8D AGO

Power Rankings: The American Express

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Written by Rob Bolton @RobBoltonGolf

Because it also means goodbye, the PGA TOUR bids Hawaii "aloha" for another year. It was a historic and thrilling Opening Drive in the islands, but it’s time for the annual return to the mainland for the West Coast Swing.

As it does at the start of every calendar year, The American Express slots third in the lineup. Its gathering of 156 golfers is the first in a litany of maximum-strength fields on the schedule. Three courses are used to handle the traffic and every entrant is partnered with an amateur.

Scroll or swipe past the ranking of those projected to contend for the title in the tournament proper for an explanation of the format, what’s new about the host course, how all will test and more.



It can’t be ruled out that whoever coined the phrase “hit the ground running” may have been inspired by the experience of those making the trip from the Sony Open in Hawaii on Oahu to The American Express in the Coachella Valley of California. It’s the strategy supporting the swing thoughts.

Also, consider that last year’s cut of 13-under 203 is the lowest in the tournament’s history as a 72-hole contest (2012-present). Because each pro-am tandem navigates the Pete Dye Stadium Course and Nicklaus Tournament Courses at PGA WEST, as well as La Quinta Country Club exactly once, the cut of low 65 and ties falls at the conclusion of three rounds. Amateurs sit out the finale for which all of the pros vie on the Dye.

Scoring on all three tracks can be absurd, but that’s part of the point with amateurs tagging along, or in some cases, leading the way. Each is a stock par 72. Last year, La Quinta surrendered a three-round average of 67.903. The Nicklaus Tournament Course wasn’t far behind at 68.084, while the Stadium Course stood tallest at 69.090 across the first three rounds. It’d climb to 69.148 with the final round plugged in.

The majority of the renovations on both La Quinta and the Nicklaus Tournament Course had been completed ahead of the 2024 edition. The scoring that followed was even easier than years prior. This year’s twist is a newly restored Pete Dye Stadium Course.

Led again by architect Tim Liddy, the Pete Dye Stadium Course is poised again to best reflect Dye’s vision of Scotland in the desert. New overseeded TifEagle putting surfaces are larger by as much as 30 percent. Some fairway bunkers are gone and no greenside bunker went untouched. The course stretches an additional 23 yards and reads 7,210 yards on the scorecard. For returning competitors, they will notice that the 227-yard, par-3 sixth hole is four yards longer, while the 214-yard, par-3 13th has added 19 yards. Those holes ranked as the respective hardest and third-hardest on the course in each of the last two editions.

Meanwhile, the Nicklaus Tournament Course is down 12 yards to an aggregate of 7,147 yards. The par-4 first hole is 34 yards shorter at 378 yards, while the par-4 finisher extends another 22 yards at 453 yards.

While capitalizing on La Quinta and the Nicklaus Tournament Course in the rotation is obvious, the sprint across the first 54 holes of the tournament ascends only slightly on the Pete Dye Stadium Course as noted. However, with new hole locations generated by the restoration, and without amateurs in the finale, the course could push back in places for Sunday’s conclusion. (Holes are cut in close proximity to each other for the first three rounds to achieve fairness over time.)

As for the weather, there won’t be any. This also is a familiar narrative at this time of year in the Palm Springs metropolis. OK, so daytime highs will cascade down from the low 70s at the start of the tournament to somewhere in the 60s when the winner is decided, but it will not rain and looking for cues to determine the direction of a breeze will be all but unnecessary.

NOTE: ShotLink is utilized only on the Pete Dye Stadium Course.

ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE

PGATOUR.com’s Rob Bolton previews and recaps every tournament from numerous perspectives. Look for his following contributions as scheduled.

MONDAY: Power Rankings
TUESDAY*: Fantasy Insider
SUNDAY: Payouts and Points, Qualifiers

* - Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by PGA TOUR Superstore, which also publishes on Tuesday.

Rob Bolton is a Golfbet columnist for the PGA TOUR. The Chicagoland native has been playing fantasy golf since 1994, so he was just waiting for the Internet to catch up with him. Follow Rob Bolton on Twitter.

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