Saving the best til last, the Genesis Open sees the PGA Tour bid farewell to the west coast and a suitably outstanding field will assemble at the iconic Riviera Country Club.

Such is the lure of this event that plenty were prepared to sacrifice last week's Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and while the top two in the world rankings are not here, just about everyone else is.

That includes Tiger Woods, back for a 10th crack at the course having yet to win this title, and he'll tee up with Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy for the first two rounds of the best tournament to have been staged anywhere so far this year.

While a closing 67 for 20th place at Torrey Pines represented a solid start to the year for Woods, it's hard to get excited about his prospects as tournament host and there would have to be a nagging concern around McIlroy's current strike-rate, particularly as he's played well without appearing to find this layout exactly to his liking in two visits so far.

Thomas, on the other hand, looks to have a solid chance. He's hitting the ball superbly at the moment and while playing in this noisy marquee three-ball for the second year running might be considered a negative, he's played really well the six times he's been grouped with Woods, beating his some-time mentor on each occasion.

With Bryson DeChambeau still learning these ropes and Jon Rahm making his debut at a course which undoubtedly favours experience, Thomas rates a threat to the favourite but Dustin Johnson looks worth backing to win this title for a second time.