-
Course and form stats for this week's event in California
-
Scheffler makes season debut as favourite
-
Straka defends title and Cantaly aims to build on course form
Amercan Express 2026 - Contenders based on current form
The world number one will go in as favourite when he makes his season debut at La Quinta this week. The last time we saw him waas at the Hero World Challenge, in the first week of December, when he finished fourth. Will he be rusty of refreshed? His previous best here was third in 2020, and last time he was 17th in 2024, but Scheffler is rarely out of contention.
The Scot continued his impressive form by finishing tied for fourth on his first outing of 2026 at last week's Sony Open. He missed the cut on his only previous visit but that was in 2024 and he is a greater force two years on.
Last week's second-place finish in Hawaii was further evidence that the 26-year-old is a player on the up and, at a big price, we cannot let him go unnoticed .
American Express 2026 - Contenders based on course form
The defending champion previously finished fourth here in 2020 and two missed cuts either side of that indicate that he is unpredictable at this venue. He finished third at the Hero so arrives in decent form.
The American finished fifth here last year and, at a venue where he has three other top 10 finishes, including runner-up in 2021, has to be a player to have onside. He hails from California and will want to impress in his home state.
He only managed 29th here last year but, prior to that, the American finished sixth in 2024. He was 11th in 2023 and has a previous sixth-placed finish to his credit too, so obvioulsy has some affinity for the course when his game is clicking. He comes fifth for lowest stroke averages in the chart below.
Stroke Averages
Lowest 12 in American Express (2020-25)
Average .... (Rounds)
67.00: Ben Griffin (12)
67.17: Keith Mitchell (12)
67.25: Davis Thompson (12)
67.35: Patrick Cantlay (20)
67.50: Sam Burns (18)
67.50: Scottie Scheffler (18)
67.63: Will Zalatoris (16)
67.69: Jason Day (16)
67.69: Alex Smalley (16)
67.80: Christiaan Bezuidenhout (15)
67.91: Tom Hoge (22)
67.96: Tony Finau (23)
Min. No. of Rounds = 10
Only those entered this week are included in table
Note: List Contains Leading Reserves