{"id":16346,"date":"2026-01-21T20:16:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T20:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.betspertsgolf.com\/raw-forum\/?post_type=article&p=16346"},"modified":"2026-01-21T20:16:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T20:16:27","slug":"2026-american-express-betting-preview","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/api.betspertsgolf.com\/raw-forum\/article\/2026-american-express-betting-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 American Express \u2013 Betting Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The PGA Tour returns to the mainland as players head to the Coachella Valley desert in La Quinta, California, for The American Express at PGA West. This tournament is unique for several reasons. It is played as a Pro-Am, with each professional paired alongside an amateur for the first three rounds. Additionally, the event utilizes three different courses rather than the traditional single-course setup. Another departure from the norm is the cut, which takes place after 54 holes on Saturday instead of the usual 36-hole cut on Friday. Only the top 65 players and ties will advance to Sunday\u2019s final round on the Stadium Course. Alongside the Pete Dye Stadium Course, the Nicklaus Tournament Course and La Quinta Country Club round out this week\u2019s rotation. The latter two have ranked as the two easiest courses on the PGA Tour over the past five years, making extremely low scores the expectation. Players will compete on each of those courses just once during the week. After more than 50 years of various course changes, the current rotation has remained intact since 2016, with the lone exception coming in 2021 when La Quinta Country Club was not used.<\/p>\n

Each course in the rotation shares many of the same characteristics. With typically calm winds and clear desert skies, this event is often described as \u201cdome golf,\u201d creating some of the easiest scoring conditions players will face all season. All three layouts feature four scoreable par 5s and measure under 7,200 yards. They also share similar agronomy, with smooth Poa trivialis greens and ryegrass fairways bordered by a non-penal first cut of overseeded rye rough, followed by a layer of dormant Bermuda rough beyond that.<\/p>\n

The Stadium Course is the most demanding of the three layouts and will host two of the four rounds, including Sunday\u2019s final round. Designed by Pete Dye, it features a challenging set of par 3s, numerous visually intimidating bunkers, and water hazards in play on seven holes. The course also underwent a significant restoration of its greens and bunkers between the 2024 and 2025 seasons, a renovation that contributed to tougher scoring last year, as it played to an average of 0.65 strokes under par per round.<\/p>\n

Despite the Stadium Course\u2019s added bite, winning scores at The American Express typically approach the 25-under-par range. All three venues are resort-style courses with pin placements intentionally set on the easier side to accommodate amateur partners from Thursday through Saturday. As a result, this event tends to favor a wide range of player profiles, with success often coming down to a pure putting contest\u2014rewarding those with the hottest flat stick.<\/p>\n

The Field<\/h2>\n

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With the loss of the Sentry, the year\u2019s first signature event, this year\u2019s American Express is welcoming one of its strongest fields in recent memory. World No. 1\u00a0Scottie Scheffler<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0will make his season debut this week. He last played here two years ago and finished a pedestrian 17th, while amateur\u00a0Nick Dunlap<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0claimed a stunning victory.<\/p>\n

In addition to Scheffler, 11 0ther top-25 players are in the field including\u00a0Russell Henley<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Robert MacIntyre<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Ben Griffin<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Justin Rose<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Harris English<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Alex Noren<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Ludvig Aberg<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Matt Fitzpatrick<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Sam Burns<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Patrick Cantlay<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>, and defending champion\u00a0Sepp Straka<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Other notables in the field include\u00a0Max Homa<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Rickie Fowler<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Adam Scott<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Akshay Bhatia<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Wyndham Clark<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Kurt Kitayama<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Min Woo Lee<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Andrew Novak<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>, and\u00a0Will Zalatoris<\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span>. Thanks to the multiple-course format, a full field of 156 players will tee it up in the desert, making this week a valuable opportunity for those not fully exempt to improve their status and potentially earn a spot in the next signature event at Pebble Beach.<\/p>\n

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Past Winners & Odds<\/h2>\n

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Most Important Stats For Success at PGA West<\/h2>\n

*In order of importance<\/em><\/p>\n