Fast forward to this week’s American Express, and Schauffele was still not 100 per cent but good enough to give things a go at a tournament he hasn’t played since 2017.

“It’s a little sore,” Schauffele said on Tuesday of his back. “Trying to be as patient as possible to take things as slow as possible in terms of getting too many reps in and I guess being stupid in that sense. But I’m known to try to practice too much at times. I’m trying to take this one slow so I don’t hurt it again or do something of that nature.”

Schauffele never said exactly what the problem was/is, only that he had a lot of work done on his back during the week between starts. “Obviously I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t feel solid.”

Sure enough, on Thursday he proved he wasn’t just putting a good spin on things, coming out and shooting an opening 65 at La Quinta Country Club to get into the mix. He subsequently followed that up with back-to-back 68s to get to 15-under, well within the cutline but eight off the lead of Davis Thompson and Jon Rahm.

To contend on Sunday, Schauffele had to get after it early at Pete Dye’s Stadium Course at PGA West, and four straight pars to start his round seemed to rule that out. But on the fifth hole, the 553-yard par 5, Schauffele pulled off something he hadn’t done in his PGA Tour career.

ALBATROSS FOR XANDER!@XSchauffele holes out from 225 yards to move to 18-under @TheAmexGolf ? pic.twitter.com/TLGu90jdIN

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 22, 2023

As the announcers note, Schauffele’s ball just barely cleared the water. We’re guessing he won’t be mentioning that to anybody when he retells the story of his 2 on this par 5 in the years to come.

“[I] didn’t say anything in the air because I was a little bit worried,” Schauffele said after the round. “So it was nice when I saw it hit on ground and then I actually saw it go in. So that was pretty special.

For the record, Schauffele said he used a 4-iron to hole the shot from 232 yards.

While this was the first albatross of Schauffele’s PGA Tour career, it’s not his first ever. Previously, Schauffele made a 2 on the par-5 13th hole at Barona Creek in San Diego … when he was only 14! As he recalled it, “3-iron from pretty similar distance … something like that.”

The last albatross by anyone on the PGA Tour came last summer in the final round of the John Deere Classic, courtesy of Stephan Jaeger.

If you expected the albatross to kick-start things for Schauffele, well you’re right, although not right away. He wound up making two more pars on the next two holes before making seven birdies on his last 11 holes to close with a 10-under 62 and secure a top-three finish.

The post Watch Xander Schauffele’s bad back feel a whole lot better after making this albatross at Amex appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Thompson was just one stroke back while playing the par-3 17th hole, his tee shot finding land on the treacherous island green but some 50 feet from the hole. His birdie putt came off nicely, rolled smoothly to the hole and … clank. The ball appeared as if it was going directly into the middle of the cup, but it ricocheted off the pin and ended a couple feet away.

It’s a cruel game.

Davis Thompson was THIS close to tying the lead on 17 @TheAmExGolf. pic.twitter.com/Ygj9MURRvJ

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 22, 2023

RELATED: Rahm makes winning look easy

There were collective gasps. Thompson dropped his putter and put his face into his hands. All anyone could wonder was if the ball would’ve dropped had the pin been pulled.

Thompson made the easy par. Rahm, who had a 20-foot birdie putt of his own, made par, too, leaving him one ahead with one to play.

When the two reached the home hole, Thompson’s approach on the par 4 went over the back of the green. His chip for birdie was a good one, but he settled for par to finish one shot behind Rahm, who has now won both his starts this year, following a victory two weeks ago at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

“I usually always leave the stick in from a long distance,” Thompson said after shooting a three-under 69 for a 26-under 262 total. “I feel like it helps me with my speed. I’ll probably play the ‘what if’ game in my head for a long time, unfortunately.

“I had a great read. I probably hit it too firm. If it had great speed it would have just hit the flag and dropped. But we’ll never know. I’m proud of myself for this week.”

