Tag: 2021 American Express

As it celebrates 50 years on the PGA Tour, this course only trails a few for longevity (like Augusta National and Pebble Beach)

This gem may have evolved from one of the toughest golf courses in the tournament to one of the easiest on the PGA Tour.

Charlie Sifford made a lot of history on the PGA Tour, but Sifford also made at least a little history in the desert’s PGA Tour event, The American Express.

On Jan. 29, 1964, a new course debuted in the tournament, known then as the Palm Springs Golf Classic. La Quinta Country Club was considered to be perhaps the toughest of the courses in the five-day, four-course format of the tournament that was still a year away from adding Bob Hope’s name to the title.

La Quinta’s tight fairways and small greens might have been difficult, but it wasn’t too daunting that day for Sifford, who had joined the PGA Tour in 1961 as the first African-American golfer on Tour after the all-Caucasian clause for Tour membership had been discarded. In the first round of the 1964 tournament, Sifford fired a 6-under 66, setting the course competitive record and tying for first place after 18 holes with Tommy Jacobs, who had played at Bermuda Dunes Country Club that day.

Sifford eventually finished tied for seventh in the tournament – Jacobs won in a playoff at host Eldorado Country Club – but his place in tournament history was secure. As La Quinta Country Club celebrates its 50th playing in The American Express this year, it may have evolved from one of the toughest golf courses in the tournament to one of the easiest courses on Tour. But its history in the event is equally as secure.

More: American Express golf tournament 2022: Tickets, parking, schedule and more

More: Count on low scoring for American Express, but just how low will golfers go?

The 50th playing of The American Express at La Quinta sets a record for most years played in the event, snapping a tie with Bermuda Dunes Country Club. That record could have been set in 2021, but La Quinta was dropped from the field for a year as part of COVID-19 pandemic protocols.

La Quinta Country Club hasn’t hosted the tournament since 1983, and for a few years it was in a rotation with Tamarisk Country Club. But with 50 years in the tournament, La Quinta has been surpassed in years played on the PGA Tour by only a handful of courses with names like Augusta National and Pebble Beach.

“I always enjoy playing La Quinta Country Club because it’s such a great course and fun to play on this rotation,” tournament host and two-time American Express winner Phil Mickelson said last year over the prospect of the course not being in the 2021 event.

“We’re going to miss La Quinta Country Club,” Kevin Na said at the time. “It’s a great golf course, fantastic greens there every year. We’re going to miss that.”

Mickelson and Na show the reason La Quinta is still in the event for a 50th time. The PGA Tour players enjoy the old-school nature of the course, which opened in 1959. The layout, designed by Lawrence Hughes and capable of playing just over 7,000 yards for the tournament, has not changed much since its 1964 tournament debut, even with a renovation in the late 1990s.

The course still sports narrow fairways, reachable par 5s, demanding par 3s and homes and palm trees left and right of most holes in a throwback feel to golf’s burgeoning days in the desert in the 1950s. The course offers a pair of scorable par 5s on the fifth and sixth holes, but danger on demanding par 4s like the tricky 14th, one of the toughest holes in the tournament.

Being in the tournament is still important to the club and its membership, even if it takes the course away from members for a week to 10 days in January, said the course’s head pro.

“On the flip side of that, the new members who have joined since I have been here, say the last three to seven years, it’s important to them that that tournament was here,” said Chris Gilley. “You walk down our hallways, it is our club, what was the Bob Hope and is now The America Express. It’s our history. It’s our tradition. It is part of what separates us from similar valley clubs.”

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Still part of the event

Still being in the tournament is equally as important, Gilley said. While other 1950s courses have left The American Express rotation, courses like Indian Wells, Tamarisk, Thunderbird and Eldorado country clubs, La Quinta had been part of the event for 11 consecutive years before stepping aside because of the pandemic last year.

“‘Still’ is a key word when we sell our club to our guests or perspective members. We are still host to The American Express, formerly the Bob Hope. That resonates with people as they walk through our doors,” Gilley said.

Tom Nieporte, center, won the Bob Hope Desert Classic
Tom Nieporte, center, won the Bob Hope Desert Classic at La Quinta Country Club in 1967. He received his trophy from President Dwight D. Eisenhower and tournament host Bob Hope.

