It’s the tournament that Hope built, Bob Hope that is! The legendary actor and comedian made this tournament his showcase as host before his passing. Now, after year two of the name change, the 2021 American Express, is set to tee off with a strong field including last week’s winner Kevin Na as one of the Favorites.
Na stormed through the field at the Sony Open last week after coming in at a +6600 for the opening round. This week Na has earned some respect and comes in at +3300. That’s a nice jump, but he’s not the betting favorite.
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Patrick Cantlay comes in as the favorite to win outright at +1200 after Jon Rahm suddenly withdrew on Monday. Rahm was the lone favorite according to some sportsbooks ranging from +600 to +700. No reason was given by the PGA and tournament officials for the WD by Rahm. Cantlay is followed by Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed – both at +1600.
Here are the top-five favorites (Live PGA Odds Are From Intertops).
Patrick Cantlay +1200
Brooks Koepka +1600
Patrick Reed +1600
Scottie Scheffler +1600
Tony Finau +2000
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2021 The American Express PGA Preview
Where: La Quinta, California & Palm Desert, California
Course: PGA West Stadium Course / PGA West Nicklaus Tournament Course
Format: Stroke Play
Par: 72 (all courses)
Length: 7,113 yards (PGA West Stadium), 7,204 yards (Nicklaus Tournament)
When: January 21 –14, 2021
Purse: $6.7 Million
TV Coverage: NBC, Golf Channel, Peacock
The American Express continues its Bob Hope Desert Classic history by being one of the largest pro-am events on the Tour. The event is played across several Palm Beach area courses with the final day of play for PGA pros coming on Sunday at the Stadium Course.
The Stadium Course is a classic California set of links. It was designed by Pete Dye and features deep bunkers, immaculate green landing areas with manicured natural boundaries. Serval holes play over, and around water… it’s Pebble Beach!
Wind and mist can come into play due to the natural surroundings but when the weather is nice the course is picturesque. The grass is Bermuda, with native grasses. Opportunities for birdies are available on several shorter par five holes. Long irons, wedges, and a hot putter will be critical on the par 3’s.
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2021 The American Express Predictions
Scottie Scheffler +1600
Scottie Scheffler comes in at +1600 and probably has a score to settle. Last year he stormed through the field going 65, 64, and 66 before finishing with a 70 and a solo third-place finish. After that round, he missed the next two cuts but bounced back to be one of the strongest players on Tour. He started 2021 with a FedEx rank of No. 122 but it now stands at No. 67 with a run of top-20 finishes.
Patrick Reed +1600
Sorry to go +1600 with back to back players… but Patrick Reed and Scheffler should be towards the top of the board every round. They both seem to know these courses and the quirks of such a celebrity-packed event like Pebble Beach seems to draw. Reed won this tournament back in 2014 and has finished T14 or better in all three of his 2021 tournaments so far. He finished 2020 by T8 at the Tour Championship.
Adam Hadwin +5000
I’m skipping past Brooks Koepka because his recovery from knee surgery continues. Passing on a few other bigger names in the field. That being said, there is one name I can’t get out of my head when it comes to this tournament over the last several years. Adam Hadwin comes in as a plat at +5000. He’s been strong in this event with a T2 in 2019 and 2017.
Others I Like: You can’t count out Phil Mickelson (+4000) at the American Express. He’s won it twice, finished T2 two years ago, and seems to always be a threat at Pebble Beach. Adam Landry (+12500) is an awesome darkhorse pick. Landry is the defending Champion of this event also finished T2 in 2018.
