After hosting the Sony Open in Hawaii, the PGA TOUR heads to La Quinta, California, for The American Express. This is a rare tournament that features these three courses: Pete Dye Stadium Course (par 72, 7,210 yards, POA overseed greens), the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course (par 72, 7,147 yards, POA overseed greens), and La Quinta Country Club (par 72, 7,060 yards, POA trivialis/ryegrass overseed greens). Each player of this 156-man field will play one round on each of these courses, and then following a top-65 and ties cut, the players who advance will return to the Dye Stadium Course for the final round, making this the host venue for The American Express. This three-course setup began in 2016, and Sepp Straka (-25) is the defending champion of The American Express after winning by two strokes last year.
The PGA DFS Breakdown offers data-driven analysis for each week’s slate, using the FantasyLabs Tools and metrics to highlight notable golfers.
I’ll be highlighting the best cash game/single-entry plays on the DraftKings main slate, but these players are often great options in any contest.
My analysis will frequently reference Strokes Gained, a set of proprietary metrics generated by the PGA TOUR using millions of data points to calculate how many shots, on average, it takes a player to get the ball in the hole from every distance and situation.
Strokes Gained is now available in the FantasyLabs PGA Models.
There are a variety of Strokes Gained-related metrics, but the six main categories you need to know include:
- Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (SG: Off-the-Tee)
- Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: Approach)
- Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green (SG: Around-the-Green)
- Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: Putting)
- Strokes Gained: Ball-Striking (SG: Ball-Striking), which is SG: Off-the-Tee + SG: Approach
- Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (SG: Tee-to-Green), which is SG: Ball-Striking + SG: Around-the-Green
Don’t forget to check out two key metrics in our models — Perfect% and SimLeverage. You can find an explainer on those metrics here.
The Cliffs Notes version is that you can use SimLeverage to quickly find leverage plays in tournaments, while Perfect% is great for finding the best price-considered plays for cash games.
And don’t forget to utilize our various PGA DFS tools like our Lineup Optimizer, Lineup Builder, PGA Correlation Dashboard, and our Trends tool.
The following players listed are based on DraftKings scoring and pricing.
PGA DFS Cash Game Thoughts
DraftKings $10,000 Range
Ben Griffin ($10,200)
With Scottie Scheffler only finishing inside the top 10 once in his five starts at The American Express, opting to fade him at a whopping $14,200 makes sense for cash games. Building more balanced lineups is the right move, and Griffin is a great starting piece. Griffin has finished T9th and T7th at The American Express the last two years, and he is poised to contend at this event again this week. Griffin is playing the best golf of his career, with 10 top-15 finishes in his last 14 starts, including a win at the Charles Schwab Challenge and runner-up finishes at both the Memorial Tournament and the Procore Championship. Griffin sits at a career-best No. 8 in the world golf rankings, which is a huge 60 spots higher than when he finished T7th at The American Express last season. Plus, Griffin ranks second in Total Strokes Gained when we compare this field’s last 24 rounds, and he ranks second among this field in Strokes Gained per round at the Dye Stadium Course.
DraftKings $9,000 Range
Sam Burns ($9,800)
Burns has been great at The American Express, making 5 of 6 cuts with four top-20 finishes, and he is coming off a stellar season on the PGA TOUR. Burns made 22 of 25 cuts, and he carded 13 top-25 finishes. Burns led the PGA TOUR in SG: Putting, and his elite work on the greens sets him up well for The American Express, as four of the past five winners of this event have finished the week top-12 in SG: Putting.
Si Woo Kim ($9,000)
Excluding his withdrawal in 2020, Kim has never missed a cut in seven starts at The American Express, including five top-25 finishes, one of which was a win in 2022. Kim has shot a 64 four times at this tournament and he has finished inside the top-20 at four consecutive events, most recently with a T11 at the Sony Open last week. Kim finished the tournament second in SG: APP, and he is a threat to contend this week in this type of form as a ball striker.
Now available: our PGA DFS SimLabs Lineup Generator that creates advanced DFS lineups using the power of simulation.
