LA QUINTA (Calif.) — The story of The American Express’ golf courses has remained pretty consistent for most of the past 15 years. The Stadium Course at PGA West was the most difficult, while La Quinta Country Club had the easiest.
Welcome to 2023 where La Quinta Country Club still makes it easy. The PGA Tour’s remarkable players make it easy to play on other courses.
La Quinta Country Club will be the last of the three American Express courses to complete the week. La Quinta scored 69.583 in three rounds. Surprisingly this is higher than the Stadium Course’s average score of 69.2. The Nicklaus Tournament Course was the most difficult course of the week, at 68.724. The Nicklaus Course could be the most difficult course on the PGA Tour in 2022-23 season, if it is compared to par.
In truth, the Stadium Course scoring average has been falling in recent years. The Stadium Course average score was 70.5 in 2022, while the Nicklaus Course average score was 70.25 and La Quinta Country Club scored 69.6. This year, scores at all three courses were down.
Do you prefer double eagles or albatross?
The American Express has been played nine time at Pete Dye Stadium Course, PGA West. It was first played in 1987, and then every year since 2016. The course was first visited by Xander Schauffele, who shot a 226-yard second shot on par-5 hole for a double eagle or albatross.
Schauffele started his round with par on four of his first holes. He faced a difficult second shot over the lake to the green after a 314 yard drive on the fifth hole. Schauffele’s ball was 226 yards away. It barely cleared the water, but it landed softly before tracking towards the hole. The ball rolled into the cup and scored a par 2 at the par 5.
In the event’s 64-year history, the American Express has had 10 doubles eagles. Schauffele’s however was the first to be recorded on the Stadium Course. Schauffele also added a birdie to the eighth par-5 and the ninth to complete the turn at 5-under 31.
Since Stephan Jaeger’s feat in the 2022 John Deere classic, the albatross was the first to be accomplished on the PGA Tour.
It’s a tough round
Andrew Landry, 2020 American Express winner, was on the opposite side of Sunday’s scoring. Landry, who lost the tournament to Jon Rahm in 2018, also struggled with double and triple bogeys, all on Stadium Course par-3s. Landry made a 20-foot birdie on the ninth hole, his 18th, to keep him from being the only player to shoot 80 or more in this tournament. Landry shot 79.
Net and gross amateurs play
Due to their participation in the pro-am portion, six amateur golfers were present at The American Express field on Sunday. Along with professional players, the lowest three net amateurs as well as the lowest three gross amateurs were among the first three groups at the 10th and 1st tees. Amateurs were Bob McGrath and Bob Diamond, Thom Moulton and Frank Marzano. Marzano heads the Impact Through Golf foundation’s board of directors, which is The American Express’ new charitable arm.