And he should be. As Rahm was in the midst of claiming his ninth tour title, Thompson was playing in only his seventh PGA Tour event since earning status off the Korn Ferry Tour last summer, and just the 20th of his career. Thompson’s total earnings on the PGA Tour before this week were $611,871 (his runner-up check was worth $872,000).

That’s not to say Thompson shouldn’t have had big expectations. He was a winner on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2022 and a two-time first-team All-American during his college days at the University of Georgia who also topped the World Amateur Golf Ranking for eight weeks in 2021.

“What a heck of a player he is, he’s doing all the right things,” Rahm said of Thompson. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins soon. He gave me a real battle today. It was a lot of fun. I’m sure there will be many to come.”

This week in the desert, Thompson opened with 62-64 to jump into contention. A third-round 67 put him in the final grouping with Rahm and JT Poston. He made three birdies in the opening nine holes with one bogey, and after birdie on the par-5 11th hole, Thompson found himself on the par train for the remainder of the round with seven consecutive to close.

“I had a great week,” Thompson said. “Competing against the best in the world is my dream and I did that today and proved that I can hang with ’em. It was a lot of fun.”

The post WATCH: ‘What if’ game will haunt Davis Thompson after brutal birdie miss off flagstick costs him at the Amex appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Although he only climbed one place to World No. 3 — don’t get the man started about the Official World Golf Ranking — Rahm is officially the hottest man in golf.

RELATED: The OWGR is adding a new 54-hole series — and it’s not 
Jon Rahm labels OWGR as ‘laughable’

Playing in the final group in the California desert with overnight co-leader Thompson and JT Poston, Rahm scraped together a four-under 68 on PGA West’s Stadium Course. His 27-under 261 total was enough to beat Thompson (69) by one, while Xander Schauffele, who made a stunning albatross at the par-5 fifth for a 62, tied for third alongside Chris Kirk (64).

Thompson was making the 20th start of his PGA Tour career as he got into a Sunday showdown with former World No. 1 and US Open champion. Yet the 23-year-old former World Amateur No. 1 didn’t back down, making the turn at two-under. He tied for the lead when Rahm made bogey at the par-3 13th.

The turning point — and most obvious sign it was Rahm’s day (again) — came when the two played the par-5 16th. After Thompson hit a poor tee shot and Rahm was in the fairway, 243 yards out, he seized the opportunity with an aggressive second shot that skirted the edge of the 19-foot-deep bunker and stayed up just shy of the green. He two-putted from 98 feet for birdie to reclaim a one-shot lead.

Rahm hung on with pars over the last two holes, watching Thompson’s long-range birdie putt on par-3 17th track toward the hole only to ricochet off the flagstick, and then seeing him nearly chip-in from off the green on the par-4 18th.

“It was tough, I’m not going to lie,” a relieved Rahm said. “[Thompson] gave me a real battle today and it was a lot of fun.”

Thompson was simply unable to match Rahm’s ball-striking. He hit 10 of 14 fairways and 15 greens in regulation. “I felt really in command of my swing. Every time I’ve felt like this in the past, I’ve ended up going on to win. That’s a really unique zone to put yourself in.”

Davis Thompson was disappointed to finish second, but for a rookie making just his 20th career start on the PGA Tour, the finish was hardly a failure. Meg Oliphant

Although Thompson failed to secure his maiden PGA Tour win, he walked away with more self-belief. Oh, and $872,000 for finishing second place, which is more than the total prize money he won from his previous 19 starts on tour.

“I had a great week,” he said. “Competing against the best in the world is my dream. I did that today and proved I can hang with ’em. It was a lot of fun.”

For Rahm, the question is how does he stay on this roll? A run that includes victories at the DP World Tour Championship and his native Spanish Open last fall.

In the short term, returning to Torrey Pines will help. Rahm secured his breakthrough PGA Tour win there in 2017 as well as his first major title when he won the 2021 US Open on the South Course. He also proposed to wife Kelley around the cliffs of La Jolla.

