The finest participant in the world has made his presence felt in his first match of the season as Scottie Scheffler backed up his Thursday 63 with a Friday 64 to submit a number one line of 17 coming into the weekend on the 2026 American Express. Scheffler is bogey-free by means of two rounds on the American Express, as he has torched La Quinta Country Club and the Nicklaus Tournament Course, taking benefit of best desert situations.
The lack of wind has given the three-course rotation for this match little protection in opposition to the most effective gamers in the world, and nobody has attacked them higher than Scheffler.
The No. 1 golfer in the world will now transfer over to the Stadium Course at PGA West, which presents a much bigger problem than the opposite two programs throughout the ultimate 36 holes. Scheffler is happy about enjoying a course that rewards nice play and punishes errors.
“That golf course is a lot tougher than these other two, ball-striking-wise. You’ve got to get the ball in play,” Scheffler mentioned. “You can shoot a low number out there, but you’ve gotta really be getting the ball in play. It can punish you pretty quick. There’s a lot of water on the golf course. I think it’s a really good challenge. I think it’s a great course in terms of, when you’re hitting it well and you’re putting the ball in position, you can shoot a really low number. And if not, you’re gonna get punished pretty severely for it.”
Joining Scheffler on the high of the leaderboard is 18-year-old Blades Brown, who performed his sixth consecutive aggressive spherical of golf on Friday after collaborating in a Korn Ferry Tour occasion positioned in the Bahamas from Sunday to Wednesday.
Brown additionally performed the Nicklaus Tournament Course on Friday and got here out of the gates firing, going 8 beneath by means of his first seven holes (beginning on the again 9) to firmly put himself on 59 watch. Brown bought to 12 beneath by means of 15 holes, that means he wanted only one birdie on the ultimate three holes to submit the sixteenth spherical of 59 or higher in PGA Tour historical past.
Brown could not capitalize on the par-5 seventh or a terrific tee shot on the par-3 eighth, leaving himself needing a birdie on No. 9 — his 18th — to shoot a 59. After bombing a drive, he had only a hole wedge left for his method and stuffed it inside 5 ft to arrange a brief birdie putt.
Unfortunately for Brown, he pushed his birdie putt off the appropriate edge and completed par-par-par to shoot 60 and submit a course document on the Nicklaus Tournament Course.
“Absolutely … of course I did, yeah,” Brown mentioned with amusing when requested if he felt added strain on the final three holes. “I just stuck to my game plan. I said I’m going to execute shots that I can control, and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get the job done this time. But I am so stoked to have shot 60 on the PGA Tour.”
Over at La Quinta Country Club, Andrew Putnam matched Brown with a 12-under 60 to tie the course document, however he likewise could not make a birdie on his last gap to shoot 59. Putnam’s 60 got here after a lackluster 72 on Thursday, shifting him up 114 spots into the highest 20 of the leaderboard.
Brown’s 60 vaulted him 50 spots and right into a share of the lead with Scheffler heading into the weekend. Like Scheffler, he’ll play his third spherical on the harder Stadium Course earlier than the 54-hole minimize will get made and everybody finishes on Pete Dye’s check in the desert.
Leaders
T1. Scottie Scheffler, Blades Brown (-17): With a 54-hole minimize, we cannot see repairings till Sunday, which suggests Scheffler and Brown will not play collectively on Moving Day. Perhaps that would assist younger Brown, who will get a minimum of an additional day with out the added stress and strain of going toe-to-toe with the sport’s finest golfer. It’ll be onerous to observe up his Friday 60, however he is in line for the most effective end of his younger profession after making three cuts in eight begins in 2025 however failing to notch a high 25 end.
Scheffler, in the meantime, is seeking to do one thing he is by no means completed in his illustrious profession so far: win in one of his first 5 occasions of the season. If anybody is constructed to proceed going low on the Stadium Course, it is Scheffler, and he’ll have his eyes on a wire-to-wire victory to open his 2026 marketing campaign.
Contenders
3. Si Woo Kim (-16)
T4. S.H. Kim, Matt McCarty (-15)
T6. Eric Cole, Rickie Fowler, Nico Echavarria, Wyndham Clark, Jacob Bridgeman, Nick Taylor (-14)
T12. Russell Henley, Patrick Cantlay, Ben Griffin and three others (-13)
While Kim didn’t submit a 60, his 7-under effort on the Stadium Course was wildly spectacular to maintain tempo with Scheffler earlier than he will get a crack at La Quinta Country Club on Saturday. Clark’s 64 on the Stadium Course was the low spherical of the day there, as he climbed into the highest 10 and can likewise transfer to La Quinta CC to attempt to make up extra floor in the third spherical.
Beyond these two, a number of heavy-hitters are lurking in the highest 20 with Fowler, Griffin, Henley and Cantlay all plodding alongside properly to provide themselves a glance going into the weekend.
If the wind stays gentle all weekend, there might be extra scores in the low 60s, and gamers can have loads of alternatives to make large strikes up the leaderboard. The problem for all of them is the identify on the high as Scheffler will get to get pleasure from these situations like the remaining, and he is a tough man to catch.
With nearly some other participant in the lead, this is able to nonetheless really feel like a wide-open match given what’s potential on these programs, however Scheffler’s presence makes it way more unlikely he creates a giant opening for these effectively again in the pack. That mentioned, we noticed {that a} 59 might be in the playing cards this week, and for individuals who nonetheless have a crack at La Quinta CC or the Nicklaus Tournament Course on Saturday, they will have visions of the same transfer to what we noticed from Brown and Putnam on Friday.
Finishing in type
Tony Finau hasn’t had the scoring gear wanted to contend to this point this week, however he gave himself a lift going into the weekend along with his method on his last gap on Friday, holing out from the golf green with a wedge for eagle on No. 9 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course.
That moved him to eight beneath for the match and into T61 going into Saturday. With the minimize nonetheless to be settled, Finau’s eagle to shut out his second spherical may show essential to his probabilities of getting a Sunday tee time.
2026 American Express up to date odds, picks
Odds through DraftKings Sportsbook
- Scottie Scheffler (+134)
- Si Woo Kim (+410)
- Ben Griffin (+1450)
- Wyndham Clark (+1650)
- Patrick Cantlay (+1850)
- Blades Brown (+1950)
- Jacob Bridgeman (+2100)
With scoring this good and a leaderboard this crowded, you wish to take a couple of swings at some longer photographs — particularly those that get one other spherical not on the Stadium Course. At the identical time, with Scheffler in first, you most likely do not wish to get overly aggressive in including positions exterior of Scottie.
Clark is especially attention-grabbing given he will get La Quinta CC and seems to be in a lot better type to start 2026 than we noticed from him in 2025. He’s a man that may go low and his low spherical of the week to this point is on the Stadium Course, which suggests he ought to have loads of confidence on Sunday if he will get right into a place to contend. I additionally would not hate a nibble at Sam Burns additional down the board at 92-1. He’s simply 5 photographs again and has been identified to get red-hot with the putter and submit some actually low scores.
