The Sony Open featured some of the bigger names faltering, and the American Express could prove to have a similar result, as this event is set up to encourage scoring as opposed to rewarding those who can navigate trouble.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at what lies ahead in terms of weather, Round 1 tee times (and location), and some final stats for you to consider before this fun event gets underway!
American Express Weather Forecast
As mentioned, we are dealing with a three-course rotation with those who make the cut doing battle on Sunday at the Stadium course, and while that theoretically leaves us open to some minor weather differences by day, things project as pretty stable across the board.
The current forecast is for light winds to complement very seasonable temperatures. There is the potential for a little bit of wind in the middle of Saturday, but nothing compared to last week, and given the nature of weather systems this far out, nothing you realistically need to adjust for.
Sunday is lining up to be a picturesque day (mid-60s with moderate cloud cover and no precipitation as the afternoon hits), thus leaving us in a good spot to see the golfer playing the best walkout of this event with the trophy.
2026 American Express Round 1 Tee Times
All times listed are EST, with local time being three hours earlier. Remember that this is a 54-hole cut: every golfer will get a crack at every course before we narrow down the field on Saturday night.
La Quinta has been the easiest course on the entire PGA TOUR over the past five seasons and is traditionally played at about three strokes under par by the pros.
Naturally, we are likely to see a lot of Thursday La Quinta golfers at the top of the leaderboard when Thursday ends, but it’s important to stay patient: things will balance out and, if history has taught us anything, we are going to have an exciting Sunday finish on our hands.
La Quinta Country Club Tee Times
Hole #1
- 11:30 – Bud Cauley and Sam Stevens
- 11:41 – Ludvig Aberg and Harris English
- 11:52 – Haotong Li and Christo Lamprecht
- 12:03 – Adam Long and Kevin Streelman
- 12:14 – Scottie Scheffler and Justin Rose
- 12:25 – Tony Finau and Max Greyserman
- 12:36 – Rickie Fowler and Nico Echavarria
- 12:47 – Russell Henley and Akshay Bhatia
- 12:58 – David Ford and Blades Brown
- 1:09 – Matt Kuchar and Camilo Villegas
- 1:20 – Keith Mitchell and Zach Johnson
- 1:31 – Sepp Straka and Sam Burns
- 1:42 – Luke Clanton and Keita Nakajima
Hole #10
- 11:30 – Johnny Keefer and Michael Thorbjornsen
- 11:41 – Will Zalatoris and Daniel Berger
- 11:52 – Patrick Fishburn and Jackson Suber
- 12:03 – Lanto Griffin and Erik van Rooyen
- 12:14 – Cam Davis and Andrew Novak
- 12:25 – S.H. Kim and Frankie Capan III
- 12:36 – Peter Malnati and Brice Garnett
- 12:47 – Kevin Yu and Karl Vilips
- 12:58 – Adrien Saddier and Gordon Sargent
- 1:09 – William Mouw and Matt McCarty
- 1:20 – Alex Smalley and Max McGreevy
- 1:31 – Taylor Pendrith and Nick Taylor
- 1:42 – S.T. Lee and Chandler Blanchet
Nicklaus Tournament Course Tee Times
Hole #1
- 11:30 – Takumi Kanaya and Doug Ghim
- 11:41 – Emiliano Grillo and Mackenzie Hughes
- 11:52 – Pierceson Coody and Jordan Smith
- 12:03 – Matti Schmid and David Lipsky
- 12:14 – Sami Valimaki and Matthieu Pavon
- 12:25 – Emilio Gonzalez and Sudarshan Yellamaraju
- 12:36 – Chad Ramey and Harry Higgs
- 12:47 – Jacob Bridgeman and Chris Kirk
- 12:58 – Hank Lebioda and Dylan Wu
- 1:09 – Austin Eckroat and Adam Schenk
- 1:20 – Chandler Phillips and Andrew Landry
- 1:31 – Steven Fisk and Jhonattan Vegas
- 1:42 – Dan Brown and Zach Bauchou
Hole #10
- 11:30 – Vince Whaley and Mark Hubbard
- 11:41 – Billy Horschel and Min Woo Lee
- 11:52 – Jesper Svensson and Kensei Hirata
- 12:03 – Rafael Campos and Matt Wallace
- 12:14 – Si Woo Kim and Davis Riley
- 12:25 – John Parry and Isaiah Salinda
- 12:36 – Tom Hoge and Eric Cole
- 12:47 – Wyndham Clark and Robert MacIntyre
- 12:58 – Justin Lower and Sam Ryder
- 1:09 – Matt Fitzpatrick and Adam Scott
- 1:20 – Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Rasmus Hojgaard
- 1:31 – Patrick Cantlay and Ben Griffin
- 1:42 – Ricky Castillo and Davis Chatfield
Stadium Course Tee Times
This is the course that will be played on Sunday to determine our champion. There has been no correlation in the past as to when you play this course during the first three days and comfort level on Sunday.
