Scottie Scheffler will participate in the American Express Championship late January, marking his debut in 2026.
Scottie Scheffler will make his first start of 2026 at the PGA Tour’s American Express Championship, as confirmed by the tournament organizers on Wednesday. The tournament will take place from January 22 to 25 in La Quinta, California and features 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 multiple top-25 finishes in recent years, he missed the 2025 event due to hand surgery. However, competition will be fierce this year, with players like last year’s winner Sepp Straka, Ben Griffin, and Robert MacIntyre posing challenges 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 at the water-scarce Kapalua.
Will Scottie Scheffler Kick Off Another Outstanding Season?
Scheffler aims to start the new season strong at the American Express Championship to build on last year’s successes. In 20 tournaments, he won six times, including the PGA Championship and The Open Championship. He finished in the top 10 in 17 of those 20 events and never outside the top 25. These accomplishments earned him the PGA Tour Player of the Year award for the fourth consecutive time.
With two major titles in 2025, Scheffler now has a clear goal for 2026. Having won the Masters in 2022 and 2024, the American player needs only the US Open to complete his Career Grand Slam. He will compete there for the title from June 18 to 21.