The PGA TOUR heads to La Quinta, California for The American Express this week. Since 2016, this tournament has featured three courses in La Quinta — the Pete Dye Stadium Course (par 72, 7,210 yards, POA overseed greens), the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course (par 72, 7,147 yards, POA overseed greens) and La Quinta Country Club (par 72, 7,060 yards, POA trivialis/ryegrass overseed greens). This is a field of 156 players and after each golfer plays one round on each of these three courses, there will be a top-65 and ties cut. Then, the players who advance will return to the Pete Dye Stadium Course for the final round.
Below, I have featured a make cut parlay to consider for The American Express.
Max Greyserman + Brian Harman + Patrick Fishburn to all make the cut (+172)
Greyserman travels to La Quinta this week playing some of the best golf of this entire field. The 29-year-old has made 11 straight cuts and, during this run, he has carded four top-five finishes and his worst result has been a T33. Greyserman has shot under par in 14 straight rounds and he ranks first in SGP when we compare this field’s last 24 rounds. A hot putter is essential at The American Express — four of the past five winners have finished the event T11 or better in SGP. After finishing T56th at in his American Express debut last season, Greyserman returns to La Quinta 147 spots higher in the world golf rankings this time around.
Harman is an elite cut maker. The veteran has made 15 cuts in a row, which is the fourth-longest active streak on the PGA TOUR. Harman finished T21 at the Sony Open last week and he notably was one of only nine players to gain strokes in every major category. With his game in compelling form in all areas, Harman is a very safe bet to make the cut at The American Express, which is an event he has been very successful at throughout his career. Ever since The American Express took on the three-course format in 2016, Harman has made six-of-eight cuts at this tournament, with all six of those finishes coming inside the top-25.
Lastly, Fishburn is playing the best golf of his career and he should redeem himself with a high finish this week after he missed the cut in his first attempt at The American Express last season. While this may seem like a concern, it is totally irrelevant given how much Fishburn has progressed as a player in a year’s time. During this span, Fishburn has moved himself up 180 spots in the World Golf Rankings to a career-best No. 93. Fishburn has made seven of his last nine cuts and he has recoded three straight top-12 finishes coming into this week. His most recent start was a T6 at last week’s Sony Open, in which he ranked top-10 both birdies and SGP. Fishburn has shot under par in 14 straight rounds and he should find himself comfortably inside the cut line come Saturday night.