2021 The American Express PGA Odds
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Patrick Cantlay +1200
Brooks Koepka +1600
Patrick Reed +1600
Scottie Scheffler +1600
Tony Finau +2000
Sungjae Im +2200
Matthew Wolff +2200
Kevin Na +3300
Abraham Ancer +3300
Russell Henley +3300
Rickie Fowler +4000
Cameron Champ +4000
Phil Mickelson +4000
Paul Casey +5000
Adam Long +5000
Lanto Griffin +5000
Sam Burns +5000
Patton Kizzire +5000
Adam Hadwin +5000
Ryan Moore +5000
Brian Harman +6000
Si-Woo Kim +6000
Aaron Wise +6000
Emiliano Grillo +6000
Zach Johnson +6000
Charles Howell III +6000
Chris Kirk +6600
Gary Woodland +6600
Erik Van Rooyen +6600
Cameron Davis +6600
Lucas Glover +8000
Alex Noren +8000
Doc Redman +8000
Sepp Straka +8000
Talor Gooch +8000
Cameron Tringale +8000
Russell Knox +8000
Joel Dahmen +8000
Brendan Steele +8000
Charley Hoffman +8000
JT Poston +10000
James Hahn +10000
Tom Hoge +10000
Peter Malnati +10000
Maverick McNealy +10000
Keegan Bradley +10000
Francesco Molinari +10000
John Huh +10000
Wyndham Clark +10000
Chez Reavie +10000
Matt Jones +10000
Kevin Streelman +10000
Scott Piercy +10000
Michael Thompson +12500
Matthew Nesmith +12500
Max Homa +12500
Byeong Hun An +12500
Martin Laird +12500
Hudson Swafford +12500
Branden Grace +12500
Denny McCarthy +12500
Nick Taylor +12500
Patrick Rodgers +12500
Andrew Landry +12500
Rory Sabbatini +12500
Brandt Snedeker +15000
Charl Schwartzel +15000
C T Pan +15000
Camilo Villegas +15000
Vaughn Taylor +15000
Kramer Hickok +15000
Kyle Stanley +15000
Henrik Norlander +15000
Tyler Duncan +15000
Austin Cook +20000
Pat Perez +20000
Brian Stuard +20000
Mark Hubbard +20000
Brian Gay +20000
Kristoffer Ventura +20000
Steve Stricker +20000
Richy Werenski +20000
Doug Ghim +20000
Chesson Hadley +20000
Brice Garnett +20000
Andrew Putnam +20000
Jim Herman +20000
Robby Shelton +20000
Adam Schenk +20000
Luke List +20000
Harry Hall +25000
Scott Stallings +25000
Danny Lee +25000
Bo Hoag +25000
Jason Dufner +25000
Will Gordon +25000
Anirban Lahiri +25000
Xinjun Zhang +25000
Kyoung-Hoon Lee +25000
John Augenstein +30000
Beau Hossler +30000
Seung-Yul Noh +30000
Sebastian Cappelen +30000
Roger Sloan +30000
Sung Kang +30000
Aaron Baddeley +30000
Nate Lashley +30000
Akshay Bhatia +30000
Troy Merritt +30000
Ryan Armour +30000
David Hearn +30000
Chase Seiffert +30000
Bronson Burgoon +30000
Jamie Lovemark +30000
Sean O'Hair +30000
Grayson Murray +35000
Vincent Whaley +35000
Hank Lebioda +35000
Cameron Percy +35000
Tyler McCumber +40000
Nick Watney +40000
Ted Potter +40000
Jimmy Walker +40000
Sam Ryder +40000
JJ Spaun +40000
Scott Brown +40000
Satoshi Kodaira +40000
Luke Donald +40000
Josh Teater +40000
Tim Wilkinson +40000
Michael Gligic +40000
Joseph Bramlett +50000
Rob Oppenheim +50000
Ryan Brehm +50000
Kelly Kraft +50000
Mark Anderson +50000
Chris Baker +50000
Bill Haas +50000
Scott Harrington +50000
Kevin Tway +50000
Rhein Gibson +50000
Fabian Gomez +50000
Nelson Ledesma +50000
Michael Kim +50000
Ben Taylor +50000
D J Trahan +50000
Hunter Mahan +100000
Martin Trainer +100000
Mark Wilson +100000
Bo Van Pelt +150000
Kevin Stadler +150000
Michael Block +150000
Steve Jones +200000