“I’m going to go to Torrey, a place that I’m already very confident at, with very high hopes, knowing that I’m doing all the right things,” he said of next week’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

In the long term, Rahm says his work ethic will be how he stays in this rich vein of form. He’ll take inspiration from his idol, the late NBA great Kobe Bryant, who Rahm watched with keen interest while in college at Arizona State. Just as Rahm was readying to turn pro in 2016, Mamba famously put up 60 points in his farewell NBA game — the 122nd time he had registered 40-plus points.

Rahm sees in himself the same perfectionist traits Bryant demonstrated.

“In college one [athlete] who got very near to my heart, if we go outside of golf, was Kobe Bryant,” Rahm said Sunday night. “I [saw] a lot of similarities between us and in the way we approach our crafts. Craft is a key word for Kobe; having that obsessiveness that we both have over our game. Work ethic beats talent every day of the week, period.”

Rahm is also strengthening his ability to win in different ways. He came from behind in his victory at Kapalua with a closing 63, while at the DP World Tour finale in November he cruised to a two-shot win. That followed his six-shot triumph at the Open de Espana.

“In a weird way, I’m glad today went the way it went,” Rahm said. “I’ve enjoyed some runaway victories [and] some comebacks, but today was certainly a struggle. I really didn’t make any [long putts]. But I just kept battling.”

Rahm congratulated Thompson for the battle and predicted the University of Georgia alum would join the winner’s circle before too long. “What a heck of a player he is, honestly, and he’s doing all the right things … I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins soon.”

But winning soon, for a lot of players, will be tough if Rahm keeps playing at this level.

The post Jon Rahm is making winning look easy, even when he does it the hard way appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Of course, he came back to win the Sentry Tournament of Champions and is now tied for the lead through three rounds in La Quinta, California. Should he go on to win in the desert, he will have four wins in his last five starts in official PGA Tour and DP World Tour events.

Yet, after each of the first two rounds this week, the World No. 4 contended he hadn’t shown his “A” game. After a seven-under 65 on Saturday at PGA West’s Stadium Course — a round in which he was eight-under through 12 holes — the Spaniard was asked how much room for improvement there is.

“A lot,” Rahm said bluntly to the Golf Channel. “Missed a putt on 1, short putt on 1. No. 11 could’ve been done a lot better. [Missed a] short putt on 13, 14, 16 and 17, so six shots right there. I know I’m being picky, but that’s six shots that I’m not being too crazy about.”

Perfectionism? Perhaps. But what might be read as vehement disappointment at missed opportunities, Rahm sees as reason for optimism.

“Again, still incredible golf,” said the 2018 champion at this event. “The fact that I can say that it can still be better gives me a lot of hope for the rest of the year, and hopefully I get that Sunday tomorrow where everything feels like it’s firing on all cylinders and post a special round.”

It remains to be seen if Rahm will need a special round on Sunday to capture his ninth PGA Tour victory or if a modest score of a few under will suffice. Rahm is tied for the lead with tour rookie Davis Thompson at 23-under, with the duo having a four-stroke cushion over two-time tour winner JT Poston and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who shot a third-round 62 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course.

The 23-year-old Thompson holds a share of his first 54-hole lead on tour in his 20th career start. A former All-American at Georgia, Thompson held a two-shot lead entering the third round, largely fuelled by a tour-record-tying five eagles over the first two days.

Though he wasn’t able to add to his eagle total on Saturday at the Stadium Course, he tallied six birdies against one bogey to card a five-under 67 to keep pace with a surging Rahm.

“I felt like I stayed patient all day and made some putts,” Thompson said. “Got off to a great start, which always helps. I was really proud with how I stayed patient. Didn’t really force anything. Made a bad bogey on 14 but came back and birdied 16. So it was a good way to finish.”

Though Thompson hasn’t been in this position on the PGA Tour, he has experience playing with a lead, as you might expect from a former collegiate star. Last year at the Rex Hospital Open, the former US Walker Cup team member converted a 54-hole lead for his lone Korn Ferry Tour win. Thompson built on a 36-hole lead at the 2020 Jones Cup, winning by nine shots in the prestigious amateur event played near his home in St Simons Island, Georgia.

