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The field for this week’s 66th annual The American Express golf tournament in La Quinta boasts eight of the top 25 players in the world and 10 of the top 30.
The pro-am begins Thursday, with 156 pros playing with 156 amateurs on three desert courses — the Pete Dye Stadium Course and Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West and La Quinta Country Club.
Here’s our look at 10 players to watch when play begins Thursday:
Nick Dunlap
Perhaps the biggest surprise winner in the history of the tournament, Dunlap not only won the tournament as an amateur in 2024, but set a tournament scoring record for the 72-hole event at 29-under par. Toss in a win at the Barracuda Championship later in the year and Dunlap is the first golfer in history to win as a pro and an amateur on tour in the same year. No player has won back-to-back The American Express titles since Johnny Miller in 1975 and 1976.
Si Woo Kim
In the last four years Kim has finished in the top 25 of The American Express, including his impressive win in the 2021 tournament. Since that title, Kim has played solid golf in La Quinta, though he has been derailed by a single average round each year. Otherwise, Kim could have finished in the top 10 in four consecutive desert events.
Patrick Cantlay
When Si Woo Kim won the tournament in 2021, he did so by a single shot over Cantlay, who set a tournament scoring record for the Pete Dye Stadium Course with a final-round 61. Cantlay was ninth the next year. The eight-time PGA Tour winner has shown the ability go to low in the desert on smooth greens and in great weather.
Sam Burns
Standing on the tee of the 71st hole of the 2024 The American Express, Burns was tied for the lead looking for his sixth tour victory. But back-to-back double bogeys to close the event dropped Burns to sixth. Still, it was his best showing in the desert event, where he had finished 11th the previous year. Maybe this tournament owes Burns a victory after his strong play in 2024.
Wyndham Clark
When Wyndham Clark won the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club in a back-nine duel with Rory McIlroy, some people wrote it off as maybe the last time fans would hear of Clark. Instead, Clark comes to La Quinta this year as the No. 7 player in the world and the highest-ranked player in the field. Clark’s most recent PGA Tour victory was the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Here’s the answer to the trivia question “Who took the first-place check when an amateur won the 2024 American Express tournament?” Bezuidenhout, from South Africa, didn’t just back into the second-place finish behind Nick Dunlap. A final-round 7-under 67 including a birdie on the 72nd hole nearly stole the spotlight from Dunlap. Bezuidenhout tied for 11th in the desert event the previous year and could get his first PGA Tour title in La Quinta this year.
Justin Thomas
Thomas hadn’t played in The American Express for years when he teed up in the 2024 event in La Quinta. The result was a tie for third in La Quinta including a tournament record-tying 61 in the third round at the Pete Dye Stadium Course. A two-time PGA Championship winner and 15-time PGA Tour winner, Thomas hasn’t won on tour since the 2022 PGA but could certainly break that drought with a desert win.
Billy Horschel
After a strong 2024 that featured wins at the PGA Tour’s Corales Puntacana Championship, at the DP World Tour’s BMW PGA Championship and a second-place finish at the British Open, Horschel returns to the desert ranked inside the top 20 in the world. Horschel has played only a handful of times in The American Express and has missed the cut his last two appearances in the desert. But coming off a strong year and looking for a quick start in the FedEx Cup chase, Horschel could be a threat.
Blades Brown
Certainly all eyes will be on the 17-year-old from Nashville when he makes his debut as a pro in The American Express. The tournament was giving Brown a sponsor’s exemption even before he turned pro, but the announcement added intrigue to Brown’s debut in the desert. Brown played in one tour event last year and made the cut, so he’ll be looking to go two for two in the desert.
Tony Finau
Finau has been a fixture at The American Express the last few years and had produced some strong golf. That includes a fourth-place finish in 2021 and three more top-25 finishes in La Quinta. With a 15th-place finish at The Sentry to start the 2025 season, Finau is looking for his first win on the tour since the 2023 Mexico Open. The smooth greens of the desert might just be a place for Finau to find that victory.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: American Express golf: Justin Thomas, Nick Dunlap, Patrick Cantlay
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