Just two tournaments into 2020, and golf fans have already witnessed enough gambling drama to last the entire season. Two playoffs, two odd finishes with some semblance of choking. Anytime you start to feel good about one of your outright winners, just wait a few holes. It's been tough out there.
This week the tour begins its West Coast Swing, starting with The American Express, formerly known as the Desert Classic, formerly known as the CareerBuilder Challenge, formerly known as the Humana Challenge, formerly known as … you get the point. This tournament has gone through more name changes than a Big 12 football game goes through lead changes. Most fans will always think of it as the Bob Hope, with the pro-am format holding for the first three rounds.
There will be no clear-cut favorite in La Quinta, unlike last week when Justin Thomas, who missed the cut at Sony, was 5-1. The field is weaker than normal at PGA West, with Rickie Fowler the favorite at 12-1, per MGM Sportsbook, and one of the tour’s rising stars, Sungjae Im, at 18-1. As you make your way down the board, you’ll find past winners like Phil Mickelson at 40-1 and defending champ Adam Long at 100-1. Even with a less-than-stellar field, we fully expect another highly entertaining final round, if the first two weeks of 2020 were any indication.
Mickelson, a past champ, nearly won here last year, so you'd think this is one of the tournaments he has highlighted on his calendar in 2020. It might be the lowest odds you'll find Phil, too, except if he gets hot. He claims that he's worked hard in the off-season to get his game and his body in peak shape. We'll see that on display for the first time this week in the desert.
2020 American Express odds, per MGM Sportsbook:
Rickie Fowler: 12-1
Sungjae Im: 18-1
Paul Casey: 22-1
Tony Finau: 22-1
Charles Howell III: 25-1
Byeong-Hun An: 28-1
Scottie Scheffler: 28-1
Kevin Kisner: 28-1
Billy Horschel: 33-1
Cameron Champ: 33-1
Matthew Wolff: 40-1
Phil Mickelson: 40-1
Francesco Molinari: 40-1
Brian Harman: 40-1
Jason Kokrak: 40-1
Brendon Todd: 45-1
Abraham Ancer: 45-1
Alex Noren: 45-1
Vaughn Taylor: 45-1
J.T. Poston: 45-1
Ryan Moore: 50-1
Harris English: 50-1
Russell Knox: 50-1
Kevin Na: 60-1
Lucas Glover: 60-1
Zach Johnson: 60-1
Chez Reavie: 60-1
Rory Sabbatini: 60-1
Daniel Berger: 60-1
Andrew Putnam: 66-1
Denny McCarthy: 66-1
Sebastian Munoz: 66-1
Bud Cauley: 66-1
Danny Lee: 80-1
Brendan Steele: 80-1
Aaron Wise: 80-1
Cameron Tringale: 80-1
Carlos Ortiz: 80-1
Scott Piercy: 90-1
Joel Dahmen: 90-1
Adam Long: 90-1
Henrik Norlander: 90-1
Nate Lashley: 90-1
Talor Gooch: 90-1
Kyle Stanley: 90-1
Harold Varner III: 100-1
Brian Stuard: 100-1
Austin Cook: 100-1
Nick Watney: 100-1
Ryan Armour: 100-1
Nick Taylor: 100-1
Cameron Davis: 100-1
Wyndham Clark: 125-1
Richy Werenski: 125-1
Si-Woo Kim: 125-1
Beau Hossler: 125-1
Michael Thompson: 125-1
Bo Hoag: 125-1
Brian Gay: 125-1
Russell Henley: 125-1
Harry Higgs: 125-1
Brice Garnett: 125-1
Tyler Duncan: 125-1
Kramer Hickok: 125-1
Tom Hoge: 125-1
Stewart Cink: 125-1
Matthew NeSmith: 125-1
Scott Stallings: 125-1
Doc Redman: 125-1
Hudson Swafford: 150-1
Max Homa: 150-1
Kevin Streelman: 150-1
Kevin Chappell: 150-1
Jhonattan Vegas: 150-1
Bronson Burgoon: 150-1
Aaron Baddeley: 150-1
Martin Laird: 150-1
Peter Malnati: 150-1
Bill Haas: 150-1
Sam Ryder: 150-1
Zac Blair: 150-1
Scott Harrington: 150-1
Andrew Landry: 175-1
Patrick Rodgers: 175-1
K.H. Lee: 175-1
Chase Seiffert: 200-1
Patton Kizzire: 200-1
Steve Stricker: 200-1
Seung-Yul Noh: 200-1
Lucas Bjerregaard: 200-1
Grayson Murray: 200-1
Jason Dufner: 200-1
Ben Martin: 200-1
Jimmy Walker: 225-1
D.J. Trahan: 225-1
Fabian Gomez: 225-1
Charley Hoffman: 250-1
Xinjun Zhang: 250-1
Rob Oppenheim: 250-1
Maverick McNealy: 250-1
Tim Wilkinson: 250-1
Ted Potter Jr.: 250-1
Luke List: 250-1
Greg Chalmers: 250-1
Anirban Lahiri: 250-1
Robert Streb: 250-1
David Hearn: 275-1
Josh Teater: 275-1
Chesson Hadley: 275-1
Robby Shelton: 275-1
Ricky Barnes: 275-1
Roger Sloan: 275-1
John Huh: 300-1
Joseph Bramlett: 300-1
Troy Merritt: 300-1
Mark Hubbard: 300-1
Scott Brown: 300-1
Ben Crane: 300-1
Doug Ghim: 300-1
Isaiah Salinda: 300-1
Rhein Gibson: 300-1
Adam Schenk: 300-1
Mark Anderson: 300-1
James Hahn: 300-1
Hank Lebioda: 300-1
Mackenzie Hughes: 350-1
Cameron Percy: 350-1
Sepp Straka: 350-1
Chris Stroud: 350-1
Matt Every: 350-1
Sebastian Cappelen: 400-1
Brandon Hagy: 400-1
J.J. Spaun: 400-1
Sam Burns: 400-1
Tyler McCumber: 500-1
John Senden: 500-1
Brian Smock: 500-1
Ryan Brehm: 500-1
Kristoffer Ventura: 500-1
Chris Baker: 500-1
Hunter Mahan: 500-1
Michael Gellerman: 500-1
Ben Taylor: 600-1
Rafael Campos: 600-1
Michael Giglic: 750-1
Akshay Bhatia: 1,000-1
Martin Trainer: 1,000-1
Bo Van Pelt: 1,000-1
Vincent Whaley: 1,000-1
Kevin Stadler: 1,000-1
Mark Wilson: 1,000-1
Nelson Ledesma: 1,000-1
Vince Covello: 1,000-1
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