2026 PGA Tour Picks
It’s time for the 2026 The American Express Free Picks, and as always, CappersPicks.com has you covered with PGA golf betting predictions and handicapping insight. Bettors looking to sharpen their edge can lean on our breakdowns with another compelling stop on Tour.
2026 The American Express
- Where: Pete Dye Stadium Course; La Quinta, California
- Date: January 22-25, 2026
- Format: Strokes
- Defending Champion: Sepp Straka
- TV Coverage: Golf Channel, ESPN+
2026 The American Express Free Picks
The 2026 PGA Tour season continues with its second tournament of the year. As the season unfolds, The American Express is one of only four tournaments played over multiple courses, with Pete Dye’s infamous Stadium Course playing host.
Still, this event has been hosted each year since 1960, but the tournament’s future beyond this year is up in the air, as the PGA Tour explores changes to its schedule that could see the season’s start pushed until after the Super Bowl, with those changes coming as soon as 2027. For now, it remains one of the most unique early-season stops on the calendar.
This Week on the PGA Tour
Now, this week will see the return of World No. 1 and reigning four-time PGA Tour player of the year Scottie Scheffler making his season debut in what will be his sixth start at this event. Meanwhile, he’ll headline a strong field for this event, featuring five of the top 10 players in the world rankings.
Previously, Scheffler had played this event each year since 2020 before hand surgery forced him to miss last year’s tournament. Even so, that didn’t damper his 2025, however, as Scheffler went on to win two major – the PGA Championship and the British Open – and four additional PGA Tour events en route to his fourth consecutive nod as the PGA Tour player of the year. In fact, few players enter 2026 with more momentum.
Last Year
Interestingly, the Stadium Course presented a serious challenge to the players, with the recently restored venue presenting a stiffer test to the players, even without any weather issues. At the same time, it still rewarded precise approach play and clean putting weeks.
Sepp Straka didn’t have as tough a time as others, closing with a final round 70 to finish two strokes clear of Justin Thomas. Notably, Straka played the Stadium Course well, finishing 10-under for the week, headlined by a second round 64.
He didn’t bogey for the first time until his 70th hole, and the tournament was well in-hand when he made another on the 18th hole Sunday. As a result, he never really let the door swing open late.
For the week, the Pete Dye designed course played more than two shots harder on average than the previous two editions of the tournament, with expanded greens and firmer conditions making life tougher on the players. Not surprisingly, the tougher setup narrowed the margin for error.
Also, the scoring average of 71.3 for the week was the second most since The American Express made its return to the Stadium Course in 2016. Ultimately, it was one of the more demanding versions of this event in recent memory.
Past The American Express Winners (2016–2025)
- 2025 — Sepp Straka
- 2024 — Nick Dunlap
- 2023 — Jon Rahm
- 2022 — Hudson Swafford
- 2021 — Kim Si-woo
- 2020 — Andrew Landry
- 2019 — Adam Long
- 2018 — Jon Rahm
- 2017 — Hudson Swafford
- 2016 — Jason Dufner
2026 The American Express Free Picks – PGA Golf
Looking for sharp bets? Here are a few golfers offering real value this week:
2026 The American Express Free Picks & Golf Betting Odds: Scottie Scheffler +250
An injury forced a slow start from Scheffler last year, but he ramped up to his usual form and dominated the back half of the year. That said, there’s no such injury this year from a player who’s officially entered “Tiger or the field” territory.
2026 The American Express Free Picks & Golf Betting Odds: Sam Burns +2000
This event famously puts a heavy emphasis on putting, and Burns may be the best in the world in that category at the moment. He held a clear margin over the rest of the field a year ago when he finished the season with 0.983 strokes gained per round on the greens.
He wasn’t able to convert that into a win last year, but his six finishes inside the top-eight signal there are big things to come.
2026 The American Express Free Picks & Golf Betting Odds: Sepp Straka +3300
Straka won here a year ago, and his game is tailor made to repeat on this course. He’s been dialed in around the greens, ranking third in this field in Shots Gained: Approach, and fourth on the entire PGA Tour in strokes gained inside 150 yards.
He’s quite good off the tee as well, ranking inside the top 20 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, and Driving Accuracy.
2026 The American Express Free Picks & Golf Betting Odds: Alex Noren +4000
Noren is still pursuing his first PGA Tour title at 43 years of age, but as the days tick by, it seems to be coming closer and closer. He’s won 12 times on the European Tour, so we know he can best the field. For that reason, he’s always dangerous when the putter cooperates.
He’s already earned a full season of PGA Tour status, and this would be a great way for the Swede to kick things off.
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Full Handicapping Odds To Win The 2026 The American Express
Here are the latest odds to win the 2026 The American Express. Always shop around for the best number.
