Best Bets at the 2021 The American Express

The American Express will have a completely different feel in 2021. This event used to be tied to the legendary Bob Hope, and while he is no longer a part of the action, the hijinks remained in place. It has been the second-most popular pro-am outside of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but COVID will affect the format this year. There won’t be any amateurs involved this time, turning this event into a typical golf tournament with a 36-hole cut.

Event Details

Event: The American Express

Category: PGA Tour

Date: January 21-24, 2021

Location: PGA West Stadium Course, Palm Desert, California

Past Winners

2020: Andrew Landry -26

2019: Adam Long -26

2018: Jon Rahm -22

2017: Hudson Swafford -20

2016: Jason Dufner -25

The last two winners of this tournament will be in the field. However, neither Andrew Landry nor Adam Long are among the favorites despite their recent success. Landry checks in at a whopping 125-1, while Long is a more respectable 55-1 per the golf betting odds.

Patrick Cantlay and Scottie Scheffler are co-favorites at 14-1. The only other player with odds of under 20-1 is Patrick Reed.

This is a diminished field as many of the top pros made the trek to Abu Dhabi for the HSBC Championship. Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, and others will take part in that event this weekend, opening this tournament up to new blood.

The Course

Typically, this tournament is played on three courses. However, the absence of amateurs means that the pros will only tee off on the Stadium Course and the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West this week. Each golfer will play on both courses in the first two rounds, and those that make the cut will play on the Stadium Course over the weekend.

Both courses have historically played very well with plenty of low scores to go around due to the nature of the tournament. The Nicklaus Course underwent an overhaul in the past year, and it should be even easier to play with wider greens on most holes. This was already the easier of the two courses, so it will be important for competitors to post a lot of low numbers when they play here on Thursday or Friday.

Value Play to Win the Tournament: Patrick Reed +1600

This is a great spot to bet on Patrick Reed to win The American Express. He hasn’t played this tournament in each of the last two years, but the 2018 Masters winner posted a -28 here to win this event back in 2014. Reed has continually looked good on Thursday and Friday over the last four months, posting no score higher than a 70 in the first two rounds of any tournament this season. However, he has struggled on the weekend, posting a 70 or higher in seven of his eight rounds.

Top 5 Prop: Tony Finau +450

Tony Finau is a bit of a longshot, but he has played well in each of the seven events he has entered during the 2020-21 season. Finau has made the cut each time, and he has finished T25 in five of those seven events including a T8 finish at the US Open. He finished 14^th at this event last year.

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