This is a short track relative to TOUR standards these days, but the finishing three holes have plenty of teeth and very well could determine who makes it to the finish line this weekend.
Hole #1
- 11:30 – Sahith Theegala and Patrick Rodgers
- 11:41 – Joe Highsmith and Aldrich Potgieter
- 11:52 – Pontus Nyholm and Jeffery Kang
- 12:03 – Seamus Power and Taylor Moore
- 12:14 – Davis Thompson and Michael Brennan
- 12:25 – Alejandro Tosti and Marcelo Rozo
- 12:36 – Michael Kim and Denny McCarthy
- 12:47 – Nick Dunlap and Gary Woodland
- 12:58 – Austin Smotherman and Neal Shipley
- 1:09 – Jason Day and Alex Noren
- 1:20 – Charley Hoffman and Brandt Snedeker
- 1:31 – Brian Harman and Max Homa
- 1:42 – A.J. Ewart and Adrien Dumont de Chassart
Hole #10
- 11:30 – Kevin Roy and Mac Meissner
- 11:41 – Tom Kim and Lee Hodges
- 11:52 – John VanDerLaan and Zecheng Dou
- 12:03 – Rico Hoey and Ryo Hisatsune
- 12:14 – Kurt Kitayama and J.T. Poston
- 12:25 – Chan Kim and Michael Block
- 12:36 – Joel Dahmen and Beau Hossler
- 12:47 – Harry Hall and Ryan Gerard
- 12:58 – Jason Dufner and Danny Walker
- 1:09 – Adam Svensson and Carson Young
- 1:20 – Andrew Putnam and Patton Kizzire
- 1:31 – Stephan Jaeger and Brian Campbell
- 1:42 – Kris Ventura and Jimmy Stanger
American Express DFS Picks and Predictions
Golf is very much a thinking man’s game, both to play and analyze. There’s a number out there to support any angle you want to take, so picking a lane and sticking to it is often the play.
- Patrick Cantlay has cashed four top-10 paychecks at this event, including a runner-up finish in 2021
- Looking for American Express Custom Power Rankings? We have them here — 2026 American Express Rankings
- Brian Harman has been all or nothing here in his past four trips: two missed cuts and two top-10s
- Nick Dunlap not only led the field in strokes gained approach last week at the Sony Open, but his +6.8 mark was a career best, easily topping his previous best of +5.4 at Sanderson Farms in 2024. (Sony Open Recap)
Nick Dunlap gained 5.12 shots (!!!) on approach Thursday at Sony. That’s a nuts number.
Next closest so far is Nick Taylor at +2.9.
Dunlap lost strokes everywhere else though, so the standout ball-striking only yielded a 5-under round. pic.twitter.com/DBM282V8O7
— Paul Hodowanic (@PaulHodowanic) January 16, 2026
- Davis Riley held the 54-hole lead last week and finished +10.4 strokes with the putter, the best week of his career in that regard. He bled 1.9 strokes with the flat stick at the AmEx last year, making this an interesting “how important is the form that we saw last week” spot.
- Looking to build a DFS lineup for this week? We have you covered here — 2026 American Express DFS Picks and Strategy
- Among qualifiers, here are the top five golfers in this field in terms of scoring opportunities gained on easy courses since the start of 2024: Luke Clanton, Ricky Castillo, Joel Dahmen, Robert MacIntyre, and Sepp Straka (Scottie Scheffler is sixth, but isn’t every course an easy course for World #1?)
