Scottie Scheffler will participate in the American Express Championship at the end of January, making his 2026 season debut.
Scottie Scheffler will tee off for the first time in 2026 at the PGA Tour’s American Express Championship, tournament organizers confirmed on 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 player Sepp Straka won the tournament.
Scheffler Faces Tough Challenge in California
The American Express Championship is one of the few tournaments that Scheffler has yet to win. After finishing third in 2020 and securing top 25 placements in recent years, he missed the 2025 tournament due to a hand surgery. Competition will be fierce this year with players like last year’s winner Sepp Straka, Ben Griffin, and Robert MacIntyre aiming to challenge the world number one.
The 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 last October due to course conditions at the drought-affected Kapalua.
Will Scottie Scheffler Continue His Outstanding Form?
Scheffler aims to start the new season strongly at the American Express Championship, building on his successes last year. He won six times in 20 tournaments, including two major titles at the PGA Championship and The Open Championship. Additionally, he finished in the top 10 in 17 of his 20 events and never finished 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 secured in 2025, Scheffler now has a clear goal for 2026. After his Masters victories in 2022 and 2024, the American is aiming to complete the career Grand Slam by winning the U.S. Open, which takes place from June 18 to 21, 2026.