Scottie Scheffler starts 2026 season on fire at 2026 American Express as Min Woo Lee leads early

The calendar may have turned to a new year, but Scottie Scheffler is picking up right where he left off. Unable to play in last season's American Express due to a hand injury he suffered towards the end of the offseason, the world No. 1 returned to Palm Springs, California, looking to start his season without a hitch. And that he did.

Scheffler opened with a 9-under 63 at La Quinta Country Club, positioning himself one stroke behind Min Woo Lee and Pierceson Coody, both of whom fired 10-under 62s at the Nicklaus Tournament Course. Scheffler's 63 represents the lowest score he has ever carded at the American Express as he looks for his first tournament title in his sixth appearance.

"You have to approach it mentally like you have to make some birdies, and I think putting yourself in position as many times as you can in order to get some looks and hole some putts, I think, is most important," Scheffler said. "I think if you start forcing things, you can still get in some trouble. It's still golf, it's still quite difficult, believe it or not, even though the scores are low. You just have to keep putting yourself in position and give yourself opportunities."

The season could not have started on a better foot for the four-time PGA Tour Player of the Year. Making birdie on his first two holes, Scheffler's par on No. 3 was a rarity on his front nine as he penciled three more circles onto his scorecard from Nos. 4-6. In his first nine holes, Scheffler had more 3s (six) than 4s (three) and turned in 30.

Scheffler continued to pepper the center of the club face on his back side as his driver misbehaved ever so slightly. Missing on the correct side, he was able to hit every green in regulation up until the par-4 17th, where -- in typical Scheffler fashion -- he chipped in for birdie.

"You got to keep pace out here," Scheffler said. "I think the hardest part about these tests, where you have to shoot so low, is you can only shoot so many under par in a round of golf. I think, when you look at the harder tests, there's always a couple guys each round that are able to shoot something really low. The easier tests, where the scores are crazy low, if you start falling behind, it's a lot harder to keep up, so you have to keep pace out here."

Scheffler on Friday heads to the Nicklaus Tournament Course where the bulk of the names on the leaderboard played on Thursday. While La Quinta Country Club and the Nicklaus Tournament Course yielded respective scoring averages south of 4 under and 5 under, the Stadium Course brought the brunt of the difficulty for players. 

Jason Day proved to be the one up for the challenge in Round 1 as the Australian signed for a 9-under 63 on the Stadium Course and leads the field from a strokes-gained perspective with two days of birdie-making opportunities ahead of him.

Leaders

T1. Min Woo Lee, Pierceson Coody (-10): After winning in Houston last season, Lee hit a bit of a lull but came out of it towards the end of 2025 with a return to Australia, producing some fine results. His play back home carried over to the first round of the year as the electric Australian made 10 birdies against no dropped shots on Thursday. Lee credited a small tweak for the early success as he made his left hand slightly stronger in his grip during the offseason.

"There was a little bit of anxiousness starting out," Lee said. "The first round of the year, bit of a swing ... not change ... but something that we've been working on in the offseason. So, you didn't really know how it was going to go. ... It was a great day to make some birdies."

Contenders

T3. Scottie Scheffler, Robert MacIntyre, Si Woo Kim, S.H. Lee, Vince Whaley, Matt McCarty, Ben Griffin, Jason Day, Patrick Cantlay (-9)
T12. Billy Horschel, Sam Stevens, Jordan Smith, Matthieu Pavon, Andrew Novak, Tom Hoge, Eric Cole, Jacob Bridgeman (-8)

MacIntyre was none too pleased about his play midway through last week's Sony Open as he snapped his putter over his knee and charged into the weekend with a new attitude. Firing the low round of the day on Sunday, the left-hander noted that his wedge play had finally started to cooperate (along with the new putter, of course). On Thursday at the Nicklaus Tournament Course, he had those same clubs dialed in, leading to 10 birdies on his scorecard and just one dropped shot, which came on the par-5 15th.

"I've tried to put on a bit of speed," MacIntyre said. "Try to hit a bit longer off the tee. Not much. It was like 6 yards I was trying to gain. I think I've done that. But then, other than that, it was wedge play, really had to dial in the wedge play. I wasn't hitting it close enough with a wedge. When I'm a good putter, the closer you are, the better. It's like anyone, the closer you are to the hole, the better chance you've got. ... Today and last week have been really good with the wedges; it's good signs."

No rest for the weary

When was the last time you played golf eight days in a row? Now, when was the last time you played eight days of competitive golf in a row? Fresh off a top 20 finish in the Bahamas on the Korn Ferry Tour, Blades Brown is in the middle of such a run as he hopped on a private jet -- which he received points for via his top 20 finish in Myrtle Beach last year -- to catch his tee time in Palm Springs.

Brown opened with a bogey-free 67 at La Quinta Country Club in what can only be described as polar opposite conditions, as winds were whipping in the Bahamas all week and not a breath could be found Thursday at the American Express.

"Finished the round, had to quickly take a shower and then drove to the airport. Then hopped on a massive OneFlight jet," Brown said. "Ferren Rajput, he was kind of enough to escort me on the way here. It was a six-hour flight. I think it was his jet, so it was awesome. My second time ever flying private. It was beautiful. 

"Arrived here around 8 p.m. last night. Got some Panda Express, got some groceries, slept, started sleeping at 10. Then woke up at around 5, got here a little early to make a couple putts. It was blowing 30 [mph] the entire way, and then you get here, and then it's perfect. So, it's two completely different situations. But I had a lot of fun today, and [a] bogey-free round, I'll take that any day of the week."

2025 American Express updated odds, picks

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

• Scottie Scheffler: +185
• Jason Day: +1000
• Ben Griffin: +1100
• Robert MacIntyre: +1400
• Patrick Cantlay: +1600
• Min Woo Lee: +1700
• Si Woo Kim: +1800
• Pierceson Coody: +2000

This tournament is still wide open despite Scheffler's score and Day blitzing the Stadium Course. I'm still a believer in Cantlay and McCarty, both of whom had great first rounds. If there was a player to add, it may be Kim, a previous tournament winner who sounds rejuvenated with his putter after a poor performance in Hawaii and may be striking the ball as crisply as anyone not named Scheffler.