While La Quinta has only hosted The American Express four times, meaning it was played during the four-day pro-am and then the pros-only Sunday round, the course has a history of eclectic winners.

In 1967, the first year the course hosted the tournament, a part-time touring pro and full-time club pro named Tom Nieporte edged Doug Sanders by a shot for the victory. In 1970, Bruce Devlin surged in the final round to beat Larry Ziegler by four shots. Rik Massengale set a tournament record of 23-under par in winning at La Quinta in 1977, and Keith Fergus edged Rex Caldwell in a playoff in 1983, the last year La Quinta hosted the event.

La Quinta’s other claim to tournament history came in 2017, when Adam Hadwin fired a 13-under 59 on the course in the third round, matching the low round in the tournament shot by David Duval in 1999 at the Palmer Course at PGA West. Hadwin went on to finish second in 2017 to Hudson Swafford.

Returning to La Quinta Country Club this week means The American Express is again paying honor to not just La Quinta but the courses that helped to make the desert famous. And La Quinta gets to show again it can stand up to the best players in the world.

Course leader

Courses played in The American Express tournament since 1960:

50: La Quinta Country Club
49: Bermuda Dunes Country Club
45: Indian Wells Country Club
24: Palmer Course, PGA West
19: Eldorado Country Club
18: Tamarisk Country Club
9: Stadium Course, PGA West
8: Nicklaus Tournament Course, PGA West
6: Nicklaus Private Course, PGA West
4: SilverRock Resort
3: Classic Club; Indian Ridge Country Club; Thunderbird Country Club

 

I escaped Alcatraz with a birdie and other tales from playing 36 at PGA West the day after The Amex

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak birdies the 17th hole at PGA West right after the American Express!

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak birdies the 17th hole at PGA West right after the American Express!

Patrick Cantlay’s magical weekend comes up just short at the American Express

Patrick Cantlay shot an 11-under 61 in the final round but it wasn’t enough to lift the American Express trophy.

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Patrick Cantlay’s magical weekend fell just short of an unforgettable ending.

Cantlay shattered the course record by two strokes with an 11-under 61 at PGA West’s Pete Dye Stadium Course. After making the cut on the number at 4-under, he exploded for 20 birdies over his weekend 36 holes, tying the best score in relation to par in the final two rounds of a 72-hole event on the PGA Tour (18-under).

It took an equally flawless round of 64 from 54-hole leader Si Woo Kim to edge him out for the trophy at the American Express.

“I did everything I could,” Cantlay said. “He just played unbelievable too.”

The American Express: Leaderboard | Winner’s bag | Prize money

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Cantlay, 28, is beginning to develop a reputation for going low on the weekend. At the 2019 Masters, he also made the cut on the number and shot 64-68 to take the lead after an eagle at 15 before finishing T-9. In late October, he poured in nine birdies to rally from three strokes back and win the Zozo Championship. This time, Cantlay started Sunday four strokes back.

“I put myself so behind the 8-ball making the cut just on the number,” he said.

On Moving Day, he shot 65, which would’ve been even better had he not hit a shot out of bounds at No. 8, his 17th hole of the day. Knowing he needed to go low on Sunday, Cantlay carded a career-high 11 birdies. The top-ranked player in the field at World No. 10, Cantlay capped off an unforgettable round with a 38-foot birdie putt at the last.

“It kept building and building and today I felt like I could make everything and I made a lot of them,” he said of the 151 feet, 10 inches of putts he holed on Sunday, his most feet of putts made in a round of his Tour career.

“He played video game golf,” said Cantlay’s swing instructor Jamie Mulligan.

On a sun-splashed day lacking the forecasted wind, Cantlay took advantage, one of three players to tour the first nine in 6-under 30. It included the only dicey moment of the day as he nearly dropped a shot at No. 7 when he tugged his drive and had to pitch out.