Still, despite his success in playing with the lead, Thompson understands Sunday will present a heightened challenge, paired alongside the 2021 US Open champion.

“I mean, for sure,” Thompson said when asked if he feels he is the underdog. “I’m playing against Jon Rahm. I feel like everybody would pick me as the underdog. But yeah, I kind of relish that label. I just try to go out and do my own thing and try and not let anything bother me.”

Rahm wouldn’t go so far in saying that he is the favourite. “I have the experience of being there, if it goes down to the wire,” he said when asked if he has an advantage over the rookie. “But he’s no slouch, obviously. He’s done what he’s done. At the end of the day it’s you against you. You can only control what you’re doing.”

With Rahm and Thompson four strokes clear of the field, Sunday may well produce a two-man battle. After all, not since 2013 has a player come from more than three shots back in the final round to win The American Express. That said, with a light breeze forecast and a Stadium Course that averaged more than three shots under par on Saturday, the chasers have hope.

That includes the pack at 18-under, five shots back. Among them are World No. 13 Sam Burns, fan favorite Harry Higgs and Taylor Montgomery, who already has seven top-15 finishes in eight starts this season.

Tom Kim, the 20-year-old phenom who has already won twice on tour, is also at 18-under. The charismatic South Korean will likely need some Sunday magic reminiscent of the final-round 61 he shot to capture his maiden tour title at the Wyndham Championship last August.

Yet, if Kim mounts the five-shot comeback in the Coachella Valley, he would be the youngest player in 100 years to win three PGA Tour titles. Kim, who turns 21 in June, would be just a few months older than Gene Sarazen when he captured the 1922 PGA Championship.

He would join Sarazen and Horton Smith as the only players since 1900 to win three times before the age of 21.

The post On the cusp of his fourth win in five starts, the perfectionist in Jon Rahm still sees room for improvement appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The 16th hole is the site of one of the most treacherous hazards on the PGA Tour, nicknamed the San Andreas bunker, which is nearly 20 feet high and runs up the left side of the par 5. It’s the type of hazard you want to avoid at all costs. Thing is, SH Kim should’ve avoided this hazard … but when he got not one but two unlucky breaks on the SAME shot during his second round, he had quite the visit to the PGA West beach.

You have to see it to believe it:

There's bad breaks …

and then there's this ? pic.twitter.com/V5bUpXOYoI

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 20, 2023

Truly unbelievable. If his ball doesn’t catch the flag dead on, he’s looking at a great chance at birdie. Instead, it caromed just enough to catch the huge lip of the enormous bunker … and then got so unlucky that whoever last raked that bunker decided to leave the rake outside of the hazard … leading to the potential of this really unfortunate break to occur.

Kim had to take a drop and try to clip it perfectly off this new sod above the hellish bunker. Then four attempts out of the sand later … which the PGA Tour social media team decided not to share, we suppose, to not further embarrass Kim … and the upstart 24-year-old who has had a couple nice finishes already this season (T-4 at the Shriners and T-12 at the Sony Open) took a brutal snowman on the par 5, which was playing as the easiest hole so far this week.

He had to compose himself and go play one of the trickiest shots on the entire course, the par-3 17th hole, which is basically a replica of the 17th at TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium course but with a bigger green.

Because the golf gods have the sickest and most twisted sense of humour, you won’t believe what happened:

For every bad break, there's a great break. 

S.H. Kim had them back-to-back ? pic.twitter.com/Lk6eKr9eDp

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 20, 2023

Just sick, sick stuff. An 8 followed by a 2. That’s golf, isn’t it? Those rocks are where Jason Dufner got really lucky to avoid rinsing his shot in a playoff in 2016 en route to winning. Just a reminder, do whatever you have to do to make sure you’re on the good side of the golf gods. They can be so brutal.

