The American Express Odds, Favorite & Pick to Win: PGA Tour Golf Betting Preview

Scottie Scheffler makes his 2026 PGA Tour tournament debut as the +300 betting favorite by The American Express odds for this week's tournament in La Quinta, Calif. Scheffler's odds represent an implied win probability of 25% in the 156-man field, but this event has been kind to long shots in recent years with five of the past six champions at PGA West carrying pre-tournament odds of +5000 or longer.

📊 The American Express odds to win 2026

Our live The American Express odds will update in real time based on the odds from our best golf betting sites.

🏆 Who is the favorite to win The American Express?

Scottie Scheffler (+300)

Scheffler skipped this event last year due to injury but had played it each of the five previous years. His best finish was a third-place result in his tournament debut, and he placed between T-11 and T-25 each of the past three years, with only missed cut in this tournament.

Scheffler is the rightful betting favorite and remains well atop the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) after racking up another six wins last year. But these odds, returning a profit of just $30 on a winning $10 bet are far too steep to bet into at this early stage of the season. It's a factor of Scheffler winning six of the events he played last year, good for a 28.6% win rate.

But this tournament is a scoring fest and putting competition. That lends itself to long-shot winners who can get hot for one weekend. All but one of the past six champions at PGA West had pre-tournament odds of +5000 or longer. Pass on Scheffer in the outright betting market.

💰 Pick to win The American Express

Chris Kirk (+20000)

Chris Kirk missed the cut in Hawaii last week, and that's helping us to get inflated odds in the outright betting market. I would prefer to bet someone who got back stateside early after shaking off some competitive rust in the first tournament of the season.

Kirk played this tournament each of the past five years, and had a top finish of T-3 three years ago. Though he enters this week just 77th in the OWGR, he played some of his best golf late last season. He gains strokes in all key metrics, including 0.84 strokes gained: approach per round over the past six months.

A winning $10 bet at the +20000 outright odds would return a profit of $2,000. A victory would match Kirk as the second-biggest long-shot winner of this event in the past six years.

🚩 PGA West course info & key stats

Here's what to know to handicap The American Express at PGA West, this tournament is played over three course rotation. This tournament features a 54-hole cut, with all golfers rotating among the three courses for their first three rounds, and the final round played on the Pete Dye Stadium Course on Sunday:

Key stats

• Birdie or better percentage
• Par 5 scoring average
• Strokes gained: approach
• Strokes gained: off-the-tee
• 3-putt avoidance

⛳ The American Express tournament info 2026

• Where: PGA West (La Quinta, Calif.)
• When: Thursday, Jan. 22 - Sunday, Jan. 25
• Field: 156
• Favorite: Scottie Scheffler (+300 via Caesars)
• Defending champion: Sepp Straka
• Purse: $9.2 million
• FedEx Cup points: 500

📜 The American Express betting history

Here are the recent winners of The American Express at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif.: