Scottie Scheffler cruises to a four-stroke victory in the California desert.
ORLANDO RAMIREZ, GETTY IMAGES
After an offseason that successfully avoided any kitchen mishaps, Scottie Scheffler showed up rested and healthy in the California desert and did something he’s never done before – win his season debut.
The world No. 1 rattled off nine birdies in Sunday’s final round at PGA West’s Pete Dye Stadium course to pull away from the field and win the American Express by four strokes, finishing at 27-under-par 261. The victory was the 20th of the 29-year-old Scheffler’s career – he’s the 40th player to notch that many in PGA Tour history and just the third along with Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus to hit that milestone with at least four major titles before their 30th birthday.
Scheffler’s 20th win came in his 151st career start, faster than anyone except Woods, who did it in 95 starts while still 24 years old.
“It’s been a great start to my career, I’ve had some nice wins out here and, yeah, it’s been special,” Scheffler said. “I try not to really think about that stuff too much and going into the season I was just trying to do the things I needed to do and be prepared to come out and play this week.
“I’ll go home, get some rest and kind of rinse and repeat.”
Scheffler has never been the quickest starter, having gone 0-for-72 on tour before collecting all 20 of his wins in 79 starts over the last four years. And he had never won in January, last year being forced to take the whole month off after cutting his hand in a holiday kitchen accident. Twice he’s won the WM Phoenix Open in his third start of the season, but he typically finds his groove when the tour shifts to Florida at Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass.
Scheffler, Si Woo Kim and teenager Blades Brown were all tied for the lead in the final grouping when they went to the fifth tee Sunday, but from there it was the world No. 1 who took over the lead with a birdie on the par-5 and never looked back. Brown made his first big mistake of the week, driving it into the water on No. 5, leading to a double bogey and the end of his bid. Kim made the same mistake on the par-5 eighth to scuttle his chances of collecting a fifth PGA Tour victory.
From there Scheffler kept making birdies to build a comfortable six-shot lead that was more than enough to absorb an uncharacteristic double bogey on the par-3 17th and still easily stave off distant chasers Ryan Gerard, Jason Day, Andrew Putnam and Matt McCarty, who all tied for second at 23-under.
“I did some nice things today, hit some nice wedges to get it close,” Scheffler said. “I wasn’t hitting it my best today but I hit it in the right spots and got up and down.
“I got more in control of my ball as the week went on.”
“Getting to play with Scottie Scheffler in the final group at 18 years old is – I had to pinch myself a couple of times just to make sure I was, you know, this was real.”
Blades Brown
The PGA Tour’s 2026 mainland debut nearly was stolen by an 18-year-old playing on a sponsor exemption. Brown became the youngest player inside the top two on the leaderboard through 54 holes in a PGA Tour event since 1970 and faced the world No. 1 and a past Players champion in the final group Sunday for a chance to become the second-youngest winner in PGA Tour history and the first teenager to win on tour since Jordan Spieth at the 2013 John Deere Classic.
Brown hightailed it from finishing tied 17th in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Bahamas Great Abaco Classic on Wednesday to teeing it up in the California desert on Thursday. If he was feeling any fatigue from playing eight tournament rounds in eight days, Brown didn’t show it.
After an opening 5-under 67 less than 24 hours after finishing in the Bahamas, Brown made the most of a good night’s sleep before tearing up the Nicklaus Tournament Course on Friday morning. Starting on No. 10, he made six birdies and an eagle in his first seven holes and made the turn in 28. Four more birdies in a five-hole stretch from Nos. 2-6 had him 12-under and needing just one more birdie on the last three holes to shoot 59.
On the ninth, his last, Brown had a 6-footer on the same line he had just watched playing partner David Ford putt on. But his ball hung just outside the right lip and he settled for a course record-tying 60 and a share of the 36-hole lead with Scheffler.
“When I stepped onto 18 tee box I knew what was at stake,” Brown said Friday. “I knew I needed a birdie to shoot 59, and I was just close this time.”
“I’m 18 years old playing on the PGA Tour – how awesome is that?” Brown said after securing his place in the final grouping on Sunday with Scheffler and 54-hole leader Kim. “I finished high school about two weeks ago, so it’s nice to have that burden off my back.”
Brown finally ran out of gas on Sunday as the birdies dried up en route to a 2-over 74, three-putting the last when he needed a birdie to finish in the top 10 and earn a spot in this week’s Farmers Insurance Open. He finished tied 18th at 19-under.
“Getting to play with Scottie Scheffler in the final group at 18 years old is – I had to pinch myself a couple of times just to make sure I was, you know, this was real,” Brown said. “Not the Sunday that I would have liked, but I overall had so much fun playing the American Express this week.”
Ludvig Åberg withdrew on Saturday citing illness, joining Luke Clanton, Rico Hoey and Nick Dunlap in withdrawing during the tournament. Åberg was 9-under par before withdrawing ahead of the third round.
A year ago, Åberg was in contention at the Farmers Insurance Open when he got sick and ended up losing 10 pounds. He stuck it out on the weekend at Torrey Pines to shoot 74-79 but withdrew after one round from the next week’s signature event at Pebble Beach. A couple weeks later, Åberg returned to Torrey Pines South for the relocated Genesis Invitational and won.
Åberg is still listed in the field for this week’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey.
Scott Michaux
