Scottie Scheffler will participate in the American Express Championship in late January, marking his 2026 debut.
The PGA Tour’s American Express Championship will see Scottie Scheffler compete for the first time in 2026, tournament organizers confirmed on Wednesday. The event is scheduled from January 22 to 25 in La Quinta, California, offering a total purse of $9.2 million. Last year, Austrian Sepp Straka won the tournament.
Scheffler Faces Challenging Task in California
The American Express Championship remains one of the few titles missing from Scheffler’s victory record. After finishing third in 2020 and placing within the top 25 in subsequent years, he missed the 2025 tournament due to hand surgery. Competition is strong this year, with players like last year’s champion Sepp Straka, Ben Griffin, and Robert MacIntyre poised to challenge the world number one.
This event is the second PGA Tour tournament 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 at the drought-affected Kapalua.
Will Scheffler Continue His Outstanding Run?
For Scottie Scheffler, the American Express Championship is an important opportunity to start the new season strongly and build on last year’s success. In 20 tournaments, he won six times, including two major victories at the PGA Championship and The Open Championship. Additionally, he achieved top 10 finishes in 17 out of 20 events and never finished 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 Masters wins in 2022 and 2024, the only major missing for the American is the U.S. Open. He will compete for that title from June 18 to 21.