The momentum generated from strengthened professional fields in recent years has been palpable, and the spotlight grows brighter on Coachella Valley’s annual PGA TOUR golf tournament as it is further frontloaded within the TOUR’s 2024 schedule.
Accordingly, golf’s stars have started to align as The American Express™ has received commitments from World No. 5 Patrick Cantlay and World No. 6 Xander Schauffele, both Southern California natives, along with World No. 11 Tom Kim and World No. 21 Tony Finau ahead of next month’s event.
Notably absent from this list is reigning champion and 2-time tournament winner @JonRahmpga. The @livgolf_league rumors seem to be very real. @KESQ @PGATOUR @PGAWESTGOLF https://t.co/PJp4H5gVvt
— Blake Arthur (@BlakeArthur24) December 5, 2023
The 65th edition of The American Express will showcase 156 professional golfers and 156 amateurs playing at PGA WEST’s Stadium Course (host course) and Nicklaus Tournament Course and La Quinta Country Club in La Quinta, Calif. from Jan. 18-21. The American Express annually tees up the start of the PGA TOUR’s West Coast swing and is the PGA TOUR’s first 2024 regular season event in the continental United States.
Check out our American Express Section more on the tournament
“Our perpetual mission through our entertainment model combining golf and music is to showcase top-end talent before a Coachella Valley audience. The return of Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Tom Kim and Tony Finau to The American Express lays a fantastic foundation for our player field and demonstrates the support we continue to receive from many of the PGA TOUR’s elite golfers,” said Pat McCabe, Executive Director of The American Express. “Between our budding player field and our concert lineup, The American Express is the place to be in the Coachella Valley come tournament week.”
All daily ticket options for The American Express grant admission to PGA WEST and La Quinta CC and are on sale at the tournament’s website, www.theamexgolf.com. American Express Card Members who complete any ticket order with their American Express Card receive a 20% discount (terms apply).
An eight-time PGA TOUR winner, Cantlay (Long Beach native and UCLA product) will make his fourth consecutive start at The American Express. Cantlay secured eight top-5 finishes in the 21 events he played last season. In 2021, he placed runner-up at The American Express along the way to becoming the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup champion and Player of the Year.
Schauffele (La Jolla native and San Diego State graduate), a seven-time PGA TOUR champion and Gold Medalist at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, will make his fourth start in The American Express. In 2023, Schauffele placed T3 at The American Express – his best finish in the event highlighted by a final-round 10-under-par 62 on the Stadium Course, and a 225-yard hole-out for double eagle on the par-5 fifth hole – and was runner-up in the PGA TOUR FedExCup standings.
Kim, 21, was ranked No. 132 in the world while playing on the Asian Tour to begin 2022 before joining the PGA TOUR as a Special Temporary Member in the summer of 2022. He has since won three PGA TOUR titles, most recently with a successful title defense at the 2023 Shriners Children’s Open. Kim became the first player since Tiger Woods in 1996 to win twice on the PGA TOUR before turning 21 at the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open. In 2023, Kim placed T6 in his second start at The American Express before recording his first two top-10 results in major championships – T2 at The Open Championship and T8 at the U.S. Open.
Finau, ranked No. 21 in the world and one of the sport’s more popular and longer hitters, has established himself as a frequent winner on the PGA TOUR, having claimed five of his six PGA TOUR titles over the past two-plus years. His most recent tournament triumph came in April at the Mexico Open at Vidanta. He will make his fifth consecutive, and seventh overall, appearance in The American Express.
The American Express player field will also feature reigning Southern California PGA (SCPGA) Section Player of the Year Michael Block, the head professional at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, Calif. who earned a tournament exemption by winning September’s SCPGA Professional Championship. Block entered six PGA TOUR events in 2023 and his playing career reached a memorable zenith in May with a T15 finish at the 2023 PGA Championship – boosted by a final-round hole-in-one at Oak Hill Country Club’s 15th hole while playing alongside Rory McIlroy – which has earned him qualification into the 2024 PGA Championship.
Annually, The American Express is a leading source of entertainment in the Coachella Valley, marrying world-class PGA TOUR golf and music. The upcoming American Express Concert Series, returning for its seventh year (after debuting in 2017), will feature four-time GRAMMY® Award-winning musician and two-time Country Music Association (CMA) “Entertainer of the Year” Keith Urban on Jan. 19 and three-time GRAMMY© Award-winning pop rock band Train on Jan. 20. Urban and Train will perform on the Stadium Course driving range following the conclusion of golf on those days.
Urban, a 2023 Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, is a singer, guitarist and songwriter who has celebrated nine consecutive gold, platinum or multi-platinum albums. Urban’s list of major awards also includes 13 CMA awards, 15 American Country Music (ACM) awards, three American Music Awards (AMAs) and two People’s Choice Awards.
Since its formation in 1994, Diamond-selling band Train has had 14 songs on Billboard’s Hot 100, 13 albums on the Billboard 200 chart, and has sold more than 10 million albums and 30 million tracks worldwide. The global hitmakers have earned multiple gold, platinum, and diamond-certified records as well as three GRAMMY Awards, two Billboard Music Awards and dozens of other honors.
Fans can obtain grounds tickets to enjoy golf and a concert on Friday and Saturday for $85 per day. Grounds tickets for Round 1 of The American Express on Thursday, Jan. 18, are $60, while spectators can attend the final round and celebrate the tournament’s 2024 champion on Sunday, Jan. 21, for $75.
The premier venue at The American Express is the Champions Club presented by Wealthspire, behind the Stadium Course’s 18th green. These ticketholders receive a preferred parking pass and access to a private venue, with a climate-controlled tent and an open-air deck, which offers a hosted breakfast and lunch, snacks and a full bar all day.
Daily Champions Club tickets are $375 for Thursday’s first round (Jan. 18), $425 for Sunday’s final round (Jan. 21), and $475 each for Friday’s second round (Jan. 19) and Saturday’s third round (Jan. 20). Champions Club members holding tickets on concert days have access to an upgraded VIP viewing area near the stage with a complimentary full bar.
The Dye Club is an exclusive, open-air venue along the Stadium Course’s signature par-3 17th hole, known as ‘Alcatraz.’ Those ticketed for the Dye Club receive complimentary lunch and hosted beer and wine inside the Dye Club.* Dye Club tickets are $225 for Thursday’s first round, $250 for Sunday’s final round, and $300 each for Friday’s second round and Saturday’s third round (includes admission to the day’s post-round concert).
The American Express is one of the desert region’s most charitable sporting events. In November, The American Express announced a $1 million charitable donation to 16 Coachella Valley-based organizations, bringing the event’s all-time donation to more than $65 million since its inception in 1960.
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