The American Express 2023: Course and current form stats

• First of four California events between now and mid-Feb

• Watch out for desert specialists this week

• Cantlay has strong history in desert events

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The PGA Tour returns to the American mainland to continue its traditional early year West Coast Swing, and will tee-up this Thursday in Palm Springs.

Over the next five weeks, the golfers will play four events in California and one in Arizona.

And to illustrate the varying nature of PGA Tour venues, two of these tournaments will be contested along the rugged Californian coastline, two in desert surrounds, with the Swing concluding at a lush, historic, parkland course in Los Angeles.

First up is The American Express, a long-standing pro-am which under various guises has been called the Bob Hope Classic, CareerBuilder Challenge and - for 23 years through to 2008 - was sponsored by Chrysler.

It began life in 1960, had five decades as a 90-hole tournament, and has generally been referred to as 'The Desert Classic.'

Course Characteristics

Over the years, 13 different courses have been used for this event, and since 2016 Pete Dye's Stadium Course at PGA West has enjoyed the honour of being host venue.

The other two courses involved this week are the Nicklaus Tournament Course (also at PGA West) and La Quinta Country Club.

The 156 professionals taking part will play one round at each course over Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with Dye's Stadium Course taking centre stage for the final 18 holes on Sunday.

The Stadium Course, which made its debut in this event as long ago as 1987, but then wasn't used again for 29 years because the pros were severely critical of it, is the most difficult of the three.

Tour pros even signed a petition to prevent the course from being used again in 1988, a ban which was finally overturned seven years ago.

Opened in 1986, water is a prominent feature of the layout, with sizeable hazards on half of its holes.

The Nicklaus-designed Tournament Course is the most recent new addition to the tournament rota, joining the fray in 2016.

It is described on pgawest.com as being 'a true ball strikers' golf course.'

But while the Stadium Course and Nicklaus Tournament Course were both designed and opened during the mid-1980s, La Quinta goes back as far as 1959.

La Quinta, which made its PGA Tour debut in 1964, is one of the easiest layouts that the pros will face all year.

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

Because the tournament incorporates a pro-am section, the venues are set-up slightly easier than most other PGA Tour layouts, and since 2016 the average-winning under par score has been 23.57.

Latest betting for this week's American Express-sponsored tournament in California

Stroke Averages

Lowest 15 in Desert Classic (2016-22)
Average .... (Rounds)
67.17: Patrick Cantlay (12)
67.58: Adam Hadwin (24)
67.88: Jon Rahm (16)
67.92: Cameron Davis (12)
68.00: Sung Jae Im (16)
68.20: Scottie Scheffler (10)
68.33: Brian Harman (27)
68.40: Sam Burns (10)
68.40: Tony Finau (15)
68.40: Andrew Putnam (20)
68.42: David Lingmerth (12)
68.67: Harris English (12)
68.71: Si Woo Kim (17)
68.89: Sean O`Hair (18)
Min. No. of Rounds = 10
Only those entered this week are included in table

Desert Form on PGA Tour

Most Top-12 Finishes at Desert Venues (Since 1.1.2020)
T12s
6: Sung Jae Im
5: Patrick Cantlay
4: Si Woo Kim
4: Andrew Putnam
Courses are: TPC Summerlin, The Summit Club, TPC Scottsdale, PGA West and Shadow Creek (Las Vegas). Only those entered this week are included in table.

Latest betting for this year's Masters Tournament

Four To Watch

Patrick Cantlay: Born and bred in California, the 30-year-old resident of Florida usually plays well when he returns 'home' to compete in tournaments staged in western American states - especially in the desert.

Sung Jae Im: The 24-year-old from South Korea enjoys a strong record in desert conditions. This includes a four-stroke victory in Nevada just over 15 months ago. He is currently ranked No 19 in the world.

Andrew Putnam: An outsider with a decent history at PGA West. He tied-fourth in Hawaii on Sunday and is another e/w chance this coming week.

Jon Rahm: The world No 4 thinks he should be higher in the Ranking and based on his form since the start of August probably has a good point. Champion here in 2018 and winner in three of his last five starts around the globe.

MC* - Missed Additional 54-Hole Cut

Note: List Contains Leading Reserves