But he rescued par with a 9-foot par putt and dodged every landmine on the Dye layout. At the par-3 13th, with water left and the flag tucked dangerously close to it, he drew a beautiful tee shot that caught the slope and stopped 5 feet away. He missed a 6-foot birdie putt at No. 14, shaking his head in disappointment, but bounced back with a 20-foot birdie putt one hole later. Shortsided and with a downhill lie, he hit a delicate pitch from 30 yards to 5 feet for another birdie at the par-5 16th that playing competitor Garry Woodland applauded.

When Cantlay sank his 38-foot birdie putt at 18, he walked over to his caddie Matt Minister and said, “That’s as good as I can play.”

It was a weekend for the record books, but not enough to lift a trophy.

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Unsolved mysteries: Tony Finau fails to end winless streak again, this time at the American Express

It’s one of golf’s unsolved mysteries. Tony Finau failed to end his winless streak again, this time at the American Express.

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Different tournament, same result for Tony Finau.

Tied for the lead heading into the final round of the American Express, Finau made birdie on his first two holes to grab a two-stroke lead. It looked as if he was on his way to collecting his first PGA Tour title since the 2016 Puerto Rico Open. But it was not to be.

Finau made birdie at the 18th hole to shoot 4-under 68, but it was too little too late. He finished at 19-under, four strokes behind the winner, Si Woo Kim. The 31-year-old was alone in fourth place, his 35th top-10 finish since his lone Tour title. It also marked the fourth time he’s held or shared the 54-hole lead without tasting victory.

“I had some opportunities, I think, to shoot a number,” Finau said.

Finau missed two short putts, the first a 4-footer for birdie at No. 7, and the second, a 3-footer for par at No. 11, where he made a sloppy bogey.

American Express: Leaderboard | Photos | Winner’s bag

“That’s probably where I’m looking back on the back nine where I had some momentum and hit a good tee shot on 11. I had a take a little bit off my 3-iron so I decided to just hit a really low draw and just barely pulled it, just enough for it to go in the water,” Finau said. “All hope wasn’t lost, of course, I should have been able to get that up-and-down. I was almost too confident in that short putt, I hit it too hard. Still thought I made it and it just power lipped out.”

Finau called it “a tough pill to swallow,” and, adding to his misery, he dropped another shot at No. 14 to officially seal his fate.

Finau’s inability to close on Sunday remains one of golf’s unsolved mysteries. As former PGA Championship winner Rich Beem, working as a commentator for Sky Sports this week, put it, “he’s too talented not to win.”

On Saturday, Finau conceded that he was growing tired of being asked when he’d finally win, but those questions will linger longer. Still, one of golf’s nicest guys had a smile on his face and remains upbeat.

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“Usually when I walk off the 72nd hole I have a pretty good sense of how long it’s going to sting. I’m pretty encouraged right now,” he said. “I played nicely. I’ve been working on some things in my golf swing, changed up the putter this week (and used a conventional putting stroke for then first time since 2019), some positives for me and I like where the game’s at. It’s real early in the calendar year. I didn’t play very good in Maui, so this is actually pretty encouraging for me.”

Finau returns to action next week at the Farmers Insurance Open. He’s never finished outside the top-25 in six previous starts at Torrey Pines.

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American Express 2021: Record rounds, no fans, a ‘pinky putt’ and a deserving champ

There was plenty of drama, some goofiness and a ton of birdies. These are the 20 moments I’ll remember most from the 2021 American Express.

The 62nd version of the desert’s PGA event is in the books, and 2021 was an unusual one to be sure.

No fans, no concerts, no amateurs and no La Quinta Country Club made for an entirely different feel.

But some things remained the same. There was plenty of drama, some goofiness and a ton of birdies. These are the 20 moments I’ll remember most from the 2021 American Express:

1. Top spot goes to Si Woo Kim, the 2021 champion. Kim was remarkable in his consistency throughout the week playing the final 36 holes bogey-free and making only two bogeys for the entire tournament. Simply amazing.

2. Patrick Cantlay, a UCLA product, put together one of the greatest rounds in the history of this tournament with an 11-under 61 in the final round. It wound up being one stroke short, but that’s not bad for someone who made the cut on the cutline.

3. Tony Finau was certainly the fan favorite entering the final day, and when he started with two birdies, it felt like he might finally shake his Sunday blues. He did not. He played the next 12 holes even par and was not in contention in the end, despite birdies on 15 and 18. It’s surprising for most golf fans to learn that Finau only has one win, because he has been in contention so often. Another opportunity slips away.