DraftKings $8,000 Range
Rickie Fowler ($8,400)
Fowler closed last season in awesome form, making nine of his last 10 cuts with a T6 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and a T7 at the BMW Championship in his final two starts. Fowler has shot under in 14 of his last 16 rounds, and he ranks 10th in Total Strokes Gained when we analyze this field’s last 24 rounds. If Fowler can carry this momentum to The American Express, he should start the new season with a high finish this week. Ever since the Dye Stadium Course became the host of The American Express in 2016, Fowler has made 4-of-6 cuts at this tournament with three top-25 finishes.
J.T. Poston ($8,000)
Poston has been very successful at The American Express. He has made 7-of-9 cuts at this event with four top-12 finishes, three of which have come in the last three years. This past season on the PGA TOUR, Poston made 22 of 25 cuts, and he closed the season with five straight top-30 finishes, most recently with a T11 at the RSM Classic in November, which, like The American Express, is an event that features multiple courses.
Updated on 1/20/26
DraftKings $7,000 Range
Daniel Berger ($7,800)
Berger is 4-for-4 in made cuts at The American Express ever since the Dye Stadium Course became the host in 2016, and three of these finishes have been top-30 results. Berger now returns to La Quinta after beginning his 2026 campaign with a T6 at the Sony Open last week, including a final-round 6-under 64. Berger gained strokes with his irons and putter at Waialae Country Club, and last season, he made 18 of 22 cuts with nine top-25 finishes.
Christiaan Bezudienhout ($7,700)
Bezuidenhout has made 10 straight cuts worldwide, and competing in his home country of South Africa last month, Bezuidenhout finished fourth at the Nedbank Golf Challenge and T9th at the Alfred Dunhill Championship. The 31-year-old ranked top-20 in both SG: Putting and SG: Around-the-Green on the PGA TOUR last season, and Bezudienhout should add another strong finish to his resume at the Amercian Express this week. At this event, Bezuidenhout has made 3-of-4 cuts with a T11 in 2023 and a runner-up in 2024.
Max Homa ($7,400)
Homa’s game came alive in the second half of last season. Homa advanced to the weekend in 12 of his final 15 starts, and during the fall swing, he carded three top-20 finishes in four starts. Homa closed the season with a T7 at the Bank of Utah Championship in October, and that week, he gained strokes in every major category. Homa has gained strokes on approach at eight straight tournaments, and he could be in store for a career-best finish at The American Express. In his last two starts at this event, Homa has finished T48th and T21st.
Seamus Power ($7,000)
Power has finished inside the top 25 in three of his four starts at The American Express, and the Irishman has made nine cuts in a row entering this week. Power has finished T31st or better at four straight tournaments, and he gained strokes on approach during each of these starts. Power ranks third in SG: Approach when we compare this field’s last 24 rounds, and he is way underpriced at only $7,000 this week.
DraftKings $6,000 and Below Range
Mac Meissner ($6,900)
Meissner’s results at The American Express are questionable, missing the cut in his debut in 2024 and then finishing T68th last season, but the 26-year-old is a far more polished player nowadays. Meissner has made eight straight cuts, and during this streak, he has gained strokes on approach at every event, and he has produced six top-30 finishes. Meissner sits 43 spots higher in the world golf rankings than when he competed at The American Express a year ago, and he should have his best finish to date at the event.
Bud Cauley ($6,700)
While Cauley hasn’t competed at The American Express since 2020, his resume at this tournament is undeniable. Ever since the Dye Stadium Course became the host in 2016, Cauley has carded four top-15 finishes in five starts at The American Express, most notably with a T3 in 2017. The 35-year-old now makes his long-overdue return to La Quinta fresh off a T24 finish at the Sony Open last week, in which he gained strokes across the board at Waialae CC. Cauley has made five of his last six cuts, with all those finishes coming inside the top 40, and he is an excellent bargain at this sub-$7,000 price tag.
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Pictured: Ben Griffin
Photo credit: Imagn
