Scottie Scheffler will participate in the American Express Championship in late January, marking his 2026 season debut.
Scottie Scheffler confirmed by tournament organizers on Wednesday that he will play for the first time in 2026 at the PGA Tour’s American Express Championship. The event takes place from January 22 to 25 in La Quinta, California, with a total purse of $9,200,000. Last year, Austrian Sepp Straka won the tournament.
Scheffler Faces Tough Challenge in California
The American Express Championship is one of the few tournaments missing from Scheffler’s list of wins. After finishing third in 2020, he placed in the top 25 in the following years but missed the 2025 event due to hand surgery. The competition this year is strong, with players like defending champion Sepp Straka, Ben Griffin, and Robert MacIntyre expected to challenge the world number one.
This tournament is the second PGA Tour event of the year following next week’s Sony Open in Hawaii. The usual season opener, The Sentry, was cancelled in October due to course conditions at drought-affected Kapalua.
Will 2026 Bring Another Outstanding Season for Scottie Scheffler?
Scheffler aims to start the new season well at the American Express Championship to build on his successful 2025. In 20 tournaments last year, he won six times, including the PGA Championship and the Open Championship. Additionally, he finished in the top 10 in 17 events and never placed outside the top 25, earning him PGA Tour Player of the Year honors for the fourth consecutive time.
With two major titles in 2025, Scheffler has a clear target for 2026: after his Masters wins in 2022 and 2024, the only major missing from his resume is the US Open. He will compete for that title from June 18 to 21.