Tony Finau hits a shot on the 3rd hole of the Stadium Course during the American Express at PGA West in La Quinta, January 24, 2021.
Tony Finau hits a shot on the 3rd hole of the Stadium Course during the American Express at PGA West in La Quinta, January 24, 2021.

4. There’s no doubt that not having fans this year was a bummer and did take away from the atmosphere. Never more so than on the first tee when the announcer would loudly say the player’s name to absolutely zero applause. “Now on the tee, Rickie Fowler!” Dead silence.

5. The best new addition to the tournament in 2021 was definitely the Charity Challenge with Phil Mickelson hosting a two-on-two match between the teams of Finau and soccer legend Landon Donovan and Paul Casey and country singer Jake Owen. It was fun, made-for-TV and dished out $1 million to local charities. Hope to see it again next year.

6. Win your bar bet: Tony Finau’s first name is short for Milton, not Anthony.

7. Shot of the week (actual category): Cantlay’s clutch 37-foot putt on the 18th hole had all the trimmings of a remarkable winner. No one let Kim in on that, apparently. When he sunk the long putt, Cantlay pumped his fist and said to his caddie “That’s as good as I can play.”

8. Shot of the week (fun category): The thing I saw this week that I enjoyed the most was the “pinky putt” by Mark Hubbard. On his final putt before missing the cut, he reached out his right hand, put his pinky in the air and slowly reached down to the bottom of his putter shaft by the head and grabbed it with his pinky. He then hit the awkward-looking putt and … missed it. Oh well.

9. International winner. Kim became the first Asian to win this event and only the sixth international player to win. He joins Jon Rahm (Spain, 2018), Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela, 2011), Mike Weir (Canada, 2003), Jesper Parnevik (Sweden, 2000) and Bruce Devlin (Australia, 1970).

10. A great under-the-radar effort from 2020 runner-up Abraham Ancer who fired a 66 on Sunday to move up into a tie for fifth. That makes for back-to-back top-five finishes here. Last year’s champion Andrew Landry, on the other hand, finished in a tie for 64th place.

11. Sorry, Charlie: Cantlay’s remarkable round supplanted Palm Desert High grad and local favorite Charlie Reiter, who had the competitive round record on the Pete Dye Course at PGA West with a 9-under 63. He set that mark in 2019.

12. When it catalogs the dreaded “others” meaning double bogey or worse, the PGA doesn’t separate a double bogey from a triple bogey, but I’m willing to bet there were more triple bogeys this year than any one year at this event. Michael Thompson’s on No. 13 on Sunday was probably the most painful.

13. Learning about new players (new to me at least) is one of my favorite parts of this event every year. These are some of the players I’ll be looking forward to follow moving forward: Cameron Davis, Doug Ghim, Brandon Hagy and Russell Knox.

14. Speaking of Hagy, he got into the event as an alternate when Jon Rahm withdrew and made the most of it. He showed his readiness by posting an 8-under 64 to take the Day One lead. He faded, finishing in a tie for 21st, but adding credence to how impressive his effort was is that two other alternates that got into the field had the two worst scores of the entire event and missed the cut.

Brandon Hagy tees off on the 10th hole of the Stadium Course during the American Express at PGA West in La Quinta, January 22, 2021.

15. Despite his amazing play, Cantlay will look back at one stroke on Saturday that may have changed things. In Cantlay’s last 27 holes, he made a remarkable 16 birdies. But on his 17th hole Saturday, he hit his second shot into someone’s patio, which cost him a penalty stroke and produced his only bogey during that stretch. If he doesn’t interrupt that garden party, he may be hoisting the trophy.

16. One of the more entertaining pars came from Andrew Putnam, whose approach shot on 18 on Sunday hit the flag and the flagstick, scored a bunch of water fowl hanging out by the green and rolled into the water. Unlucky and undaunted, Putnam dropped his ball greenside and chipped it in for a par. Nice.

