American Express R4 – Golf Today

Scottie Scheffler fired nine birdies, one bogey and a double bogey at the par-3 17th to close with a 6-under 66 and win The American Express by four shots at 27-under. He led the field with 32 birdies this week (next most: 29, Ricky Castillo/T44).

This was the World No. 1’s 20th win in his 151st start at the age of 29. He is the 40th player to reach 20 wins on the PGA Tour and moves to T36 on the all-time wins list. It was also his first career win when making his season debut.

“To be honest, I had not really thought about that very much. I mean, that’s a pretty cool feat to get to. This week in particular was a nice week. Got off to a good start over there at La Quinta, and then I came over here and kept the momentum going on these two courses,” said Scheffler.

“Today was a day in which I played pretty nice and did some good things out there. I hit a lot of wedges really close to the hole, gave myself some easy birdies. And then when I was out of position did a good job of getting the ball up-and-down.”

Scheffler is the first player to reach 20 wins since Rory McIlroy (earned 20th win at the 2021 CJ CUP in South Carolina) and the first since Tiger Woods to earn 20 PGA Tour wins under the age of 30. Woods’ 20th win came at the 2000 US Open at 24 years, 5 months, 19 days.

He had the second-fewest starts (151 starts) to reach 20 wins, only behind Tiger Woods (95 starts).

“At the end of the day it’s not something that will occupy many of my thoughts day-to-day,” added Scheffler. “When I was thinking about getting ready for this week I was just trying to prepare and do the best that I could. Hopefully we’ll get out of here tonight and get ready to gear up again, get some rest, and then get ready to kind of do it all over again in a couple weeks. I don’t spend too much time thinking about the milestones or anything like that.

“I think it’s really cool to step up there on the first tee — and I was just a kid dreaming of playing golf on the PGA Tour, so to be able to come out here and play in final groups, play in front of crowds, play on the tour that I dreamed of playing on is a really cool feeling. Being in the arena, being in contention is a lot of fun, just because it’s something that we practice and work so hard for, so when you get in those moments you’re prepared and you’re able to enjoy the competition. This is something that is fun for me, but it can be really hard when things don’t go your way. It’s a lot more fun winning than losing.”

By reaching 20 wins, Scheffler is eligible to be a Life Member. The Life Member category is below Tournament Winners on the Priority Ranking, so Scheffler would not compete out of the Life Member category for at least the next five years.

Australian Jason Day, the lone non-American in the top-5, closed with a bogey-free 64 to finish T2 at 23-under. He played his final 47 holes of the event bogey free to earn his 100th top-10 finish. He led the field in Strokes Gained: Around the Green (3.856) and Stroked Gained: Putting (5.827).

Ryan Gerard made nine birdies and two bogeys for a 65 and a share of second place, his second consecutive runner-up finish after his solo second place at last week’s Sony Open in Hawaii.

Matt McCarty made one bogey and finished birdie-par-birdie to claim his second-best finish on Tour in his 33rd start (won the 2024 Bank of Utah Championship) with a share of second place.

Finally also finishing T2 was Andrew Putnam who made three bogeys for a 68, his best finish on Tour since the 2022 Baycurrent Classic (T2). He played the second and third rounds bogey free and 19-under par (60-65).

54-hole leader Si Woo Kim of Korea carded a final-round 72 having made two bogeys and a double bogey at the par-5 8th to finish T6 and claim his third top-10 finish in nine career starts at The American Express (2016/T9, 2021/Won, 2026/T6).

18-year-old sponsor exemption Blades Brown of the USA entered the day one stroke behind the lead and carded two birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey at the par-5 5th for a final-round 74 and a T18 finish at 19-under. He recorded his best finish in a PGA Tour event in his 10th career start (previous: T26/2024 ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic).

Aon Swing 5

The American Express was the second of four opportunities for players to earn FedExCup points towards the Aon Swing 5 with entry into each of the next two Signature Events (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, The Genesis Invitational).

The top five players, not otherwise exempt, who earn the most FedExCup points during the Sony Open in Hawaii, The American Express, Farmers Insurance Open and the WM Phoenix Open will qualify for the first two Signature Events.

Aon Swing 5 Leaderboard through The American Express:

• 1. Patrick Rodgers – 198.792 points
• 2. Matt McCarty – 189.250 points
• 3. Andrew Putnam – 183.750 points
• 4. Pierceson Coody – 98.167 points
• 5. S.H. Kim– 98.167 points