The American Express 2020: Form stats for this week's PGA Tour event in California

Old tournament, new sponsor: This week's The American Express in Palm Springs, marks the first of four PGA Tour events to be played in the state of California over the next five weeks.

First staged 60 years ago, the tournament was made famous by its connection with entertainer Bob Hope whose name was used in the title between 1965 and 2011.

This popular pro-am event is held over three courses which, for the fifth year in a row, are PGA West Stadium, PGA West Tournament and La Quinta Country Club.

The tournament used to be contested over five rounds, starting on a Wednesday, but was reduced to 72 holes eight years ago.

Few Star Names

Unfortunately, while the tournament is still popular with the golfing fans of California, the quality of field is not as strong as in decades past.

None of the world's top 12 are taking part, with organisers probably relieved that 49-year-old Phil Mickelson is still turning up year after year.

The San Diego-born left-hander is now ranked 79th, and is a former champion in this event.

He has also posted a brace of podium finishes since 2016 - which was when the current collection of courses was first used for this tournament - but with the over-50s Champions Tour beckoning, Mickelson is no longer the force he once was.

Apart from Leftie, the two biggest-names are Francesco Molinari and Rickie Fowler.

The latter endured one of his most frustrating years in 2019 but at least finished it in a positive manner, before starting 2020 with a tie-for-fifth at Kapalua two weeks ago.

Good course form has rarely been the most significant statistic when attempting to find a potential champion for this long-standing desert classic.

Check out latest betting ahead of this week's The American Express

World No 30 Kevin Kisner is playing well right now but this week's tournament appears to be one of the most open fields you'll find on the PGA Tour all year, with few names standing out.

It was the same 12 months ago when the winner was Adam Long who was making his debut in this event.

Course Details

From Thursday through to Saturday, competitors will play one round at each venue, with the opening 54 holes comprising the pro-am.

Sunday's final round, when only the pros tee-up, will be on the Pete Dye-designed Stadium Course which made its debut in this event as long ago as 1987, but then wasn't used again for 29 years.

Water is a prominent feature of the course, coming into play close to the green on nine holes.

The Nicklaus-designed Tournament Course, which was also opened in the mid-1980s, is the most recent new addition to the tournament rota.

Of the three venues being used, La Quinta is the oldest, opening in 1959, and has been part of the pro-am on more than 50 occasions, although hasn't acted as host since the 1980s.

La Quinta, with its rolling tree-lined fairways, has slightly smaller greens than the other two layouts, as well as fewer undulations.

The Stadium Course is the most difficult of the three, while La Quinta is one of the easiest venues the pros will face all year.

Because amateurs form a large part of this event, the courses are not as testing as most of those used in top-tier professional golf. Scoring is usually low, with rough kept to a minimum.

Over the years as many as 13 courses have been used for this desert offering.

Twitter: Andy Swales@GolfStatsAlive

MC* - Missed Additional 54-Hole Cut

Note: List Contains Leading Reserves

Regarding Course Form Years:

PGA West Stadium (2016-17-18-19)
PGA West Tournament (2016-17-18-19)
La Quinta Country Club (2010-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19)