It is a full field this week at The American Express in La Quinta, California led by World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. This is also a Pro-Am event so the pros will be teamed with amateurs the first three days so everyone will play each of the three courses, Stadium, La Quinta and Nicklaus. The cut will occur after Saturday’s play so the play will definitely be slower than normal with so many amateurs on the course. After opening up the new calendar year with a winning week with the matchups, it was a losing week with the matchups last week at the Sony. Let’s look at The American Express matchup picks.

Check out The American Express Matchup Odds at Caesars.

Defending Champion: Jon Rahm

Tournament Notes: One of the few places in the U.S. that will have good weather this week is Southern California. La Quinta will have daytime highs in the low 70’s. The three courses will offer players a lot of chances to put up good scores, so expect a lot of birdies this week. The cut this week is after 54 holes with the low 65 and ties making it to Sunday.

The American Express Matchups

Scottie Scheffler -170 vs. Patrick Cantlay

Xander Schauffele -140 vs. Sungjae Im

Tom Kim -110 vs. Justin Thomas

Tony Finau -140 vs. Wyndham Clark

Sungjae Im -150 vs. Tom Kim

Jason Day -145 vs. Rickie Fowler

Jason Day -110 vs. Wyndham Clark

Akshay Bhatia -135 vs. Taylor Montgomery

J.T. Poston -130 vs. Eric Cole

Erik Van Rooyen -150 vs. Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Si Woo Kim -120 vs. Cam Davis

Cam Davis -110 vs. Andrew Putnam

Tony Finau -120 vs. Si Woo Kim

Rickie Fowler -110 vs. Beau Hossler

Stephan Jaeger -120 vs. Alex Noren

Chris Kirk -120 vs. Adam Hadwin

Sam Burns -110 vs. Min Woo Lee

Akshay Bhatia -130 vs. Taylor Montgomery

Nick Taylor -110 vs. Erik Van Rooyen

Akshay Bhatia -150 vs. Nicolas Echavarria

J.T. Poston -135 vs. Grayson Murray

Sungjae Im -185 vs. Cameron Champ

Golf Matchup Picks

Tom Kim +120 vs. Sungjae Im

One of the players I think has a chance to go low this weekend is Kim. I liked him in the odds preview and I like him here. Kim hits a ton of greens and he putts really well. He tied for 6^th in this event a year ago. I know Im can also score well and I’ll take him in another matchup in this article, but in this one I like Kim at plus money.

Adam Hadwin -105 vs. Chris Kirk

I know Kirk is playing really well, but I think he will hit a bit of a wall this week. Hadwin has played really well at this event including a 59 at La Quinta in 2017. He has six Top 25 finishes in this tournament. I’ll go with Hadwin in this matchup at the small number.

Akshay Bhatia -150 vs. Nicolas Echavarria

This matchup is available at BetRivers. Bhatia played really well in Hawaii and he is proving that he can go low. That is what is required in California. I’ll lay the price and take him in this matchup against Echavarria.

J.T. Poston -135 vs. Grayson Murray

This is another matchup available at BetRivers. One thing that has worked over time is going against the previous week’s winner. I think Murray has to have a letdown after last week and in this matchup, we get to take Poston who has been on a nice roll. He finished in a tie for 6^th in this event a year ago. I’ll take Poston in this matchup.

Sungjae Im -185 vs. Cameron Champ

This matchup at BetRivers has Im listed as a heavy favorite and why not? Im has made the cut in all five tries in this event and all of those finishes were Top 20. I don’t know that oddsmakers can make the number high enough in this matchup. Champ hits the ball far and that is about it. I’ll lay the price and take Im.

Check out The American Express Matchup Odds at Caesars.