Scottie Scheffler will compete in the American Express Championship at the end of January, marking his 2026 debut.
Scottie Scheffler will make his first start of 2026 at the PGA Tour’s American Express Championship, tournament organizers confirmed Wednesday. The event will take place from January 22 to 25 in La Quinta, California, with a total purse of $9.2 million. Last year, Austrian Sepp Straka claimed the title.
Scheffler Faces Tough Challenge in California
The American Express Championship is one of the few tournaments missing from Scheffler’s victory list. After finishing third in 2020 and placing in the top 25 in recent years, Scheffler missed the 2025 event due to hand surgery. Competition will be strong this year, with players like defending champion Sepp Straka, Ben Griffin, and Robert MacIntyre among those who could challenge the world number one.
The tournament is the second PGA Tour event of the year after next week’s Sony Open in Hawaii. The usual season opener, The Sentry, was canceled in October due to poor course conditions at drought-stricken Kapalua.
Will Scottie Scheffler Continue His Outstanding Run?
For Scheffler, the American Express Championship is about starting the new season strong to build on last year’s successes. In 20 tournaments, he won six times, including major victories at the PGA Championship and The Open Championship. He finished in the top 10 in 17 of his 20 events and never placed outside the top 25. These achievements 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 only major missing to complete his Career Grand Slam is the U.S. Open, where he will compete from June 18 to 21.