17. Thanks for playing: Brooks Koepka played in the event for the first time in his career. He said it was so he could practice for next week’s event, which he cared more about. He played two rounds and missed the cut. Prediction: Those will be the only two rounds he ever plays here.

18. My No. 18 spot was an easy one. That was reserved for Phil Mickelson’s immaculately average round on Friday: 18 holes, 18 pars. He had never done that before.

19. You can’t arrest people for a bad golf shot, but if you could, Jake Owen, the country singer who played in the Charity Challenge, would be behind bars. He skulled a sand shot over the green and hit a police officer in the thigh. He was apologetic and gave the officer a fist bump. The officer had a good laugh, and was not hurt and told me if he knew Owen was an amateur and not a pro, he would have been on higher alert.

Jake Owen, right, and Paul Casey chat with Mike Scott and Arnold Iniguez with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department after Owen struck Scott with a golf ball that landed during the American Express Charity Challenge at PGA West in La Quinta, January 20, 2021. Scott was unhurt.
Jake Owen, right, and Paul Casey chat with Mike Scott and Arnold Iniguez with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department after Owen struck Scott with a golf ball that landed during the American Express Charity Challenge at PGA West in La Quinta, January 20, 2021. Scott was unhurt.

20. I usually reserve my last item to thank Mother Nature for another beautiful four days. I’ll give her a solid three-and-a-half this year. I felt a few raindrops during Saturday’s round, which marks her down from a perfect score, but otherwise, beautiful.

Shad Powers is a sports columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com. 

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How much money each PGA Tour player won at The American Express

Check out how much money each PGA Tour player earned this weekend at The American Express in California.

It pays to play well on the PGA Tour, folks. Just ask this week’s winner, Si Woo Kim.

The 25-year-old South Korean claimed his third title on Tour on Sunday evening, winning The American Express at PGA West in La Quinta, California, by one shot over Patrick Cantlay. Kim (-23) will take home the $1,206,000 prize after his Sunday 64 was enough to outduel Cantlay (-22), who had taken the clubhouse lead with an 11-under 61 in the final round.

Cameron Davis finished third at 20 under, followed by Tony Finau in fourth at 19 under and Abraham Ancer, Michael Thompson and Doug Ghim, all T-5 at 15 under.

Check out how much money each player earned this week at the 2021 American Express.

American Express: Leaderboard | Photos | Winner’s bag

American Express prize money

Position Player Score Earnings
1 Si Woo Kim -23 $1,206,000
2 Patrick Cantlay -22 $730,300
3 Cameron Davis -20 $462,300
4 Tony Finau -19 $328,300
T5 Abraham Ancer -15 $247,900
T5 Michael Thompson -15 $247,900
T5 Doug Ghim -15 $247,900
T8 Byeong-Hun An -14 $189,275
T8 Paul Casey -14 $189,275
T8 Francesco Molinari -14 $189,275
T8 Brian Harman -14 $189,275
T12 Henrik Norlander -13 $137,350
T12 Sungjae Im -13 $137,350
T12 Chase Seiffert -13 $137,350
T12 Rory Sabbatini -13 $137,350
T16 Bo Hoag -12 $102,175
T16 Chris Kirk -12 $102,175
T16 Ryan Armour -12 $102,175
T16 Gary Woodland -12 $102,175
T16 Russell Knox -12 $102,175
T21 Kramer Hickok -11 $58,625
T21 Brendan Steele -11 $58,625
T21 Rickie Fowler -11 $58,625
T21 Brandon Hagy -11 $58,625
T21 John Huh -11 $58,625
T21 Andrew Putnam -11 $58,625
T21 Luke List -11 $58,625
T21 Talor Gooch -11 $58,625
T21 Matt Jones -11 $58,625
T21 Richy Werenski -11 $58,625
T21 Max Homa -11 $58,625
T32 Kyle Stanley -10 $38,257
T32 James Hahn -10 $38,257
T32 Kyoung-Hoon Lee -10 $38,257
T32 Austin Cook -10 $38,257
T32 Adam Hadwin -10 $38,257
T37 Bronson Burgoon -9 $31,825
T37 Adam Schenk -9 $31,825
T37 Emiliano Grillo -9 $31,825
T40 Josh Teater -8 $25,125
T40 Alexander Noren -8 $25,125
T40 Jamie Lovemark -8 $25,125
T40 Rhein Gibson -8 $25,125
T40 Matthew Wolff -8 $25,125
T40 Roger Sloan -8 $25,125
T40 Tyler McCumber -8 $25,125
T47 Nick Taylor -7 $17,777
T47 Rob Oppenheim -7 $17,777
T47 Sam Ryder -7 $17,777
T47 Martin Laird -7 $17,777
T47 Brian Stuard -7 $17,777
T47 Harry Hall -7 $17,777
53 Patton Kizzire -6 $16,147
T54 Charl Schwartzel -5 $15,812
T54 Wyndham Clark -5 $15,812
T56 Ben Martin -4 $15,410
T56 Tyler Duncan -4 $15,410
T56 Cameron Tringale -4 $15,410
T56 Erik van Rooyen -4 $15,410
T60 Jimmy Walker -3 $15,008
T60 Vaughn Taylor -3 $15,008
T62 Hank Lebioda -2 $14,740
T62 Zach Johnson -2 $14,740
T64 David Hearn -1 $14,338
T64 Andrew Landry -1 $14,338
T64 Will Gordon -1 $14,338
T64 Sebastian Cappelen -1 $14,338
68 Nelson Lauta Ledesma E $14,003
69 Adam Long 1 $13,869
70 Doc Redman 2 $13,735
71 Maverick McNealy 3 $13,601

