Scottie Scheffler will participate in the American Express Championship at the end of January, marking his debut in 2026.
Scottie Scheffler is set to compete for the first time in 2026 at the PGA Tour’s American Express Championship, as confirmed by the tournament organizers on Wednesday. The event will take place from January 22 to 25 in La Quinta, California, with a total prize fund of $9.2 million. 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 victory record. After finishing third in 2020 and securing several top 25 finishes in recent years, he missed the 2025 event due to hand surgery. This year, the competition will be strong, with last year’s champion Sepp Straka, Ben Griffen and Robert MacIntyre among those vying to challenge the world number one.
The tournament follows next week’s Sony Open in Hawaii as the second PGA Tour event of the year. The usual season opener, The Sentry, was canceled in October due to course conditions caused by drought in Kapalua.
Will Scheffler deliver another outstanding season?
Scheffler aims to start the new season strongly at the American Express Championship, building on last year’s success. In 20 tournaments, he won six times, including major victories at the PGA Championship and Open Championship. Additionally, he finished in the top 10 in 17 of those events and did not place outside the top 25 in any. This consistency earned him the PGA Tour Player of the Year award for the fourth consecutive time.
With two major titles in 2025, Scheffler now has a clear goal for 2026. After his Masters wins in 2022 and 2024, the American player is aiming to complete the Career Grand Slam by winning the US Open, scheduled for June 18 to 21, where he will contend for the title.