The busiest American Express for several years has taken the start, we all imagined it with three of the top 10 players currently in the top seven of the rankings, including Sam Burns, who currently sits in second place behind Davis Thompson who shot an incredible 62 on Thursday. .
Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele are among the other big stars in the hunt after 18 holes in Palm Springs. More on them in a moment, but first we need to look at how Thompson took a two-stroke lead over this big field and if there is any chance he can maintain it over the next three days.
The leader
T1. Davis Thompson (-10): The former Georgia star came out in 28 with visions of 59 dances, but came home in a meager 34 to shoot 62 and take the lead. Thompson is a good young player who won last year on the Korn Ferry Tour and finished in the top 12 on the PGA Tour in the fall. I’m not sure he can keep up that pace considering who’s hot on his heels, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the mix throughout the week.
“Yeah, it kind of felt like my biggest challenge today was staying present and trying to put one foot in front of the other,” Thompson said, trying not to think about shooting 59. “Your mind is definitely starting to wander a bit. But I’ve played enough tricks to try to teach myself over and over again, you can’t get ahead of yourself.”
Other suitors
T2. Sam Burns, Matthias Schmid, Taylor Montgomery, Jon Rahm, Tyler Duncan (-8)
T7. Xander Schauffele, Harrison Endycott, Erik Van Rooyen, Denny McCarthy, Dean Burmester, Eric Cole, JT Poston, Michael Block, Sungjae Im (-7)
Schauffle is going to be fascinating the rest of the week. He withdrew from the Tournament of Champions to start the year with a bad back, but played brilliantly on Thursday with just one bogey in a 7-under 65. Rahm, on the other hand, is looking for his second straight win and watching the whole bit threaten him I pretended he was. I don’t know if he’s going to win this week, but if he does, we could be in for the six-game Rahm win season that I’ve been predicting for five years.
Also, there is this.
Put golf courses in context
Because this tournament is played on three different courses, it’s worth looking at the course averages for each in Round 1. Here’s a look.
- Stadium course — 69.5
- The Quinta — 69.3
- Nicklaus — 69.0
It’s all par 72, so there won’t be a ton of discrepancy in par scores after the first round. Perhaps a bit more surprisingly, the three tracks were only half a stroke apart, so Thursday’s ranking is more or less a true ranking.
The best shot
Lucas Glover’s back almost broke me. I don’t think he took it back more than a millimeter! Of course, when you arrive having lost shots in 18 of your last 21 rounds, you’ll probably try anything. Glover shot 3 under on the Stadium Course on Thursday even though he lost shots putting.
2023 American Express updated odds and picks
- Jon Rahm: 12/5
- Taylor Montgomery: 9-1
- Sam Burns: 9-1
- Xander Schauele: 11-1
- Davis Thompson: 16-1
- Sungjae Im: 18-1
- Scottie Scheffler: 18-1
- Patrick Cantlay: 22-1
You must think that the eventual winner comes from this list. In fact, I like Burns at 9-1 more than Rahm at 12/5 or, say, Cantlay at 22-1. Burns shot 64 on the toughest course, and he hit the ball beautifully in the process. He hasn’t played his best golf lately, but I think he’s going to be there Sunday afternoon, and I think his chances going into the weekend will be a lot shorter than 9-1.
