SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The WM Phoenix Open marked the end of the latest installment of the Aon Swing 5, the points system that helps identify players — not otherwise exempt into Signature Events — who have the best current form.
PGA Tour social media star receives Genesis Invitational spot via Aon Swing 5
The top-5 finishers in the Aon Swing 5 received invitations to the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines.
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
Three or four full-field events typically sit between Signature Events, and from those sets of tournaments, the five best players earn invites to the Signature Events via the Swing 5. In this case, the top five finishers in the FedEx Cup standings from the Sony Open in Hawaii, The American Express, the Farmers Insurance Open, and the WM Phoenix Open have earned spots in next week’s Genesis Invitational, which Torrey Pines will host because of the wildfires that have affected the Los Angeles area. Historic Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades typically hosts the Genesis Invitational each year.
Here are the five players who qualified for the second Signature Event of the season:
1. Sam Stevens
2. Daniel Berger
3. Michael Kim
4. J.J. Spaun
5. Andrew Novak
Stevens, Spaun, and Novak entered the week all ranked among the Aon Swing 5, and they did not have to do anything at TPC Scottsdale to lose their position. Stevens did not play, Spaun withdrew on Friday, and Novak missed the cut, yet all three are in next week.
Conversely, Berger and Kim had to play well to have a chance. They both had to finish among the top five to do so, and they did just that. Both players tied for second, finishing seven behind winner Thomas Detry.
“I’m excited. I haven’t played in a Signature Event,” Berger said.
“I asked for a sponsor exemption into Pebble Beach, where the last time I played it, I won, and two years in a row, I didn’t get that exemption, so it was a little chip on my shoulder to get it done without needing anyone’s help, so I’m excited to go back.”
After the 2022 U.S. Open, Berger missed roughly 18 months due to a back injury. He was a top-20 player in the world when he teed it up at Brookline and had just played for the U.S. team at the 2021 Ryder Cup. When he returned to the PGA Tour in January 2024, his ranking plummeted to 664th in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR). But now, after a solid week in which he showed glimpses of his 2021 form, Berger returns to Torrey Pines, where he tied for 7th at the 2021 U.S. Open.
“It was really tough, so hopefully it’s tough again,” Berger said of the 2021 U.S. Open.
“I saw it a couple of weeks ago when we played it; it was very difficult, so excited to go back.”
Berger missed the cut at last month’s Farmers Insurance Open.
Kim, one of the most popular golf influencers on social media, also failed to make the cut at Torrey Pines, a place near and dear to his heart.
“Whenever I can play a tournament at Torrey Pines, where I grew up playing, it’s a special week for me,” Kim said.
“The nostalgia I get walking down those fairways when I was 13, 14, 15, 16 years old, and to actually play the tournament is a really cool feeling.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
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