Scottie Scheffler will compete at the American Express Championship in late January, marking his first start of 2026.
The PGA Tour’s American Express Championship organizers confirmed on Wednesday that Scottie Scheffler will tee off for the first time in 2026 at the event. The tournament is scheduled 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 victory record. After finishing third in 2020, he placed in the top 25 in subsequent years but missed the 2025 event due to hand surgery. The competition this year is fierce, with players like defending champion Sepp Straka, Ben Griffen, and Robert MacIntyre all potential challengers to 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 canceled in October due to course conditions caused by drought in Kapalua.
Will Scottie Scheffler Continue His Outstanding Run?
Scheffler aims to start the new season strong at the American Express Championship, building on last year’s successes. In 20 tournaments in 2025, he secured six victories, including the PGA Championship and The Open Championship. Additionally, he finished in the top 10 in 17 of those 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 now has a clear goal for 2026: completing the Career Grand Slam. After his Masters wins in 2022 and 2024, he needs only the U.S. Open, where he will compete for the title from June 18 to 21.