The post WATCH: These are the two wackiest breaks you’ll ever see a tour pro get (in back-to-back holes!) appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Thompson, who had two eagles on Thursday, added three more on the par 5s on Day 2 of The American Express in La Quinta, California, and in shooting an eight-under-par 64 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West, he’s got a two-shot lead over World No. 4 Jon Rahm.

Thompson has already tied the PGA Tour record for most eagles for a 72-hole event, and it’s only halfway done. Recounting his eagles Friday, Thompson, who teed off No. 10, forgot one of them.

“No. 4 [his 13th], I hit 5-iron to about 15 feet and made [the eagle],” he said. “Then on 7, I hit a really good 6-iron and made like a 20-footer. So, it was really nice to see some really good execution with those holes.”

“The one on the back nine today?” A reporter asked.

“Oh, yeah, that’s right,” Thompson said. “No.11, I hit a 7-iron in and made about a 20-footer.”

Tom Kim, JT Poston, Jason Day, Sungjae Im and Tyler Duncan are tied third at 13-under.

Here are some of the takeaways from round two at The American Express:

Rahm lurking

Rahm, who won the Sentry Tournament of Champions two weeks ago for his eighth PGA Tour title, fired a second straight 64 — this time on the Nicklaus Course — and has 17 birdies and just one bogey on his two cards.
“It’s been very organised golf, is what I can say,” Rahm said. “I wouldn’t say I’ve got my ‘A’ game, but even [my] mis-hits, a lot of them are in play and I could take advantage of them. So, hopefully, I tidy up a bit of that for tomorrow; the [Pete Dye-designed] Stadium Course is a little less forgiving. But my short game feels really good. I’m rolling the ball really, really well on the greens and that’s going to give me a lot of confidence through the rest of the game.
“Obviously I have a lot of good visuals going into a lot of these holes. I’ve done a lot of good things around all the golf courses here and I’ve posted good scores. My level of comfortability is very high. I’m looking forward to playing the weekend.”
In his interview, the Spaniard briefly thought his 16-under total was the same relative to par as the 2018 edition, which he won in a playoff. It’s actually one better; Rahm was 15-under (62-67) through two rounds that year [when it was called the CareerBuilder Challenge]. Still, close enough.
Either way, we’re guessing that’s enough to make Thompson look over his shoulder. Did we mention that Rahm has won three of his last four starts between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour?

Jason Day of Australia plays his shot from the ninth tee during the first round of The American Express. Meg Oliphant

Jason had a Day

Former World No. 1 Day showed flashes of his 2015 and 2016 brilliance on Friday when he shot a 64 on the tougher Stadium Course. The 12-time PGA Tour winner from Australia sits 13-under and five back of Thompson, but has the more forgiving La Quinta Country Club on Day 3.
Day, the 2015 PGA Championship winner, has struggled on the course the past few years and has fallen down the World Ranking to No. 115. But he’s had some solid results in the 2022-23 season, including a T-8 in Las Vegas and three other top-25s in the autumn.
Day credits the improvements to a healthy body — he has struggled with back injuries in recent years — and swing changes made with his coach, Chris Como, who previously worked with Tiger Woods. Day said his swing was more shallow and allowed for more body rotation and less arm action.
“My swing has changed dramatically,” Day said. “I feel those changes are slowly cementing. I’m shallowing out more compared to last year. It took me a year and a half to get the body correct before I could shallow out.”
Day would typically skip The American Express in his schedule and either start his calendar year in Hawaii if he was eligible for the Sentry Tournament of Champions, or at Torrey Pines, where he’s won twice. But Day had a good excuse for adding the AmEx to his schedule — the 35-year-old is in the California desert anyway, using it as a practice base for several weeks while his adopted home of Columbus, Ohio, is too cold for a pro golfer.
“I feel like it’s a good opener for the start of the year,” Day said. “I felt like I was playing like a US Open times a thousand [in the Farmers Open] when you go from doing nothing for a month and you go straight to Torrey.”

