The American Express
The Stadium Course at PGA West (Host)
Nicklaus Tournament Course
La Quinta Country Club
La Quinta, CA
Rob Bolton joins me each Wednesday at 4pm on TheZoneBloomington.com
Course rotation & tee times →
R1) Stadium; R2) La Quinta; R3) Nick Tourney
R1) La Quinta; R2) Nick Tourney; R3) Stadium
R1) Nick Tourney; R2) Stadium; R3) La Quinta
NOW PLAYING:
| Host Course | Stadium Course at PGA West |
| Yards (per official scorecard): | 7,210 |
| Par: | 72 (36-36). |
| Greens: | Overseeded Poa annua (TifEagle); 7,000 square feet on average. |
| Stimpmeter: | 11 feet. |
| Rough: | Overseed at 1 inch. Dormant Tifgreen Bermuda at 2 inches. |
| Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play | Over 90 bunkers, seven holes with water in play. |
| Architect(s): | Pete Dye (1986). |
| Defending Champion (event): | Sepp Straka (-23). |
| Multiple Champion(s) Entered: | None. |
| Course Record (last): | 61; Justin Thomas (Round 3, 2024), Patrick Cantlay (Round 4, 2021). |
| 72 Hole Tournament Record (2016-current rotation): | 259; Nick Dunlap (-29). |
| Fact of the Week: | Only seven international winners from the previous 66 events. |
| Fact of the Week II: | Johnny Miller is the only player to defend the title (1975-76). |
Notes:
- Field of 156.
- First multi-course event of 2026 and first pro-am.
- The OWGR is represented by 27 of the top 50.
- Top 65 and ties will make the cut and play the weekend after 54 holes (play each course once).
- $9.2 million – $1.656 million – 500 FedExCup points – Sentry and Masters ticket punched.
Recent Winners
2025 Season Winners
| Event | Winner |
| The Sentry | No Event |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Chris Gotterup |
| The American Express | |
| Farmers Insurance Open |
2025 Season Winners
| Event | Winner |
| The Sentry | Hideki Matsuyama |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Nick Taylor |
| The American Express | Sepp Straka |
| Farmers Insurance Open | Harris English |
| AT&T Pebble Beach | Rory McIlroy |
| WM Phoenix Open | Thomas Detry (LIV) |
| The Genesis Invitational | Ludvig Aberg |
| Mexico Open at Vidanta | Brian Campbell (first time) |
| Cognizant Classic | Joe Highsmith (first time) |
| Arnold Palmer Invitational | Russell Henley |
| Puerto Rico Open | Karl Vilips (first time) |
| THE PLAYERS Championship | Rory McIlroy |
| Valspar Championship | Viktor Hovland |
| Texas Children’s Houston Open | Min Woo Lee (first time) |
| Valero Texas Open | Brian Harman |
| 88th Masters Tournament | Rory McIlroy (career grand slam) |
| RBC Heritage | Justin Thomas |
| Zurich Classic | Ben Griffin & Andrew Novak (first time winners) |
| THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson | Scottie Scheffler |
| Truist Championship | Sepp Straka (2) |
| Mrytle Beach One Flight | Ryan Fox |
| 106th PGA Championship | Scottie Scheffler (2) |
| Charles Schwab Challenge | Ben Griffin (2) |
| The 50th Memorial Tournament | Scottie Scheffler (3) |
| RBC Canadian Open | Ryan Fox (2) |
| 124th United States Open | J.J. Spaun |
| Travelers Championship | Keegan Bradley |
| Rocket Mortgage Classic | Aldrich Potgieter (first time) |
| John Deere Classic | Brian Campbell (2) |
| Genesis Scottish Open | Chris Gotterup |
| ISCO Championship | William Mouw (first time) |
| 152nd Open Championship | Scottie Scheffler (4) |
| Barracuda Championship | Ryan Gerard (first time) |
| 3M Open | Kurt Kitayama |
| Wyndham Championship | Cameron Young (first time) |
| FedEx St. Jude Championship | Justin Rose |
| BMW Championship | Scottie Scheffler (5) |
| The TOUR Championship | Tommy Fleetwood (first time) |
| FedEx Cup Fall | |
| Procore Championship | Scottie Scheffler (6) |
| Sanderson Farms Championship | Steven Fisk (first time) |
| Black Desert Championship | Michael Brennan (first time) |
| Baycurrent Championship | Xander Schauffele |
| World Wide Technology Champ | Ben Griffin (3) |
| Butterfield Bermuda Champ | Adam Schenk (first time) |
| The RSM Classic | Sami Valimaki (first time) |
Recent Winners – The American Express
Italics – not entered this week.
