Scottie Scheffler will participate in the American Express Championship at the end of January, marking his 2026 debut.
Scottie Scheffler will tee off for the first time in 2026 at the American Express Championship on the PGA Tour, tournament organizers confirmed Wednesday. The event will take place from January 22 to 25 in La Quinta, California, with a total prize fund 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 victories. After finishing third in 2020, he placed in the top 25 in subsequent years but missed the 2025 tournament due to hand surgery. The competition this year will be fierce, with players like last year’s winner Sepp Straka, Ben Griffen, and Robert MacIntyre among those who could challenge the world number one.
This tournament is the second PGA Tour event of the year following the Sony Open in Hawaii next week. The usual season opener, The Sentry, was canceled in October due to course conditions in water-scarce Kapalua.
Will 2026 Bring Another Outstanding Season for Scottie Scheffler?
At the American Express Championship, Scheffler aims to start the new season strongly to build on last year’s successes. In 20 tournaments, he secured six wins, including two at the PGA Championship and the Open Championship. He also finished in the top 10 in 17 out of 20 starts and did not finish outside the top 25. These performances earned him the PGA Tour Player of the Year award for the fourth consecutive time.
With his two major titles in 2025, Scheffler now has a clear goal for 2026. After winning the Masters in 2022 and 2024, the American golfer only needs the U.S. Open to complete his career Grand Slam. He will compete for that title from June 18 to 21.