The post Rookie is 18-under after two AmEx rounds and still has Jon Rahm breathing down his neck appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The juices were flowing by this point, just like the rest of us when we have a good round going.

Could I shoot my best round ever (to this point a 63 on the PGA Tour)? Will I win this tournament? But wait, what if I screw up? Oh, please don’t mess up.

It’s only natural for such thoughts to start entering your head. The difference between a PGA Tour player like Thompson and the rest of us is that he knows the drill, and not even the allure of shooting 59 can distract him.

Career low round for Davis Thompson ?

The 23-year-old birdies the last for an opening-round 62 @TheAmExGolf. pic.twitter.com/hIbAkjzrqn

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 19, 2023

“My biggest challenge today was staying present minded and trying to put one foot in front of the other,” Thompson said after finishing his round. “Your mind definitely starts to wander a little bit. But I played enough rounds to where I try to teach myself over and over you can’t get ahead of yourself.”

Alas, a sub-60 round wasn’t to be. A couple of birdies and no bogeys on the back was good enough for merely a 10-under 62. But that was good enough for a two-shot edge on his five nearest competitors, the second time in his young career that he’s been the Day 1 leader.

Along with Thompson’s impressive start, here are three other takeaways from the first round in the California desert.

Feisty Rahm

Jon Rahm. Katelyn Mulcahy

Among those chasing Thompson is Jon Rahm, who opened with a 64 on the same course to put him, alongside Sam Burns, in the crowded pack at T-2.
Outside of Rory McIlroy, Rahm, winner two weeks ago at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, may be the best player in golf today. He’ll surely be trying to prove that this week, even if the Official World Golf Ranking seems to be conspiring against him. Rahm is one of those players best when he’s got a fire lit under him. And this week, he sounds like a man who’s been given a spark.
“Really badly,” he said in response to a question about how much he wants to capture another win here (he was the Amex champion in 2018, the second of his eight career PGA Tour wins). “What gives me more confidence is I never finished outside the top 14 in this tournament. I’ve been consistent every single time and I’ve given myself a chance.”
Let’s just call this what it is: A warning shot to the rest of the field.

Scouting Xander

Xander Schauffele. Ben Jared

It’s reasonable to says that 2023 feels like a big season for the Xander Schauffele. In 2020 and 2021, the 29-year-old California native combined for four major top-10s but zero tour wins (OK, he did grab an Olympic gold medal in that time). Then last season he won three times only to claim zero major top-10s in exchange.
Predicting what’s ahead for Schauffele would have been challenge enough before he had to WD from the Sentry Tournament of Champions two weeks ago with a back injury. He returned to play this week, posting an impressive opening-round 65 at La Quinta that hints the pain he was feeling in Hawaii might be a short-term issue.
“Yeah, it’s a little sore,” Schauffele said on Wednesday. “Trying to be as patient as possible to take things as slow as possible in terms of getting too many reps in and I guess being stupid in that sense. But I’m known to try to practise too much at times. I’m trying to take this one slow so I don’t hurt it again or do something of that nature.”
Schauffele feels like one of those players whose gift and curse is seemingly always having the potential to do more. His opening round leaves him inside the top 10 through 18 holes. His performance this week won’t define his season — far from it. But these early West Coast swing events may provide a clue for what’s ahead of Schauffele. Will this be the year he truly, and fully, ascends?

Big Toe Burmester

Dean Burmester. Meg Oliphant

Finally, a special shout-out to Dean Burmester, who joins Schauffele at T-7. Like Xander, Burmester is playing hurt, although the 33-year-old South African’s injury comes with an unusual backstory. After a routine power outage at his home, Burmester was playing the role of handyman husband — only to have it backfire.
“Our solar power kind of tripped,” he said. “I was on my way to fix it. My wife was in the shower. I was on my way trying to be the valiant knight, I was trying to be the man to the rescue. And I ran into a chair and broke my baby toe,” he says.
It’s causing him to hang back on his right foot through the ball, Burmester says, rather than transfer weight over to his lead side. He’s also not swinging as hard as he usually would. So far, however, his score doesn’t show any sign of injury.

