World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler emerges victorious on world class stage
LA QUINTA, Calif. (January 28, 2026) – For the first time in the illustrious history of The American Express®, the top-ranked player in the world emerged victorious. Scottie Scheffler, in his sixth career start at this event, won The American Express® on PGA West’s Stadium Course on Sunday by four shots, posting rounds of 63-64-68-66 to finish at 27-under par.
Scheffler’s win in the Coachella Valley is the 20th win of his PGA TOUR career, thus becoming the first player since Tiger Woods to earn 20 victories before turning 30. It’s also Scheffler’s seventh win in his last 13 starts.
“I love playing this event to start,” Scheffler said earlier in the week. “You get a good gauge of where you’re at just based upon you’re not really playing in so many conditions, and you got to be sharp around this place to make enough birdies to compete. It’s a good way to gauge where I’m at to start the year and it’s a fun event.”
Scheffler made 32 birdies across his 72 holes of play, with nine of those par-breakers coming during Sunday’s final round.
Along with history being made on the course, the tournament announced that it had a record attendance in 2026, with ticket sales seeing a 30% increase when compared to last year. Concessions and merchandise sales also saw record highs.
Golf Channel’s coverage of this year’s tournament is also the most watched edition of The American Express® since 2015, with overall viewership up 124% when compared to last year. Four-day coverage averaged 515,000 viewers on Golf Channel. Meanwhile, in the wake of 18-year-old Blades Brown’s historic 12-under par 60 on Friday, Saturday’s third round coverage averaged 883,000 viewers and peaked with more than one million viewers – a 284% increase from last year. The final round averaged 617,000 viewers, a 127% increase versus 2025.
“The 2026 edition of The American Express® will be remembered for years to come,” said Tournament Director Pat McCabe. “We are delighted to have a once-in-a-generation player win our event, with the strongest field ever, all while also setting records in ticket, concessions, and merchandise sales. Players love the unique three course venue early in the year and they know we are focused on created a world class event for players and fans alike.”
“We continue to create one of the best experiences in golf for players, fans, and sponsors and 2026 will be our most memorable, with 27 of the top 50 players making up our strongest field yet, a world class VIP experience for every fan that attended, a distinctive opportunity for players to play three pristine courses as they started their year and as always, an opportunity to impact our community with our charitable focus,” said Frank Marzano, the Chairman of The Impact Through Golf Foundation.
This year’s The American Express® earned 379.25 points in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), making this the strongest field on the PGA TOUR outside of the four majors, THE PLAYERS, and the Genesis Scottish Open over the last two seasons.
On top of that, amateurs joined the professionals over the first three rounds, with many of these players being some of the country’s top businessmen and executives. Relationships between these impressive individuals and PGA TOUR players were formed, leading to more opportunities for all involved down the road. Also competing among the amateurs was Grant Horvat, who has quickly become one of the biggest influencers in the golf space.
“I have met some pretty cool people along the way,” said Will Zalatoris before the tournament.
“It’s just such a great week to [start the season] because, even though it is a pro-am and there is just a slight bit of a relaxed atmosphere to it, we’re obviously starting off our season and wanting to compete and win. Being able to come out and make some birdies early in the year and get the mojo going [is great]. It’s always fun to be here. Every year, this tournament has gotten better. I always love coming here.”
For more information about The American Express®, please visit our social media on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TheAmericanExpress), X (@TheAmexGolf), and Instagram (@TheAmexGolf).
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ABOUT THE AMERICAN EXPRESS®
Founded in 1960, The American Express® Golf Tournament is a premier PGA TOUR event that brings together 156 professional and amateur golfers, music entertainers and golf fans to celebrate the sport and its community impact. Held annually at PGA WEST’s Pete Dye Stadium Course (host course) and Nicklaus Tournament Course, as well as La Quinta Country Club, the tournament showcases exceptional talent while supporting local charities through various initiatives. Since its inception, the event has generated over $67 million in charitable contributions. Past champions include inaugural winner Arnold Palmer, Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Mike Weir, Fred Couples, and the 2025 champion Sepp Straka. Follow The American Express® on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TheAmericanExpress), X (@TheAmexGolf), and Instagram (@TheAmexGolf). Visit www.theamexgolf.com for more information.
ABOUT HOST ORGANIZATION
The Impact Through Golf Foundation was formed in July 2019 and serves as the charitable, non-profit organization for The American Express®. The Foundation provides funding to organizations that support health and wellness, education, youth and family support, homelessness, natural disaster recovery, rebuilding support, and capital improvement. Since the tournament’s inception in 1960, The American Express® has generated over $67 Million to support more than 100 non-profit organizations and charities in the Coachella Valley region. For more information, please visit: https://impactthroughgolf.org.
ABOUT AMERICAN EXPRESS
American Express (NYSE: AXP) is a global payments and premium lifestyle brand powered by technology. Our colleagues around the world back our customers with differentiated products, services and experiences that enrich lives and build business success.
Founded in 1850 and headquartered in New York, American Express’ brand is built on trust, security, and service, and a rich history of delivering innovation and Membership value for our customers. With over a hundred million merchant locations across our global network, we seek to provide the world’s best customer experience every day to a broad range of consumers, small and medium-sized businesses, and large corporations. For more information about American Express, visit americanexpress.com, americanexpress.com/en-us/newsroom/, and ir.americanexpress.com.
ABOUT PGA TOUR
By showcasing golf’s greatest players, the PGA TOUR engages, inspires and positively impacts our fans, partners and communities worldwide.
The PGA TOUR, headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, co-sanctions tournaments on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, Korn Ferry Tour, PGA TOUR Americas and administers PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry and PGA TOUR University. TOUR members represent the world’s best players, hailing from 28 countries and territories. Showcasing the biggest moments in the sport with history and legacy on the line, the PGA TOUR has long-term domestic distribution partnerships for broadcast coverage on CBS, NBC and Golf Channel and video streaming service on ESPN+. Internationally, PGA TOUR coverage is available across 200+ countries and territories in 30 languages via 39 broadcast and digital partners. Virtually all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations to maximize charitable giving, and to date, tournaments across all Tours have generated more than $4 billion.
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ABOUT SPORTFIVE
SPORTFIVE is a global sports marketing agency that delivers customer-centric solutions based on trust and transparency, deep industry experience and global relationships, digital intelligence and innovation.
SPORTFIVE strategically and creatively connects brands, rightsholders, media platforms and fans to create and enable contemporary partnerships in sports.
While creating and growing long-term value for all, SPORTFIVE often leads the sports business into the future through innovative digital solutions and strives to be the most progressive and respected partner in sports.
Being at the center of professional sport SPORTFIVE will use its unique position, in order to make a positive contribution to sustainability and to live up to the social and economic duty and responsibility, which sport and consequently all parties involved, also have. SPORTFIVE operates with a global mindset and network of over 1,200 local experts based in 15 countries around the world, active in Football, Golf, Handball, Motorsport, Esports, Cricket, Tennis, American Football, Basketball, Hockey, Rugby, Olympics and Multi-Sport Events, Wintersports and many more.