Following the season-opening jaunt through the Aloha State, the PGA Tour returns stateside to Southern California’s Coachella Valley to open 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 Pete Dye Stadium 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. Nick Dunlap became the first amateur to win a PGA event in three decades when he edged Christiaan Bezuidenhout by a swing at last year’s event. Both players are back but further down the outright odds board behind co-favorites Justin Thomas and Sungjae Im. Another full-field offers plenty of tournament matchup odds so be sure to visit BookMaker.eu to get the complete odds and to place a wager.
The American Express Matchup Odds
Sungjae Im -115 vs. Justin Thomas -115
Sam Burns -110 vs. Patrick Cantlay -120
Sam Burns -115 vs. Tom Kim -115
Patrick Cantlay -130 vs. Tom Kim +100
Tony Finau -125 vs. Wyndham Clark -105
Tony Finau -115 vs. Max Greyserman -115
Wyndham Clark -115 vs. Max Greyserman -115
Si Woo Kim -125 vs. Cameron Young -105
Davis Thompson -120 vs. Harry Hall -110
Nick Dunlap +115 vs. Will Zalatoris -145
Kurt Kitayama -170 vs. Brian Harman +140
Eric Cole -115 vs. Denny McCarthy -115
Patrick Fishburn -115 vs. J.T. Poston -115
Nico Echavarria -115 vs. J.J. Spaun -115
Ben Griffin -115 vs. Sepp Straka -115
Jason Day -115 vs. Cam Davis -115
Christiaan Bezuidenhout -110 vs. Tom Hoge -120
Adam Hadwin -110 vs. Lee Hodges -120
Mac Meissner -125 vs. Kevin Yu -105
Daniel Berger -115 vs. Lucas Glover -115
Nick Taylor -115 vs. Rickie Fowler -115
Mark Hubbard -115 vs. Doug Ghim -115
Andrew Novak -135 vs. Mackenzie Hughes +105
Jhonattan Vegas -135 vs. Erik Van Rooyen +105
Jesper Svensson -140 vs. Adam Schenk +110
Harris English -115 vs. Chris Kirk -115
Matt Mccarty +110 vs. Sam Stevens -140
Joe Highsmith -130 vs. Michael Thorbjornsen +100
Justin Lower -115 vs. Matt Kuchar -115
Kevin Roy -115 vs. Ryan Gerard -115
Max Mcgreevy -120 vs. Charley Hoffman -110
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 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 17 winners all scoring 20-under or better. Dunlap finished at 29-under last year, the lowest winning total in more than a decade, winning by one swing. Each of the past 15 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 7,200 yards at par 72 with five scoreable par 4s.
The American Express Matchup Picks
Tony Finau -115 vs. Max Greyserman
He’s been one of the most consistent players on Tour for several years so I don’t have a problem backing Finau in this matchup. He didn’t win a tournament last year but he finished with four top 10s among his 10 top 20s in his last 13 starts. Finau opened 2024 with a T15 at The Sentry and has a history here with four top 25s in his last five starts, including a solo fourth in 2021.
Nico Echavarria -115 vs. J.J. Spaun
Though Echavarria has a limited history at this tournament he enters on a run of strong form that forced me to take a deeper look at him. Though frustrating, a playoff loss at Waialae was Nico’s third podium finish in his last six starts. He triumphed in the ZOZO Championship in October and has scored below 70 in 20 of his last 24 rounds.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout -110 vs. Tom Hoge
He’s gotten progressively better in his finishes at this event over his last three starts and the only way to continue that trend is by winning. He lost by a swing to Dunlap last year with his 28-under good enough to win any of the previous nine editions. That came 12 months after he scored 22-under for a T11 in 2023. While his course form is solid the South African needs to pick up his overall game and success during the fall on the DP Tour gives him a boost.
Tom Kim -115 vs. Sam Burns
On a course that yields low scores one bad round could be a death sentence. Kim experienced that at Waialae when a third-round 74 sent him spiraling down the leaderboard. He closed with a 69 showing no ill effects of the disaster, and it was just one round in what otherwise has been a strong run for him. Kim was runner-up at the unofficial Hero World Challenge in December, his second such finish in a three-start span.
Harry Hall -110 vs. Davis Thompson
The results haven’t been there for him in this event, but a strong run of form should boost Hall as he looks to crack the top 40 for the first time in three AMX starts. He opened 2024 with two top 10s in Hawai’i continuing a run that saw him win the ISCO Championship among his seven top 20s in 11 starts to end 2024.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker.eu.
Check out the latest odds at BookMaker