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Si Woo Kim shoots 64 on Sunday, takes title at American Express

Si Woo Kim fired a 64 on Sunday, capturing the title at the American Express on the Pete Dye Stadium Course at PGA West.

Using a birdie on the tournament’s 71st hole, Si Woo Kim fired a 64 on Sunday, capturing the title at the American Express on the Pete Dye Stadium Course at PGA West in La Quinta, California.

Kim’s 18-foot putt on No. 17 moved him to 23 under and was crucial in securing the title.

Kim got hot mid-round, using a string of six birdies on eight holes, starting at No. 4, to briefly take sole possession of the lead. The two-time winner on the PGA Tour hadn’t won since his 2017 victory in the Players Championship.

Patrick Cantlay, who made the cut on the number but then shot a 65 on Saturday during the third round, made the turn Sunday at 30 and didn’t slow down on the back. He took the lead at 22 under on the final hole by virtue of a 37-foot putt, but then had to watch Kim, who had a string of holes remaining.

After making the birdie on No. 17, Kim was true on his final drive of the day, finding the fairway and then hitting the 18th green in regulation. He two-putted to victory.

The American Express: Leaderboard | Photos

Tony Finau, who has routinely been near the top of leaderboards on Sundays before faltering, did so again. Finau was tied for the lead on the back nine, but knocked the ball in the water on the par-5 No. 11 and made bogey. He never really recovered, finishing fourth at 19 under behind Cameron Davis (-20).

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Max Homa shoots 65, explains his one-word mantra for life and why he tattooed it on his right arm

Max Homa shot 65 to share the 54-hole lead at the American Express as he bids for his second PGA Tour title.

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Max Homa has one word tattooed on his right arm – “Relentless.” It’s been his mantra for golf as well as life.

“That word just always like rang true in my head,” he said.

As early as his college days, he tried to live up to its meaning, telling his teammates, “you have to be a bulldog, you just got to be tough.”

Little did he know that he would experience some of the lowest of lows professionally, most notably in 2017 when he made just two cuts in 17 starts on the PGA Tour and earned $18,008. (He knows the amount to the penny.) It was following that season of failure that he got his ink.

“I had to remind myself that when I brush my teeth with my right hand I see it every morning in the mirror,” he said.

Homa’s relentless pursuit to become the best golfer he can be earned him a return trip to the Tour and he proved he belonged by winning the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship. On Sunday, he will seek further validation, heading into the final round of the American Express with a share of the 54-hole lead after shooting 7-under 65 at PGA West’s Stadium Course.

Homa, a 30-year-old Southern California native, has been bullish on his game since shooting a pair of 65s on the weekend at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in December to finish T-12. On an unseasonably cool, overcast day that included sporadic raindrops in the desert, Homa proved he’s more than just a social media darling, pouring in nine birdies and didn’t let a double bogey slow him down. In a word, he was relentless.