The post Dream start for rookie and a bizarre broken toe: Day 1 takeaways from Amex appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

This 63-year-old event will follow its traditional pro-am format — one of two tour events (along with Pebble Beach) that pair a tour player with an amateur for a separate team competition. To do so, three courses are used and a 54-hole cut will be in place. Players will compete on the Stadium Course, Nicklaus Tournament Course and La Quinta Country Club before returning to PGA West’s Stadium Course for Sunday’s final round.

California natives and good friends Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are paired together and will be highlighted in a featured group, as will Scottie Scheffler and Tony Finau. Also competing this week are Sam Burns, Cameron Young, Jon Rahm (winner in 2018), Will Zalatoris and Tom Kim as each looks to get the year started with an early victory.

Last year’s American Express featured a come-from-behind victory by Hudson Swafford, who has since left the tour for LIV Golf. Will Zalatoris shot a course-record 61 in the second round at the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West and finished tied for sixth.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Arnold Palmer earning his 62nd and final PGA Tour win at this event in 1973.

Sunday’s winner will receive 500 FedEx Cup points and a $1.44 million share of the $8 million purse.

Tee Times (All times EST)
THURSDAY
Nicklaus Tournament Course
First tee
11.30am — Austin Cook, Jason Dufner
11.41am — Tyler Duncan, Richy Werenski
11.52am — Paul Haley II, Kevin Yu
12.03pm — Mark Hubbard, Zac Blair
12.14pm — Brendon Todd, Michael Thompson
12.25pm — SH Kim, Eric Cole
12.36pm — Aaron Rai, Satoshi Kodaira
12.47pm — Ryan Brehm, Jonathan Byrd
12.58pm — Brice Garnett, James Hahn
1.09pm — Michael Block, Trevor Werbylo
1.20pm — Nate Lashley, Martin Trainer
1.31pm — Jimmy Walker, Jhonattan Vegas
1.42pm — Kevin Roy, Gunner Wiebe
10th tee
11.30am — Emiliano Grillo, Nick Watney
11.41am — Cameron Young, Will Zalatoris
11.52am — Joseph Bramlett, Dean Burmester
12.03pm — Peter Malnati, Ben Martin
12.14pm — Wesley Bryan, Kevin Tway
12.25pm — Carl Yuan, Taiga Semikawa
12.36pm — Brian Stuard, John Huh
12.47pm — Kevin Chappell, Byeong Hun An
12.58pm — JT Poston, Brian Harman
1.09pm — Carson Young, Caleb Surratt
1.20pm — Greyson Sigg, Danny Willett
1.31pm — Sungjae Im, Jason Day
1.42pm — Ben Griffin, Tyson Alexander

La Quinta Country Club
1st tee
11.30am — Adam Long, Chez Reavie
11.41am — Tony Finau, Scottie Scheffler
11.52am — Taylor Montgomery, Justin Suh
12.03pm — Stewart Cink, Brendan Steele
12.14pm — Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele
12.25pm — Davis Thompson, Will Gordon
12.36pm — Davis Riley, Beau Hossler
12.47pm — Tom Kim, Sahith Theegala
12.58pm — Matthew NeSmith, Patrick Rodgers
1.09pm — Charley Hoffman, Denny McCarthy
1.20pm — Chris Kirk, Patton Kizzire
1.31pm — Jon Rahm, Rickie Fowler
1.42pm — Thomas Detry, Austin Eckroat
10th tee
11.30am — Adam Schenk, Bill Haas
11.41am — Adam Hadwin, Taylor Pendrith
11.52am — MJ Daffue, Andrew Novak
12.03pm — Dylan Frittelli, Sung Kang
12.14pm — Joel Dahmen, Andrew Landry
12.25pm — Kyle Westmoreland, Trevor Cone
12.36pm — Ryan Armour, Justin Lower
12.47pm — Scott Piercy, Taylor Moore
12.58pm — Justin Rose, Si Woo Kim
1.09pm — Brandon Matthews, Brent Grant
1.20pm — Doug Ghim, Max McGreevy
1.31pm — Nick Taylor, Martin Laird
1.42pm — Scott Harrington, Sam Stevens