| Year | Winner | Notes |
| 2025 | Sepp Straka (-23) | Bogeyed two of the last three holes to win by two. Cake walk. |
| 2024 | Nick Dunlap (-29) | First amateur to win on TOUR since 1991; First TOUR start (sponsor’s exemption); Tournament scoring record. |
| 2023 | Jon Rahm (-27) | Played in the final group with Davis Thompson and beat him by a shot to win for the second time. |
| 2022 | Hudson Swafford (-23) | Defeated Tom Hoge by two shots to win for the second time. |
| 2021 | Si Woo Kim (-23) | Only made two bogeys for the week on the SC/NT rotation to win by one. |
| 2020 | Andrew Landry (-26) | Tied the tournament scoring record winning by two. |
| 2019 | Adam Long (-26) | Became the first rookie to win since Jhonattan Vegas (2011). |
| 2018 | Jon Rahm (-22) | Needed a playoff to knock off Andrew Landry. |
| 2017 | Hudson Swafford (-20) | Wet, windy weekend produced the highest winning total to date in the new rota. |
| 2016 | Jason Dufner (-25) | Saw off David Lingmerth in a playoff in the first iteration of Stadium Course, Nicklaus Tournament Course and LQCC |
Angles
- The Nicklaus Tournament Course plays to Par-72 and 7,210 yards. Playing 7,000 square feet on average, the Overseeded Poa annua greens are the largest of the three courses. Dylan Wu (2023) and Will Zalatoris (2022) have posted 61 here.
- La Quinta Country Club is known for premium putting surfaces and plays the easiest of the trio. All three courses have minimal rough and green speeds that won’t exceed 11 feet. Playing to Par-72 and 7,060 yards, it is one of the easiest tracks on TOUR annually. Adam Hadwin posted 59 in Round 3 in 2017.
- All 10 winners have posted 20-under or better to win, and nine of 10 champions ranked in the top 10 in Par-4 and Par-5 scoring.
- The HIGHEST cut in this rotation in the last three editions was 7-under. The LOWEST cut in this rotation was 13-UNDER-PAR in 2024.
- First tournament with overseeded Poa annua greens.
One and Done – Spotter’s Game
1 player per event, plus a backup selection if your original choice does not tee off.
1 use per year.
LAST WEEK – The Sony Open in Hawaii
MY CHOICE: Robert MacIntyre – T4
The Scotsman
| Event | Selection | Place | Earnings |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Robert MacIntyre | T4 | 409,500 |
| The American Express | |||
| Farmers Insurance |
THIS WEEK – The American Express
Back to the mainland this week for the first Pro-Am and multi-course event of the year.
20-under is the worst winning score on this three-course rotation, which began in 2016.
I’m looking for guys who are hot and make a shit ton of birdies.
MY CHOICE: Ben Griffin
The last time there was a shootout on the PGA TOUR, Griffin posted 29-under to win the WorldWide Technology Championship at Los Cabos. He ranked in the top 15 in Birdies and Eagles in 2025 and painted the top 10 on his last two visits.
The last thing I need to do in the second event of the year is overthink it.
Others to consider
J.T. Poston, Si Woo Kim, Patrick Cantlay, Harry Hall, Max Greyserman
Longshot – Alex Smalley
Glass Houses 