By: @Ryan_Humphries on Twitter & LineStar Chat

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Tournament & Field 🏆

After opening the 2026 season in Hawaii, the PGA Tour will kick off the West Coast swing with a trip out to La Quinta, California where PGA West will play host to The American Express. This is one of the more unique tournaments on the entire Tour schedule as it features a three-course rotation with a 54-hole cut coming after Saturday’s round (top 65 + ties). This is a full-field event with 156 golfers preparing to tee off. Similar to the last couple of years, this will be a fairly strong field with 60 of the world’s top 100 ranked golfers (via DataGolf rankings) on site, including World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. This should be another great week of golf and the PGA schedule only continues to heat up after this! Best of luck!

The Course Preview ⛳

Pete Dye Stadium Course (PDSC, played twice)

Par 72 | Length: 7,113 Yards

Course Difficulty Last 5 Years: 19th, 39th, 35th, 37th, 37th

Nicklaus Tournament Course (NTC)

Par 72 | Length: 7,159 Yards

Course Difficulty Last 5 Years: 47th, 36th, 40th, 39th, 34th

La Quinta Country Club (LQCC)

Par 72 | Length: 7,060 Yards

Course Difficulty Last 5 Years: 46th, 43rd, 44th, 43rd, 41st

This week’s tournament will again be played across a three-course rotation, with all golfers seeing each course once before the 54-hole cut. After the cut, the remaining players will head back to the Pete Dye Stadium Course for the final round on Sunday, making it the only venue played twice this week.

All three courses are shorter Par 72 layouts, ranging from roughly 7,060 to 7,160 yards on the scorecard, and all feature Bermudagrass greens that are overseeded with Ryegrass and Poa Trivialis. Greens tend to run on the slower side (around 10–11 on the stimpmeter), which typically helps level the putting surface a bit and encourages aggressive scoring. Distance off the tee is far less important than positioning, as rough across all three venues is generally non-penal and many holes call for something less than driver.

La Quinta Country Club is consistently the easiest of the three, with wide sightlines, minimal trouble, and very little to punish aggressive play. The Nicklaus Tournament Course usually falls in the middle of the difficulty spectrum, offering more bunkering and slightly trickier approach shots but still plenty of birdie opportunities. The Pete Dye Stadium Course is typically the most demanding, featuring more visual intimidation, water in play on multiple holes, and tighter approach windows – even though it has played easier from a scoring standpoint for the majority of recent seasons than it did historically… although, last year the PDSC did show some teeth, finishing as the 19th-most difficult course on the season.

Approach shots across the rotation tend to cluster in the 150–175 yard range, particularly at the Stadium Course, where laying back off the tee is often preferred. Despite smaller greens and heavy bunkering at the Stadium Course, scrambling rates have traditionally been above TOUR average, though recent subtle green changes there could place slightly more emphasis on around-the-green play this season. Still, this remains a tournament where approach play and converting mid-range birdie chances (10-25 feet) with the flat stick are the primary drivers of success.

However it ultimately shakes out, scoring should once again be abundant. The winning score has reached at least 22-under par in each of the past eight seasons, and this setup continues to reward aggressive iron play, steady putting, and the ability to take full advantage of the easiest draws in the course rotation.

Strategy Notes 💡

With every golfer receiving a guaranteed three rounds of play (barring injury or disqualification), I believe it brings a “stars and scrubs” approach further into play. Also, if you play showdown contests, there could be a noticeable edge to be had by rostering golfers who play on the easier course. As mentioned above, the LQCC is likely to be the easiest of the three, followed by the NTC, so I’d start there with golfers on Thursday (in single-round formats). Once it is known how things will play out after the opening round, then you can make adjustments if need be for the Friday and Saturday single-round DFS contests. Generally, unless the player performances indicate otherwise on Thursday, we’ll want to mostly avoid golfers in single-round formats (on Thurs., Fri., and Sat.) who are competing on the Pete Dye Stadium Course.

Weather & Tee Times ⛅

Click the images above to view the most up-to-date forecasts.

⚖️Weather Verdict: Weather looks about as clean as it gets for PGA DFS this week. Winds are expected to stay extremely calm through Thursday and Friday, rarely pushing much beyond the 5–10 mph range. The weekend brings a slight uptick, particularly Sunday morning, but nothing that should meaningfully impact scoring or play. There is no clear weather or wave edge here – this sets up as a very neutral weather week across all four rounds.

The American Express Tee Times & Course Designations

Key Stats to Consider 📊

Each key stat is paired with a weighted percentage (based on stat importance) for DFS model purposes.

1. Strokes Gained: Ball Striking (SG: App + SG: OTT) | 30%

2. Birdie or Better Percentage | 25%

3. Par 5 Average | 15%

4. Par 4 Average | 10%

5. Strokes Gained: Putting | 10%

6. Proximity: 150-175 Yards | 10%

PGA Tour Stats Page

The AmEx DFS Model Standouts 🏅

Below are the top 25 ranked golfers in both my overall model and my key stats model. Below that are the top 25 leaders in average finishing position over the last five and last ten starts. The players ranked on these lists do not necessarily mean they are the top golfers I’m targeting for this week's event, but many of these guys should no doubt be favorable DFS options.

Overall Model Rank: A golfer’s ranking (within the current field) in my personal DFS model, which weighs all of the key stats listed above in this newsletter, as well as factors like course history, recent form, recent average fantasy scoring results, and odds to win.

Course Fit / Key Stats Rank: Provides a golfer’s overall rank (within the current field) in my "key stats only" model, which considers only the key stats listed in the section above with the specified percentage weights allocated towards each statistic.

The AmEx DFS Cheat Sheet📑

Click the Cheat Sheet above for the higher-quality direct image link

Alternative Cheat Sheet Direct Image Link

That will do it for our PGA preview! Best of luck this week and, once again, feel free to hit me up in the LineStar chat or on Twitter/X @Ryan_Humphries with any questions.