- Scottie Scheffler +250
- A.J. Ewart +100000
- Ben Griffin +1700
- Sam Burns +2000
- Patrick Cantlay +2000
- Ludvig Åberg +2000
- Russell Henley +2200
- Robert MacIntyre +2500
- Harry Hall +2700
- Matt Fitzpatrick +2700
- Sepp Straka +3300
- Harris English +4000
- Taylor Pendrith +4000
- Alex Noren +4000
- Kurt Kitayama +4000
- Rasmus Højgaard +4500
- Michael Thorbjornsen +4500
- Si Woo Kim +4500
- Rickie Fowler +5000
- Davis Thompson +5500
- Jason Day +5500
- Min Woo Lee +5500
2026 American Express Tournament – Decent Odds
- Adam Scott +6000
- J.T. Poston +7000
- Akshay Bhatia +7000
- Justin Rose +7000
- Richard Hoey +7000
- Wyndham Clark +7500
- Pierceson Coody +7500
- Kevin Yu +7500
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout +7500
- Nick Taylor +7500
- Keith Mitchell +7500
- Denny McCarthy +7500
- Daniel Berger +7500
- Max Greyserman +7500
- Alex Smalley +8000
- Will Zalatoris +8000
- Brian Harman +10000
- Matt Wallace +10000
- Haotong Li +10000
- Ryan Gerard +10000
- Sahith Theegala +10000
- Samuel Stevens +10000
- Jacob Bridgeman +10000
- Emiliano Grillo +10000
- Michael Kim +10000
- Max Homa +10000
- Matti Schmid +10000
- Johnny Keefer +10000
- Andrew Novak +12500
- Jesper Svensson +12500
- John Parry +12500
- William Mouw +12500
- Patrick Rodgers+12500
- Jhonattan Vegas +12500
- Matt McCarty +12500
- Sami Valimaki +12500
- Vince Whaley +12500
- Mackenzie Hughes +15000
- Ricky Castillo +15000
- Gary Woodland +15000
- Billy Horschel +15000
- Matt Kuchar +15000
- Mac Meissner +15000
- Steven Fisk +15000
- Chris Kirk +15000
- Austin Eckroat +15000
- Jordan Smith +15000
- Seamus Power +15000
- Kevin Roy +15000
- Nick Dunlap +15000
- Neal Shipley +15000
2026 American Express Tournament – Darkhorse Bets
- Bud Cauley +20000
- Takumi Kanaya +20000
- Michael Brennan +20000
- Lee Hodges +20000
- Aldrich Potgieter +20000
- Doug Ghim +20000
- Patrick Fishburn +20000
- Tony Finau +20000
- Kris Ventura +20000
- Stephan Jaeger +20000
- Zecheng Dou +25000
- Davis Riley +25000
- Dan Brown +25000
- Luke Clanton +25000
- Eric Cole +30000
- Sam Ryder +30000
- Adrien Dumont de Chassart +30000
- Taylor Moore +30000
- Nico Echavarria +30000
- S.H. Kim +30000
- Tom Kim +30000
- Max McGreevy +30000
- Erik van Rooyen +30000
- Alejandro Tosti +40000
- Carson Young +40000
- Jackson Suber +40000
- Keita Nakajima +40000
- Adam Schenk +40000
- Beau Hossler +40000
- David Ford +40000
- Chandler Phillips +40000
- Mark Hubbard +40000
- Tom Hoge +60000
- John VanDerLaan +60000
- Blades Brown +60000
- Cam Davis +60000
- Christo Lamprecht +60000
- Chan Kim +60000
- Seungtaek Lee +60000
- Brice Garnett +60000
- Chad Ramey +60000
- Sudarshan Yellamaraju +60000
- Adam Svensson +60000
- Ryo Hisatsune +60000
- Lanto Griffin +60000
- Matthieu Pavon +60000
- Patton Kizzire +60000
- Dylan Wu +60000
- Justin Lower +60000
- Chandler Blanchet +60000
- Austin Smotherman +75000
- David Lipsky +75000
- Harry Higgs +75000
- Joe Highsmith +75000
- Karl Vilips +75000
- Andrew Putnam +75000
- Joel Dahmen +75000
- Adrien Saddier +75000
- Pontus Nyholm +75000
- Isaiah Salinda +75000
- Brandt Snedeker +75000
2026 American Express Tournament Longshots
- Gordon Sargent +100000
- Frankie Capan III +100000
- Zach Johnson +100000
- Brian Campbell +100000
- Kensei Hirata +100000
- Kevin Streelman +100000
- Andrew Landry +100000
- Marcelo Rozo +100000
- Rafael Campos +100000
- Peter Malnati +100000
- Adam Long +100000
- Michael Block +100000
- Jeffrey Kang +100000
- Zach Bauchou +100000
- Jason Dufner +100000
- Charley Hoffman +100000
- Jimmy Stanger +100000
- Camilo Villegas +100000
- Emilio Gonzalez +100000
- Davis Chatfield +100000
- Hank Lebioda +100000
- Danny Walker +100000
- A.J. Ewart +100000
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