Stadium Course
First tee
11.30am — Troy Merritt, Chesson Hadley
11.41am — Zach Johnson, Russell Knox
11.52am — Harrison Endycott, John Pak
12.03pm — Lee Hodges, Brandon Wu
12.14pm — Aaron Wise, Sebastián Muñoz
12.25pm — Anders Albertson, Philip Knowles
12.36pm — Michael Kim, Andrew Putnam
12.47pm — Callum Tarren, Alex Smalley
12.58pm — Tom Hoge, Luke List
1.09pm — Matti Schmid, Vincent Norrman
1.20pm — Wyndham Clark, Harry Higgs
1.31pm — Sam Burns, Harris English
1.42pm — Ben Taylor, Robby Shelton
10th tee
11.30am — Kramer Hickok, Aaron Baddeley
11.41am — Lucas Glover, Keith Mitchell
11.52am — Nico Echavarria, Zecheng Dou
12.03pm — Sam Ryder, Matthias Schwab
12.14pm — Cam Davis, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
12.25pm — Tano Goya, Augusto Núñez
12.36pm — Danny Lee, David Lingmerth
12.47pm — Rory Sabbatini, Ryan Moore
12.58pm — KH Lee, Erik van Rooyen
1.09pm — Harry Hall, Dylan Wu
1.20pm — Stephan Jaeger, David Lipsky
1.31pm — Robert Streb, Garrick Higgo
1.42pm — Michael Gligic, Erik Barnes

The post LOOK: 2023 American Express tee times appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Tod Leonard
Phil Mickelson is out as host of The American Express that is played each January in California’s Coachella Valley. The Palm Springs Desert Sun reported on Saturday that the PGA Tour confirmed that Mickelson won’t be the future host after serving the event in that capacity for the past three years. The charitable arm of the tournament, the Mickelson Foundation, will also no longer be part of the event, the tour said.

The American Express moves come amid other sponsors distancing themselves from Mickelson this week after his confirmed involvement with the prospective Saudi-backed golf league and his controversial comments published by the Fire Pit Collective.

On Friday, Mickelson’s longtime equipment partner, Callaway Golf, said it was “pausing” its relationship with the six-time major winner, and Workday confirmed that it would end its relationship with Mickelson when his current endorsement deal expires in March. Heineken already had said it was cutting ties to the World Golf Hall of Famer.

Mickelson, 51, has been a key figure in the tour event in La Quinta, Calif., for two decades. He has made 19 appearances in The American Express (still known to many as the Bob Hope) and won it twice, in 2002 and 2004.

Mickelson said in a statement on Feb. 22 that he “desperately” needed time away from competition and there is no indication when he might return to the PGA Tour.

The post Report: Phil Mickelson out as host of The American Express appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Jon Rahm withdrew from The American Express on Monday.

The World No. 2 was listed by oddsmakers as the tournament favourite and for good reason. Aside from posting six top-10 finishes in his last eight starts, Rahm won the former Desert Classic in 2018 and followed with a strong title defence in 2019, ultimately finishing sixth.

No reason was given for Rahm’s WD as of Monday afternoon. Rahm turned in a T-7 performance at the Sentry Tournament of Champions two weeks ago. It was his first outing since switching from TaylorMade to Callaway equipment.

Brandon Hagy will take Rahm’s place in the field, with Patrick Cantlay the new betting favourite in Rahm’s absence.

This year’s The American Express is without its usual pro-am format due to California COVID-19 restrictions, and will be conducting the tournament over two venues (PGA West’s Stadium and Nicklaus courses) rather than its traditional three.

The post Tournament favourite Jon Rahm withdraws from The American Express appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.