With the Hawaii swing now behind us, the PGA Tour makes its way to the continental United States for the 2024 American Express. Utilizing a three-golf-course rotation, the American Express will send players to La Quinta Country Club, the Nicklaus Tournament Course and the Pete Dye Stadium Course across the first 54 holes before a cut is made and one last round is played on the Pete Dye Stadium Course.
These grounds will welcome some of the best players in the world, including the top-ranked Scottie Scheffler. The world No. 1 held the 36-hole lead in his season debut at The Sentry before backtracking over the weekend en route to a top-five finish. Without a PGA Tour victory since The Players Championship in March 2023, Scheffler aims to enter the winner’s circle at a tournament where he first tasted contention.
Scheffler is joined by three of his U.S. Ryder Cup teammates: Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas. All three went without a win in 2023 but appear on the cusp of knocking down the door. These next two weeks are vital for Thomas as he checks in at No. 28 in the world. The top 30 in the Official World Golf Rankings at the end of next week’s Farmers Insurance Open will gain entry into the field for the second signature event of 2024, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Min Woo Lee joins Thomas in making his season debut this week. Now a full-time member, the Australian hopes to ride the momentum from this past fall where he notched a pair of victories across the world. Sungjae Im, Tom Kim, Eric Cole and J.T. Poston arrive at PGA West with plenty of form in tow while Americans Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns and Tony Finau could use a spark.
2024 American Express schedule
Dates: Jan. 18-21 | Location: PGA West (Pete Dye Stadium Course, Nicklaus Tournament Course, La Quinta Country Club) — La Quinta, California
Par: 72 | Yardage: 7,187 | Purse: $8,400,000
2024 American Express field, odds
- Scottie Scheffler (11/2): Scheffler putted great for two rounds at The Sentry, and it led him to taking the lead into the weekend at Kapalua. Unfortunately, the putter abandoned him over the final 36 holes and marked the sixth time in his last seven starts that he lost strokes on the greens. His tee-to-green presence remains jaw-dropping, but Scheffler will need the putter to cooperate across all 72 holes in a tournament like this if he is to reach a winning score in the neighborhood of 25 under.
- Patrick Cantlay (9-1)
- Xander Schauffele (11-1): A member of the final group at Kapalua, Schauffele quickly became an afterthought in the final round of The Sentry. Claiming a top-10 finish, the American continues to be the model of consistency but has no hardware to show for it. After winning three times in 2022, Schauffele could be on the cusp of a memorable 2024 if some bounces start going his way. The world No. 5 finished T3 in last year’s tournament thanks to a final-round 62.
- Sungjae Im (20-1)
- Justin Thomas (22-1): It may be safe to assume that Thomas plans to play the next two weeks in order to maintain his OWGR standing ahead of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. While Torrey Pines has been a constant on his playing calendar, Thomas has not seen PGA West in quite some time as he makes just his third career start and first since 2015. After missing the FedEx Cup Playoffs in 2023, the 15-time winner experienced an encouraging fall that featured three top fives in as many worldwide starts.
- Min Woo Lee (25-1): At 26, Lee has all the makings of taking the PGA Tour by storm. Bursting onto the scene with his top five at the Players Championship, Lee continued to flash his brilliance with a top-five finish at the U.S. Open and top 10 at the Travelers Championship. A winner on the Asian Tour and in his native Australia this past fall, he rides a massive wave of momentum into 2024 in what will be his first full season on the PGA Tour.
- Tom Kim (25-1)
- J.T. Poston (30-1): Outside the two winners, only Byeong Hun An had a better Hawaii swing than Poston. Finishing T5 and solo sixth in the two events, the American continued to show the game that appeared late last summer. He now has seven top 10s in his last 11 starts dating back to the John Deere Classic and has thrown his name in the conversation of being a top-20 player in the world.
- Eric Cole (33-1)
- Sam Burns (33-1)
- Wyndham Clark (35-1)
- Tony Finau (35-1)
- Jason Day (35-1)