The American Express: Leaderboard | Tee times, TV | Photos

Through three rounds, he’s made a tournament-best 24 birdies, which he attributed to being dialed in with his wedges and short irons. But perhaps his best hole of the day was scrambling for par from 109 yards after he mishit his tee shot just 241 yards into a bunker. Homa layed up and dropped a lob wedge 10 feet from the hole.

“He just had to get it on the green and I knew he was going to make it,” said Homa’s caddie Joe Greiner.

That he did. Homa sank 112 feet of putts in the third round and ranks second this week in Strokes Gained: putting, which comes as no surprise to Homa.

“I think I’m a great putter. I kind of realized that around PGA Championship last year,” he said.

Homa strung together four birdies in a row beginning at the second hole and birdied three straight starting at No. 14 to grab his share of the 54-hole lead with Si Woo Kim and Tony Finau. Oozing with confidence in his swing and his putting stroke, Homa spent much of his off-season working on improving his mental approach to the game. That includes giving himself positive affirmation.

The American Express
Max Homa putts on the 17th green during the third round of The American Express at PGA West Peter Dye Stadium Course. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY Sports)

“When I wake up, when I’m nervous, on a certain tee shot, where I feel like I might be getting antsy I just say three things I’m grateful for,” he explained. “It kind of calms me down.”

Homa guessed that during Saturday’s riveting 65, he took time to express his gratitude six or seven times.

“It’s just a good way to stay happy,” he said. “Golf is my life, but I don’t want it to consume me. I want to win, I want to be the best player in the world at some point one day, I want to be the best me I can be and all that kind of comes with being a happy dude. So I’m just trying to be a happy dude, I guess.”

Homa might be even happier with his position heading into Sunday’s final round if not for two sloppy holes: he tripled the 10th hole on Friday and made double at No. 7 on Saturday. He knows he could be running away with the tournament, but then again he understands that Pete Dye’s Stadium Course has its way of striking back.

“I guess I’ve already gotten some of the bite out of the way, so I like my chances,” he said.

No matter what, he’ll be relentless in his pursuit of victory.

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The American Express Sunday tee times, TV and streaming info

Check out final round tee times and viewing information for the American Express.

The PGA Tour is back on the mainland for the American Express at PGA West in La Quinta, California. The first two rounds of the tournament are split between the Stadium Course and the Nicklaus Tournament Course. After the cut, the remainder of the event will be played at the Stadium Course.

Max Homa, Si Woo Kim and Tony Finau split the 54-hole lead at 15 under headed into Sunday. Richy Werenski sits in solo fourth one shot back at 14 under while Russell Knox, Brian Harman and Emiliano Grillo are T-5 at 13 under. Five golfers including Francesco Molinari are T-8 at 12 under.

Check out Sunday’s final round groupings and tee times below, as well as this week’s complete TV and online streaming schedule.

All times are listed in Eastern.

RSM Classic: Fantasy rankings | Betting odds | Photos

Tee times

Stadium Course – 1st tee

Tee time Players
12:10 p.m. Josh Teater, Kramer Hickok, Bo Hoag
12:20 p.m. Kyle Stanley, Alex Noren, Chris Kirk
12:30 p.m. Adam Schenk, Abraham Ancer, Rob Oppenheim
12:40 p.m. Ben Martin, Michael Thompson, James Hahn
12:50 p.m. John Huh, Brandon Hagy, Sungjae Im
1:00 p.m. Patrick Cantlay, Gary Woodland, Andrew Putnam
1:10 p.m. Luke List, Talor Gooch, Roger Sloan
1:20 p.m. Matt Jones, Byeong Hun An, Paul Casey
1:30 p.m. Chase Seiffert, Francesco Molinari, Doug Ghim
1:40 p.m. Emiliano Grillo, Cameron Davis, Rory Sabbatini
1:50 p.m. Richy Werenski, Russell Knox, Brian Harman
2:00 p.m. Max Homa, Si Woo Kim, Tony Finau

