Following the season-opening swing through the Aloha State that produced two unlikely winners, the PGA Tour returns stateside opening the five tournament West Coast swing with The American Express. To accommodate a full field and the amateurs that take part, everyone will play the first three rounds at each of the PGA West Course, Nicklaus Tournament Course and La Quinta Country Club. The field will be trimmed for Sunday’s final round with the pros finishing up on the host Stadium Course. We will have a new outright champion now that Jon Rahm opted for rival LIV Golf. Si Woo Kim, who won in 2021, is the most recent titlist in the field. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, one of four players ranked inside the top 10, opened as the outright betting favorite and is favored massively in his matchups. Visit BookMaker.eu for a complete list of matchup betting odds when you’re ready to place a wager.
The American Express Matchup Odds
Scottie Scheffler -175 vs. Patrick Cantlay +145
Scottie Scheffler -225 vs. Xander Schauffele +185
Patrick Cantlay -138 vs. Xander Schauffele +115
Sungjae Im -144 vs. Justin Thomas +120
Sungjae Im -147 vs. Tom Kim +122
Justin Thomas +100 vs. Tom Kim -120
Sam Burns -110 vs. Min Woo Lee -110
Sam Burns -138 vs. Jason Day +115
Min Woo Lee -129 vs. Jason Day +108
J.T. Poston -115 vs. Tony Finau -105
Eric Cole -153 vs. Rickie Fowler +127
Shane Lowry +112 vs. Si Woo Kim -134
Wyndham Clark -127 vs. Rickie Fowler +106
Chris Kirk -132 vs. Cameron Davis +110
Andrew Putnam -120 vs. Alex Noren +100
Taylor Montgomery +112 vs. Akshay Bhatia -134
Adam Hadwin -105 vs. Stephan Jaeger -115
Will Zalatoris +110 vs. Daniel Berger -132
Billy Horschel +117 vs. Adam Schenk -140
Thomas Detry +120 vs. Beau Hossler -144
Justin Suh -115 vs. Ryo Hisatsune -105
Matt Kuchar -120 vs. Matt Wallace +100
Erik Van Rooyen -120 vs. Tom Hoge +100
Nick Taylor -115 vs. K.H. Lee -105
Austin Eckroat -120 vs. Christiaan Bezuidenhout +100
Mark Hubbard -115 vs. Lee Hodges -105
Nicholas Lindheim +100 vs. Matthieu Pavon -120
Sam Stevens -128 vs. Sam Ryder +107
Doug Ghim -110 vs. Michael Kim -110
Greyson Sigg -115 vs. Grayson Murray -105
Cameron Champ -135 vs. Garrick Higgo +115
Need to Know
With a full field of pros and a slew of amateurs, three courses are needed to make sure play concludes every day. All three venues are similar in length at just over 7,000 yards and they are considered to be among the easiest on Tour. That’s reflected in the scores with each of the past 16 winners all scoring 20-under or better. Rahm finished at 27-under last year, the lowest winning total in a decade, winning by one swing. Each of the past 14 editions have been decided by two shots or fewer with four of those needing additional holes. The pro-am field will play 18 holes on each course over the first three days with the cut coming after 54 holes. Sunday’s final round will be contested on the Stadium Course, which is considered the more difficult layout playing around two strokes harder on average. It plays just over 7,100 yards at par-72 with five scoreable par 4s.
The American Express Matchup Picks
Xander Schauffele +115 vs. Patrick Cantlay
The title drought has gone on way too long for a player as good as Schauffele. While it’s been like a year and a half since his last win, the X-man continues to put up solid finishes opening the new season with a T10 at The Sentry, his ninth top 10 in his last 16 Tour starts. Making his first visit here in six years, Schauffele closed last year’s edition with a 62 earning a share of third and is well worth the investment at his price.
Tom Kim -120 vs. Justin Thomas
I’d probably consider throwing down on JT at even-money in every other event. But he’s coming off a down season and he hasn’t played this tournament since 2015 making the unknown a reason why I’m backing Kim. There are other reasons notably that Kim is a righteous fit for the tracks the field has to navigate. Kim keeps the ball in play and rarely makes mistakes, requirements for scoring low in this tournament.
J.T. Poston -115 vs. Tony Finau
I almost feel bad for fading Finau in this matchup since I’m almost always backing him. However, by his standards he’s slumping with more bad than good over the last year. So it isn’t a problem to invest in Poston, who went T5-6 in the Hawai’i swing. The consistent play continued for Poston, who finished last season with five top 10s in his final nine starts. Poston also has a pair of top 10s in this event, including a T6 last year.
Chris Kirk -132 vs. Cameron Davis
I don’t usually back players with a price as steep as Kirk’s in this matchup, but starting the season on a roll has me, and others, taking notice. He was a longshot winner at The Sentry and didn’t suffer from a title hangover by capturing a top 20 one week later in Waialae. His game is in a good place and will get better at a joint that yielded him a T3 just 12 months ago.
Andrew Putnam -120 vs. Alex Noren
Putnam has only win career Tour victory so it’s a good thing I’m not backing him for the outright. Instead, he’s on minor but successful run that started last season when he closed with a pair of top 10s. He earned another at The Sentry earlier this month giving him top 10s in half of his last six Tour starts. He’s done well here making the cut in six straight while placing among the top 20 in four of them.
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