Scottie Scheffler (-9) continues doing his thing. The Number One in the world, after a long autumn break only interrupted to participate in Tiger Woods‘ tournament in the Bahamas, has returned to action with a masterclass in the first round of the American Express, the second tournament of the 2026 season on the PGA Tour. With an impressive scorecard of 63 strokes, featuring nine flawless birdies, the Texan has demonstrated why he remains the one to beat and the hot favourite for victory in every tournament he enters.
He mentioned beforehand that he never attended championships to “get in shape” and that he was “ready”. Although he admitted that until he was underway, he wouldn’t know if his game might be somewhat “rusty” after such a long time without competing. Nothing could be further from the truth. Playing at La Quinta, one of the three courses in rotation for the first three rounds of the tournament, he has managed to position himself high up in the rankings, just one stroke behind the leaders, Min Woo Lee (-10) and Pierceson Coody (-10).
No one played better than Scottie at La Quinta. His nine under par is undoubtedly a warning to all: the Number One returns determined to continue dominating and further enhance his legend. Last year, he won six tournaments on the PGA Tour, including two majors (PGA Championship and Open Championship). In 2024, he claimed seven titles on the circuit (including THE PLAYERS and the Masters). And his two victories in 2023 seem modest compared to the four in 2022. Tremendous records that the Texan will seek to surpass in this newly started season.
Scottie's first missed green of the day … still makes birdie.
📺 Golf Channel pic.twitter.com/NdU1rxpuzS
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 22, 2026
He aims to lay the first stone in this Californian event where Vince Whaley (-9), Si Woo Kim (-9) and S.H. Kim (-9), Robert MacIntyre (-9), Ben Griffin (-9), Patrick Cantlay (-9), Jason Day (-9) and Matt McCarty (-9) share third place with him. However, for these seven and the two golfers sharing the lead, who played the Nicklaus Tournament Course, it will be difficult to stop an imprecise Scheffler from the tee (only five of 14 fairways), but who, despite the inactivity, maintains an absolutely astonishing precision with the irons (17 greens in regulation). To top it off, the only time he missed the green, he chipped in for birdie and holed it.
The worst results in this first day of competition were seen at the Pete Dye Stadium Course, the course that Scottie will play on Saturday, in the third round, before the cut. Tomorrow, he will play the Nicklaus Tournament Course where the two lowest scorecards of the day were seen, along with a good number of red scores. We will see if Lee and Coody, who signed a tremendous series of seven consecutive birdies in the second half of his round, can withstand the push of the Number One, who starts the season with his best round ever in the tournament as if time had not passed for him since the summer.
