2026 American Express Preview: Field, Tee Times, Courses, History, How to Watch

Golf on the mainland is here, with Scottie Scheffler headlining a field that includes 13 of the top 30 players in the world, many of whom are making their season debuts.

The American Express will be the PGA Tour's first event in the continental U.S., and the season debut of Scottie Scheffler. | Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Golf on the mainland is here.

After the PGA Tour opened its 2026 season last week at the Sony Open in Hawaii, next up is the American Express at PGA West in the California desert. 

The Palm Springs event has been a staple on the Tour’s calendar since 1960, and this year, a strong 156-player field will be vying for a part of the $9.2 million purse, with the winner collecting $1,656,000 and 500 FedExCup points. 

From its field, courses and history, here’s what you need to know for the 2025 American Express. 

A strong early season field 

Perhaps due to the season-opening Sentry being canceled, many of the world’s top players are starting their season in the desert. 

That includes world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. He’ll be joined by 12 of the top 30 players in the world, including Russell Henley, Robert MacIntyre, Ben Griffin, Justin Rose and Harris English. 

Other notables include Ludvig Åberg, Matt Fitzpatrick, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott and Max Homa. 

Plus, eight past champions: Charley Hoffman (2007), Jhonattan Vegas (2011), Jason Dufner (2016), Adam Long (2019), Andrew Landry (2020), Si Woo Kim (2021), Nick Dunlap (2024), and Sepp Straka (2025). 

There will also be nine players teeing it up who finished top 10 at the Sony Open last week: Ryan Gerard (2nd), Patrick Rodgers (3rd), MacIntyre (T4), Jacob Bridgeman (T4), Daniel Berger (T6), Taylor Pendrith (T6), Lee Hodges (T6), Davis Riley (T6) and Harry Hall (T6).

In addition, Michael Block, the Cinderella story from the 2023 PGA Championship, will compete this week by virtue of wining the PGA of Southern California Professional Championship in September.

And last but not least, this will be the return of Will Zalatoris. The 29-year-old, who had six top 10s in majors between 2020 and 2022, hasn’t competed since the PGA Championship due to back surgery, his second since 2023. Now, however, he’s healthy and ready to go. 

“It’s been a long journey,” he said Tuesday, “but I do feel that this kind of chapter of my life is definitely over and I feel like I’m 30 to 35 [years old] will be feeling a lot better than I was 25 to 30.”

A trio of courses

The American Express is contested on three courses: the Pete Dye Stadium Course, La Quinta Country Club and the Nicklaus Tournament Course—all par-72s.

Players will tee it up on each course during the first three rounds, with a cut of the top 65 and ties following the third round. The final round will be contested on the Stadium Course. 

The Stadium Course is the longest of the trio, playing at 7,210 yards. La Quinta is 7,147 yards and the Tournament Course stretches out 7,060 yards. 

Last year, the Stadium Course was the toughest of the three, ranking as the 19th hardest course on Tour (out of 49), playing .652 strokes under par. La Quinta, meanwhile, was the fourth easiest course, with a scoring average 3.4 strokes under par. And the Tournament Course was 47th on Tour in terms of difficulty, yielding a scoring average of 3.75 strokes under par.

In 2025, the hardest hole of the three-course rotation was the Stadium Course’s 214-yard par-3 13th, with a scoring average of 3.256, ranking as the 56th most difficult on Tour. And the least hardest hole was La Quinta’s 527-yard par-5 6th, playing .703 strokes under par as the Tour’s sixth easiest hole. 

The Stadium Course is also home to the “monster bunker”—a left greenside trap on the par-5 16th that’s 18 feet below the green, making it the Tour’s deepest bunker.

“Whatever they call that bunker, it’s, I was kind of in the middle of it and it was very firm,” Harry Higgs said after hitting into it in 2022. “My feet, it felt like concrete. And then you’re kind of picking between two evils, right? Do I bounce into it, send it screaming over the green, or do I take a shot on and it just doesn’t clear, it’s going to roll back down? And then it rolled back down.”

Nightmare fuel.

The 18-foot bunker on the 16th hole @TheAmExGolf is an absolute monster 😳 pic.twitter.com/cbKGA6njqm

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 16, 2024

 

History: Arnie’s last 

The American Express claims several memorable moments in golf history, most notably, David Duval’s closing 59 (the third sub-60 round in Tour history) to win in 1999 and last year when Dunlap became the first amateur in 33 years to win on Tour.

However, it’ll always be home to Arnold Palmer’s last win. 

In 1973, the 43-year-old entered the then-Bob Hope Desert Classic winless in the last 18 months. The King had won four Bob Hope’s, but it appeared his glory days were behind him. 

Despite a star-studded field, the California desert was a place Palmer felt comfortable—and confident. 

Entering a rainy final day of the five-round tournament (it was a 90-hole event through 2011), Palmer trailed Jack Nicklaus and a young Johnny Miller by a stroke. But with a birdie on the fourth hole, Palmer claimed a lead that he never relinquished. Arnie’s Army, out in full force, was in a frenzy. 

The Latrobe, Pa., native had a two-stroke lead on the last. Nicklaus had a chance to make eagle, but his 20-foot try burned the edge of the cup, and Palmer rolled in a 7-footer for birdie to notch the victory. 

In celebration, Palmer flung his visor, collecting $32,000 for his 62nd and final PGA Tour triumph. 

“I’d be less than honest if I didn’t admit there were times I had doubts about ever winning again,” Palmer said afterward. “It’s always a necessity to win. If it isn’t, there isn’t any need to play.”

How to watch (all times ET)

• Thursday-Sunday: 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel)

ESPN+ will also have coverage during each round. 

First- and second-round tee times 

Tee times for the second round of The American Express pic.twitter.com/gdRaxGOflQ

— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) January 20, 2026