Last Updated on January 15, 2024 8:04 pm by Erwin Noguera
After opening the season with two weeks in Hawaii, the PGA Tour comes to the mainland for its familiar West Coast swing, as we are making our way to Arizona for The American Express!
The American Express—which longtime golf fans still call the Bob Hope—is contested across three courses in La Quinta with a 54-hole cut instead of the usual cut after two rounds. Sunday players then all take on the Pete Dye Stadium Course.
Twenty-two of the top 50 in the OWGR entered the $8.4 million event, including four in the top 10: No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, No. 5 Patrick Cantlay, No. 6 Xander Schauffele and No. 10 Wyndham Clark, but with 156 players on the field, this is going to be quite interesting as it goes down.
Event Overview – The American Express – 2024 – PGA Golf Tour
The PGA Tour heads to California for the American Express with a star-studded field, but the defending champion won’t be there.
Jon Rahm shot 27-under-par on his way to a one-shot victory over Davis Thompson in 2023 but, having defected to LIV Golf for huge money in the off-season, the Spaniard is ineligible after being suspended by the PGA Tour.
World No.1 Scottie Scheffler headlines the field in La Quinta and is joined by three other players from the OWGR Top 10 in Ryder Cup teammates Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, and Wyndham Clark. Rory McIlroy is not in the field, having chosen to play in the DP World Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic.
The PGA Tour’s opening event of the West Coast swing attracts 22 of the world’s top 50 players.
As mentioned, Scheffler, Schauffele, Cantlay, and Clark are the star attractions, but fellow Ryder Cup USA stars Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau, and Justin Thomas are also in action. Shane Lowry is the only member of Ryder Cup Europe to tee it up in California, while Michael Block, the PGA Pro who became dubbed the ‘People’s Champion’ following his 15th place finish at the 2023 PGA Championship, also makes the field.
The American Express, previously known as the Desert Classic, is a traditional strokeplay format, played across three separate par 72 courses.
After playing one round on each course, those players making the 54-hole cut will face off one more time on the Stadium Course to decide who takes the spoils. Scoring is expected to be strong with a projected 10-under likely needed just to earn a tee-time on Sunday.
Schedule and Broadcast:
Schedule:
Golf Channel will host TV coverage of the 2024 American Express in Arizona:
Thursday, January 12: 3-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) Friday, January 13: 3-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) Saturday, January 14: 3-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) Sunday, January 15: 3-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Odds for The American Express 2024:
With 156 players on the field, these are the odds for some of the favorites:
Scottie Scheffler 6.05
Patrick Cantlay 9.1
Xander Scauffele 10
Sung-Jae Im 10
Justin Thomas 23
Tom Kim 26
Sam Burns 29
Min Woo Lee 31
Jason Tyree Poston 31
Jason Day 34
Tony Finau 34
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