After a few weeks in paradise, the PGA Tour heads to the desert of California for the American Express. Lucky for us, most of the top players in the world have made the trip.
Ten of the top 19 in the Official World Golf Ranking will be battling in the event, including No. 2 Scottie Scheffler and No. 4 Jon Rahm. Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and Will Zalatoris round out the top 10 players in the field. Rahm, who recently won the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Maui, captured the title at this event in 2018.
Players will rotate between three golf courses during the first three rounds before the final round is played at the Pete Dye Stadium Course. There will be a 54-hole cut.
AmEx: 10 players to watch
Golf courses
PGA West (Stadium Course) | 7,187 yards | Par 72
PGA West (Nicklaus Tournament Course) | 7,147 yards | Par 72
La Quinta Country Club | 7,060 yards | Par 72
Data Golf Information
Course Fit (compares golf courses based on the degree to which different golfer attributes — such as driving distance — to predict who performs well at each course – DataGolf): 1. The Reinassance Club, 2. Caves Valley Golf Club, 3. TPC Lousiana
Trending (the players’ last three starts): 1. Jon Rahm (1, T-8, 1), 2. Tony Finau (1, 7, T-7), 3. Scottie Scheffler (T-9, 2, T-7)
Percent chance to win (based on course history, fit, trending, etc.): 1. Jon Rahm (10.8 percent), 2. Scottie Scheffler (9.7 percent), 3. Patrick Cantlay (6.5 percent)
Golfweek’s weekly podcast
Listen to Riley Hamel and Andy Nesbitt on this week’s episode of Twilight 9! The boys discuss Si Woo Kim’s win at the Sony Open, preview the American Express and make a few picks for the week. Plus, Justin Thomas stops by for a quick chat!
Follow the Twilight 9 Podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts
Betting preview
Last week (Sony Open)
Not too much to report from the second week in Hawaii. Tom Kim missed the cut at the disappointment of all of America, Corey Conners had a nice final round to finish T-12 and Taylor Montgomery struggled on Saturday and also finished T-12.
If you’re interested, follow me on Twitter (@rileyhamel_) and TikTok (@twilight9podcast) for my picks posted every Wednesday.
Let’s get a winner this week.
Odds
| Player | Odds | Player | Odds |
| Jon Rahm | (+550) | Tom Hoge | (+3100) |
| Patrick Cantlay | (+950) | Si Woo Kim | (+3400) |
| Scottie Scheffler | (+1000) | Brian Harman | (+3400) |
| Tony Finau | (+1500) | Cam Davis | (+3400) |
| Will Zalatoris | (+1900) | Aaron Wise | (+4200) |
| Xander Schauffele | (+2000) | Taylor Montgomery | (+4200) |
| Tom Kim | (+2000) | J.T. Poston | (+5000) |
| Sungjae Im | (+2100) | Sahith Theegala | (+5000) |
| Cameron Young | (+2100) | Andrew Putnam | (+5000) |
| Sam Burns | (+3100) | K.H. Lee | (+5000) |
Will Zalatoris
I liked what I saw from Willy Z at the Tournament of Champions a few weeks ago in his first start since missing time with a back injury (T-11). At last year’s American Express, the Wake Forest product finished T-6.
Bets to consider: Outright (+1900), Top 20 (+100)
Tony Finau
Big Ton had a solid week to start 2023 with a T-7 at the Sentry TOC.
He’s liked him some PGA West in recent seasons with a solo fourth in 2021 and a T-14 in 2020.
Bets to consider: Outright (+1500), Top 10 (+150)
Cam Davis
Cam Davis had an interesting week at Waialae (T-32). He couldn’t get anything going on the greens but was 11th in ball striking. If he can hole anything in the desert, he should contend.
Davis’ last three appearances at the AmEx: 3rd (2021), T-29 (2020) and T-28 (2019).
Bets to consider: Outright (+3400), Top 20 (+225)