Stadium Course – 10th tee

Tee time Players
12:10 p.m. Brendan Steele, Nick Taylor, Bronson Burgoon
12:20 p.m. Henrik Norlander, Jamie Lovemark, Jimmy Walker
12:30 p.m. Patton Kizzire, Sam Ryder, Rickie Fowler
12:40 p.m. Martin Laird, Rhein Gibson, Matthew Wolff
12:50 p.m. Kyoung-Hoon Lee, Ryan Armour, Hank Lebioda
1:00 p.m. Charl Schwartzel, Brian Stuard, Zach Johnson
1:10 p.m. Austin Cook, Adam Hadwin, Tyler Duncan
1:20 p.m. Tyler McCumber, Cameron Tringale, Harry Hall
1:30 p.m. Andrew Landry, Wyndham Clark, David Hearn
1:40 p.m. Adam Long, Vaughn Taylor, Erik van Rooyen
1:50 p.m. Will Gordon, Doc Redman, Sebastian Cappelen
2:00 p.m. Nelson Ledesma, Maverick McNealy

TV, radio info

Sunday, Jan. 24

TV

Golf Channel (watch for free on fuboTV): 3-7 p.m.

RADIO

PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 2-7 p.m.

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Phil Mickelson achieves a first: Pars all 18 holes en route to missed cut

Mickelson recorded 18 consecutive pars for the first time in his PGA Tour career.

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Phil Mickelson did something he had never done in 2,200 previous rounds on the PGA Tour. He made 18 consecutive pars in the second round of the American Express.

Eighteen pars for golf’s wild thing? Think about how many U.S. Opens he would’ve won if he’d ever done that in a USGA event. But golf in a dome as defending champion Andrew Landry describes it, isn’t about making pars; it’s supposed to be a birdie-fest.

When informed that he’d achieved a first for him, Mickelson responded as only Mickelson can: “Which is surprising,” he said, “because I really try to hit fairways and center of the greens and just make easy pars and for that to be the first time it’s really shocking.”

The American Express: Leaderboard | Tee times, TV | Photos

Mickelson, a two-time champion of the American Express and tournament host, opened with a 2-over 74 on Thursday at the easier Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West, to put himself in a position where he was going to need to make birdies in bunches to make the 36-hole cut, which fell at 4-under 140. Mickelson, who missed the cut for the fifth time in 18 starts in this event, didn’t manage to make a single circle on his card in signing for an even-par 72. He canned a 15-foot par putt at No. 13 to keep the streak intact. He had recorded 17 pars in a round on five previous occasions.

“If you look at the scorecard, it’s pathetic,” he said. “I’m not denying that.”

Mickelson became the first player to card 18 pars in a round at PGA West (Stadium) since 2016, but he’s among the best at turning a negative into a positive and he emphasized the good in an otherwise disappointing effort to kickstart his 2020-21 season.

“Looking at the scores, you’re going to say, ‘Gosh, you played 2 over par, pretty easy courses, pretty poor start,’ but I feel like there was a lot of good things to take from this week, even though the scorecard’s not going to show it,” he said. “I’m driving the ball well. I’m hitting a lot of good shots. My putting is, needs some work, but I have been putting good for a long period of time so I don’t feel as though it’s going to require a lot of effort. But I’ll go back and work on it and try to get ready for next week in San Diego.”

Mickelson is in the midst of a stretch of at least four and possibly five consecutive starts. As noted, he’ll head to his hometown event, the Farmers Insurance Open, before going to the Middle East to play the European Tour’s Saudi International. Mickelson will return stateside for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and said he could add the Genesis Invitational – as he did a year ago – where he is a former champion.

Mickelson was stuck in neutral all day on Friday. He hit 13-of-18 greens in regulation, but ranked 67th of 78 golfers that played the Stadium Course in proximity. Mickelson’s putter was more foe than friend; he took 30 putts. It added up to another weekend off, his third missed cut in six starts this season. With brother Tim back home awaiting the birth of his son, Mickelson had his swing instructor Andrew Getson on the bag. There will be plenty for them to work on before Mickelson tees it up next – unless you take him at his word.

“I think that it’s a little bit closer than it looks,” Mickelson said.

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