier.
“After the Waste Management we were sitting on the green watching our buddy Chris win and he said, ‘I couldn’t feel my hands’.
“We were like, ‘what were you doing? You hit your putt so hard, it was going to go four feet by the hole’.
“He said, ‘I have no idea, I couldn’t feel my hands’.
“I thought he was kind of crazy until I got to this moment and then I was like, yep, I understand what you’re talking about now, Chris, I had no idea what to do,” Bridgeman concluded.
No matter how big a lead you have got heading into Sunday on the PGA Tour, closing out a win is one of the toughest things in sport.
And now the 26-year-old has learned firsthand what it takes – just as his mate Gotterup did before him.
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