2024 The American Express prop bet picks and PGA Tour predictions

Cameron DaSilva

Staff Writer

After 2 weeks in Hawaii, the PGA Tour has packed up and headed to California for the West Coast swing of the 2024 schedule. It begins with the 2024 American Express, which will be played across 3 courses this week in La Quinta, Calif., as many of the top players in the world ramp up in the early part of the season.

Below, we search for the best value prop bets among the 2024 American Express odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.

Scottie Scheffler didn't play in the Sony Open last week, but he enters The American Express as the betting favorite at +550. Patrick Cantlay has the 2nd-best odds at +1000, followed by Xander Schauffele at +1100. Justin Thomas is making his 2024 debut and has +2500 odds to win this week in California.

The field will play three separate courses from Thursday to Saturday, followed by a 54-hole cut. They'll tee it up at the Stadium and Nicklaus Tournament courses at PGA West, as well as La Quinta Country Club. All three courses are par 72 and less than 7,200 yards, so they're not the longest on tour but La Quinta and the Stadium course feature some of the smallest greens on tour.

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The American Express – Top-5 picks

Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 2:15 p.m. ET.

Xander Schauffele (+220)

Schauffele finished 3rd here last year and 10th at The Sentry 2 weeks ago, quickly rounding into good form this early in the season. It's a strong field, but Schauffele is a good value at +220 for his 2nd straight top 5 in this event.

J.T. Poston (+600)

Poston finished 6th here last year with rounds of 65, 66, 66 and 68, going low in all 4 rounds. It was his 2nd straight top-25 finish in this event and his 2nd top-10 here in the last 5 years, taking advantage of the shorter courses in La Quinta. And he's coming off a final-round 61 at the Sony Open.

The American Express – Top-10 picks

Sungjae Im (+200)

Im is an absolute horse in this event, with a 10th-place finish, an 11th-place and two 12th-place results in the last 5 years. Take him again at an event he loves.

Tony Finau (+320)

Finau struggled a little bit in The Sentry, finishing 38th, but he's notched 3 top-16s in his last 4 starts in this event, including a 4th-place in 2021. He needs to get his putter going in order to contend because it wasn't great last year and has started slow this season, too.

Patrick Cantlay (+100)

Cantlay's worst finish in this event in his last 4 starts was 26th last year after coming in 9th, 2nd and 9th in his previous 3 appearances. He hasn't finished worse than 15th in any of his last 4 starts worldwide, so he's riding some momentum.

The American Express – Top-20 picks

Adam Hadwin (+225)

Hadwin has finished 28th, 25th, 32nd and 2nd in his last 4 starts in this event, finding a groove in this 3-course circuit. He only missed the cut by 1 shot last week at the Sony Open so don't put too much stock in that and buy him on the dip at +225 for a top-20 finish.

Si Woo Kim (+175)

The 2021 champion has played here in each of the last 5 years and has really excelled in his last 3 trips to La Quinta, finishing 1st, 11th and then 21st a year ago. He finished 25th and 42nd in his 2 starts so far this year.

Other T20 contenders (in order from longest odds to shortest):

Andrew Putnam (+250)

The American Express – Matchups

Suggested play is golfer in bold.

Beau Hossler (-105) vs. Stephan Jaeger (-120)

Not a lot of matchups to like this week but I'll bite on Hossler over Jaeger. After missing the cut 3 straight times from 2019-21 here, he finished 50th last year. More importantly, he's finished between 2nd and 30th in his last 5 starts on tour.

The American Express – Top Australian

Jason Day (+188)

Min Woo Lee is the favorite to be the top Australian this week but give me Day instead at +188. Day finished 18th here last year, whereas Lee has never played here, and he's also fresh off a 10th-place finish at The Sentry.

The American Express – First-round leader (La Quinta)

Erik van Rooyen (+3300)

With players teeing it up at 3 different courses on Thursday, 1st-round leader bets are tougher to project. I'll take a chance on van Rooyen, who shot 65 and was tied for 7th after the 1st round last year.

The American Express – To make the cut

Cam Davis, Taylor Montgomery and Hadwin: Yes (+225)

Davis missed the cut here last year, but he finished 3rd, 29th and 28th in his previous 3 starts and just came in 30th at the Sony Open last week. Montgomery and Hadwin both came in the top 20 last year. With a 54-hole cut, the better players should separate from the rest a bit easier compared to a 36-hole cut.

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