From sleeper stars to a feel-good winner, the final round of the American Express could be full of drama if Sepp Straka falters.
Getty Images
The PGA Tour arrived at the American Express in La Quinta, Calif., without the two expected headliners for its season-opening stop.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was the last to withdraw as he continues to rehabilitate from a puncture wound to his hand suffered on Christmas Day. Meanwhile, world number 2 Xander Schauffele pulled out earlier this week with his manager citing a “medical reason”.
They lack bite, but the stars in the field are sitting at AmEx (as usual), offering a stacked leaderboard going into Sunday.
Austrian Sepp Straka holds the 54-hole lead at 23-under after putting together rounds of 64, 65 and 8-under 64 on Saturday at La Quinta Country Club. Straka enters Sunday in good position to earn his third career PGA Tour victory and first since the 2023 John Deere Classic.
But he’ll have to fend off a crowded group that includes stars, several players looking for their breakthrough moment and a veteran looking to snap a long drought.
Here are five things to watch as Straka looks to seal the deal on Sunday.
The peeping stars
There should be low numbers on Sundays at American Express.
In 2023, Schauffele shot 10-way final-round winner Jon Rahm to the wire. Last year, Kevin Yu shot 9-under on Sunday but fell short of winner Nick Dunlap by two shots.
While Straka will start Sunday with a four-shot lead, Jason Day (19-under), Patrick Cantlay (18-under) and Justin Thomas (17-under) are all capable of going down on Sunday to stole from Straka. he stumbles.
Thomas had it on Saturday before missing a 3-foot-8-inch putt for birdie at 16. He then stepped up to the par-3 17th and hit his ball into the water. Thomas saved a bogey, but his late-round setbacks likely cost him a chance to have a real shot at winning his first tournament since the 2022 PGA Championship.
As Thomas stumbled home, his playing partner, Day, finished with birdies on 16 and 18 to finish on 19 under and in a tie for second place. After doing a great job around the greens in the first round, Day’s iron game and putting kept him going on Saturday. According to DataGolf, Day earned 1.56 shots on approach in the third round and 1.21 shots on the green.
In the third round, the Australian won 4.05 shots on the field. Day hasn’t won since the AT&T 2023 Byron Nelson.
Meanwhile, Cantlay birdied his final three holes to get home at 18. He has not won since the 2022 BMW Championship.
Hoffman’s time?
Charley Hoffman has been looking for a way to get back into the winner’s circle since winning the Valero Texas Open in 2016.
The 48-year-old Hoffman came close to victory last year when he lost to Nick Taylor in a playoff at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. But Hoffman’s only two other top-10 finishes last year came at the Corales Puntacana Championship and the Barracuda Championship.
Hoffman has finished in the top 70 in the FedEx Cup just once in the last five years (2020-21 season).
Ranked 134th in the world, he hopes he can rekindle some old magic on Sunday.
“I play this game to be competitive and I definitely had a chance last year at the WM Phoenix Open,” Hoffman told Golf Channel after his third round. “I like my juices to work. This is what I exercise for. That’s why I play this game. I don’t play this game to make cuts and finish in the top 100. I try to win golf tournaments. You can only do it if you are in position tomorrow and I will hope to flourish. I’ve failed before but I’ve had success and hopefully I’ll take from all those experiences and hopefully have a chance to get down the last few holes.”
Even if he doesn’t win Sunday, a good round should help Hoffman secure a spot in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the first signature event of the season, via the Aon Swing Five. As of Saturday, Hoffman has moved up to third on the Aon Swing Five leaderboard, which puts him in a good spot to punch a ticket to Pebble Beach with one event left in the swing after this week.
Will he strike a winner for the first time?
While they may not be the headliners, the final round of the American Express will have no shortage of pros looking for their first career PGA Tour victory.
Thirty-five-year-old Justin Lower will start the day closest to Straka after shooting a third-round 68 to finish at 19 under.
Lower had the shot on Saturday, getting 3.82 strokes over the green to stay within striking distance of Staka.
The Akron, Ohio, native has been knocking on the door lately. Last season, Lower earned five top-10 finishes, including a runner-up finish at the Tech World Championship and a third-place finish at the Mexico Open at Vidanta.
“I’m getting more comfortable,” Lower said after his second round. “There’s still an awkwardness there, for sure, I would say, though. It’s a little bit different playing at the top and whatnot, but it’s where we all want to be, it’s what we’re all striving for, so yeah, just really trying to make it a shot at a while, as cliche as that is, but that’s the best way to do it.”
Another pro looking for his first win is Max Greyserman, who shot a 7-under 65 on Saturday to give himself a low shot on Sunday for his first title. In his first full season on tour last year, the 29-year-old Greyserman posted three runner-up finishes and six top 10s to finish 48th in the FedEx Cup standings.
Greyserman’s round Saturday was sparked by an eagle hole from 156 yards.
The third member of the potential first-time winner’s club is Mark Hubbard…
A sensitive story
The 35-year-old Hubbard started his week 15 under with two rounds to put him firmly in contention. But Hubbard’s good play meant more to him than where it placed him on the leaderboard this week.
Many of Hubbard’s family members and friends have been affected by the wildfires that have ravaged Los Angeles since last week. Mark’s brother, Nathan, lost his home, as did several others. Twenty family and friends are watching Hubbard this week because they have been forced to evacuate and have decided to go south to see Hubbard for a vacation.
Mark lives in Texas, but that doesn’t diminish the impact the tragedy has had on him. with
“It’s a nice escape to be there and not think about other things. It definitely makes it easier to realize that this is just a dumb game and none of this matters at all.”
Hubbard’s career-best finish came at the 2019 Houston Open, where he finished in second place.
A low Sunday and a little help from those ahead would make for a final round to remember for Hubbards and the Tour.
Editor of Golf.com
Josh Schrock is a writer and reporter for Golf. com. Prior to joining GOLF, Josh was the Chicago Bears insider for NBC Sports Chicago. He previously covered the 49ers and Warriors for NBC Sports Bay Area. An Oregonian and UO native, Josh spends his free time walking his wife and dog, thinking about how the Ducks are going to break his heart again, and trying to become semi-proficient at scratch. A true golf romantic, Josh will never stop trying to break 90 and will never lose faith that Rory McIlroy’s drought will end. Josh can be reached at josh.schrock@golf.com.
