Scottie Scheffler knows it takes plenty of birdies to win The American Express
Scottie Scheffler knows it takes a lot of birdies and a few eagles to win The American Express.
In 2020, Scheffler finished the four-day tournament at 23-under par, but that was only good for third place that week, three shots behind winner Andrew Landry.
So even with low scoring at PGA Tour events earlier this month in Hawaii, Scheffler believes the courses at The American Express are a little different.
“The last few weeks, for instance, Kapalua was kind of an anomaly there, no wind and for it to be so soft for four days,” Scheffler said of the Sentry Tournament of Champions, where Cameron Smith won at 34-under par for four days. “But here, you get perfect weather, perfect conditions out here. These guys are pretty good at golf, so you are going to see low scores pretty much no matter where you go, you get the conditions you have out here.”
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Scheffler, who begins his tournament Thursday at La Quinta Country Club, said he tries not to change his approach to a tournament just because the scoring will be low.
“I wouldn’t say it changes the mindset too much,” Scheffler said. “It’s just golf. You just go out there and play and take what the golf course gives you.”
While Scheffler was close to a victory in the 2020 American Express and has finished in the top five in three of his last four starts, the U.S. Ryder Cup member is still searching for his first PGA Tour victory. The desert may be the perfect place for that breakthrough, since six of the last 15 winners of The American Express collected their first tour victory in La Quinta.
FedEx Cup chase
The American Express tournament in La Quinta this week is the 12th event in the chase for the FedEx Cup in the 2021-22 wraparound season. The leader in that chase is Hideki Matsuyama, who has two wins in the previous 11 events, the Zozo Championship and last week’s Sony Open.
Matsuyama is not in The American Express field this week, so the player who is highest in the FedEx Cup rankings playing this week is Talor Gooch, who is second. Sungjae Im is fifth in the rankings and is also playing this week. Matthew Wolff is 10th in the rankings.
But those rankings might not mean all that much right now. For instance, Jon Rahm, the No. 1 player in the world, is just 28th in the rankings even after a second-place finish at the Sentry Tournament of Champions two weeks ago. Defending FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay is 67th.
Field changes
Two players making late withdraws from The American Express have added some new names to the field his week. Both Martin Laird and 2007 American Express winner Charley Hoffman withdrew from the event.
That caused some shuffling in the field, starting with Jared Wolfe moving from a sponsor’s exemption into the field on his own exempt status. That sponsor exemption now belongs to Callum Tarren. Steven Stallings Jr. moves into the field to fill one of the open spots.
Past champions
With Hoffman withdrawing from the tournament, that leaves the event with 13 past champions in the field. Two of those players, Phil Mickelson and Bill Haas, have each won the tournament twice. Only one player has won The American Express more, and that was Arnold Palmer, a five-time winner starting in 1960 and ending with his last PGA Tour win in 1973.
Haas came close to winning a third event when he fell in a playoff in 2011 to Jhonattan Vegas. Mickelson finished in a tie for second in 2019, one shot behind Adam Long. Mickelson and Haas are among seven players to win the title twice.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: American Express: Scottie Scheffler says perfect weather, conditions lead to low scoring
