PGA Preview: 2021 The American Express Odds and Picks

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