The PGA Tour heads to the California desert with the American Express, a full-field event held across three courses – LaQuinta CC and both the Nicklaus Tournament course and Stadium course at PGA West.
Jon Rahm is the overall favourite to win, for a number of valid reasons, mainly that he is the world No.1 and 2018 champion of this tournament.
These are the players (betting odds in brackets) we like this week:
1. Jon Rahm ($6.5) Rahm was only denied a win at the year-opening Tournament of Champions on Maui when Australian Cameron Smith shot the lowest 72-hole score in relation to par to beat the Spaniard by one shot. Rahm did everything he could, shooting 33-under-par and leading the field in greens in regulation and proximity. It’s left the world No.1 primed to grab a second victory at PGA West this week, having won the tournament in 2018. 2. Patrick Cantlay ($9) Cantlay kicked off 2022 with a fourth placing at the Tournament of Champions and now he returns to PGA West, where he finished second with a course-record 61 on the Stadium Course. He was also tied for ninth in 2019. 3. Sungjae Im ($21) Im has been trending at PGA West the past three years, with results of T12, T10, T12. He also opened this year with a tie for eighth on Maui. Dark Horse: Talor Gooch ($26) The American started 2022 strong with a T15 on Maui and a top 30 at the Sony Open. At PGA West, Gooch owns a fourth place (2019) and two other top 25s there. He seems poised to win any week now. Top Aussie: Jason Day ($67) There are only two Australians in the field at the American Express, with Brett Drewitt the other, and Day’s swing is looking good under his coach Chris Como. Day has also been in the California desert for a few weeks, practising and playing. The American Express presents a good chance for Day to get his first win on the PGA Tour since 2018. |
Meanwhile, Adam Scott will kick off 2022 in the Middle East, teeing it up in the DP World Tour’s (formerly-named European Tour) Abu Dhabi event – with a handful of the world’s top golfers joining him there.
Below is a spread of where our Aussies are playing around the world this week, courtesy of the PGA of Australia’s Tony Webeck.
Round 1 tee times AEDT
DP World Tour
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
Yas Links, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2.40pm* Adam Scott, Bernd Wiesberger, Nicolai Hojgaard
2.50pm* Min Woo Lee, Guido Migliozzi, Robert MacIntyre
3pm Scott Hend, Dale Whitnell, Scott Jamieson
3.20pm Wade Ormsby, Shubhankar Sharma, Jack Singh Brar
3.40pm* Ryan Fox, Callum Shinkwin, Søren Kjeldsen
6.45pm* Maverick Antcliff, David Law, Joost Luiten
6.55pm* Jason Scrivener, Paul Waring, Andrea Pavan
Defending champion: Tyrrell Hatton
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Min Woo Lee
TV guide: Live 8pm-12am Thursday, Friday; Live 7pm-12am Saturday; Live 6pm-12am Sunday on Fox Sports 503
Asian Tour
SMBC Singapore Open
Sentosa Golf Club, Serapong Course
11.10am             Ben Eccles, Naoki Sekito, Nicholas Fung
11.10am*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Travis Smyth, Charlie Wi, Panuphol Pittayarat
11.30am             Daniel Fox, Tirawat Kaewsiribandit, Taehoon Ok
3.20pm*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Zach Murray, Micah Lauren Shin, Karandeep Kochhar
3.30pm Matthew Griffin, Sanghee Lee, Pavit Tangkamolprasert
3.30pm*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Todd Sinnott, Trevor Simsby, Eunshin Park
3.40pm David Bransdon, Gunn Charoenkul, Bio Kim
3.40pm*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Ben Campbell, Natipong Srithong, Richard T. Lee
4pm      Andrew Evans, Yuto Katsuragawa, Prom Meesawat
4pm*Â Â Â Â Jake Higginbottom, Danthai Boonma, Khalin Joshi
Defending champion: Matt Kuchar
Past Aussie winners: Frank Phillips (1961, 1965), Ted Ball (1964), Terry Gale (1978), Peter Fowler (1987), Paul Moloney (1993), Steven Conran (1995), Ken Druce (1999), Adam Scott (2005, 2006, 2010)
Top Aussie prediction: Travis Smyth
TV guide: Live 4pm-8pm Thursday, Friday; Live 2pm-6pm Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503
PGA TOUR
The American Express
Pete Dye Stadium Course, La Quinta, California
Nicklaus Tournament Cse
3.50am*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Jason Day, Justin Rose
4.30am*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Brett Drewitt, David Lipsky
Defending champion: Si Woo Kim
Past Aussie winners: Bruce Devlin (1970)
Top Aussie prediction: Jason Day
TV guide: Live 7am-11am Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503
Korn Ferry Tour
The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic
The Abaco Club on Winding Bay, Great Abaco, Bahamas
Aussies in the field: Aaron Baddeley, Rhein Gibson, Curtis Luck
Defending champion: Jared Wolfe
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Rhein Gibson
