Scottie Scheffler will participate in the American Express Championship at the end of January, marking his debut in 2026.
Scottie Scheffler will make his 2026 debut 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 won the tournament.
Scheffler faces tough challenge in California
The American Express Championship is one of the few tournaments missing from Scheffler’s win record. After a third place finish in 2020 and several top-25 placements in recent years, he missed the 2025 event due to hand surgery. The competition this year is fierce. Players like last year’s champion Sepp Straka, Ben Griffin, and Robert MacIntyre are among those who could challenge the world number one at the tournament.
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 in drought-affected Kapalua.
Will Scottie Scheffler deliver another standout season?
Scheffler aims to start the new season strong at the American Express Championship to build on his success from last year. In 20 tournaments, he claimed 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. These achievements earned him the PGA Tour Player of the Year award for the fourth consecutive time.
Following his two major titles in 2025, Scheffler now has a clear goal for 2026. Having won the Masters in 2022 and 2024, the American player seeks to complete the Career Grand Slam by winning the U.S. Open, scheduled from June 18 to 21, where he will compete for the title.