The American Express 2024 Tournament Odds, Favorites & Picks: Will Poston, Cole, and Kirk Have Another Good Week?

The first two events of the 2024 PGA Tour season have produced two unexpected winners, with Chris Kirk winning The Sentry and Grayson Murray coming out on top in a three-man playoff at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Will we see a third straight surprise success story this week at The American Express in La Quinta, California?

Jon Rahm won this tournament last year, with his 27-under 261 edging Davis Thompson by a stroke. Rahm won’t be back to defend his title due to his defection to LIV Golf, but several big names will be teeing it up in southern California.

Rory McIlroy (#2), Brian Harman (#9), Tommy Fleetwood (#11), Tyrrell Hatton (#15), and Cameron Young (#25) are among the PGA Tour regulars and highly-ranked golfers who will be at this week’s Dubai Desert Classic, while Scottie Scheffler (#1), Xander Schauffele (#5), Patrick Cantlay (#6), Wyndham Clark (#10), and Tom Kim (#11) will all be in The American Express field.

Scheffler, Schauffele, and Cantlay sit atop The American Express tournament winner odds, with Kim, Sungjae Im, and Justin Thomas next in line.

Where does Murray stand after his playoff win at Waialae? His odds are shorter than they would have been, but at +12500, he is considered a longshot to immediately follow his second career PGA Tour win with a third.

The American Express 2024 Tournament Odds and Favorites

Tournament Winner Odds

Odds are courtesy of BetOnline. If you’re interested in trying them out, we recommend checking out our BetOnline review.

• Scottie Scheffler +550
• Patrick Cantlay +900
• Xander Schauffele +1100
• Sungjae Im +1800
• Tom Kim +2500
• Justin Thomas +2800
• Min Woo Lee, Sam Burns, J.T. Poston +3000
• Tony Finau, Eric Cole, Jason Day +3500
• Wyndham Clark & Chris Kirk +4000
• Cameron Davis, Si Woo Kim, Taylor Montgomery, Adam Hadwin +5000
• Akshay Bhatia & Andrew Putnam +5500
• Rickie Fowler & Shane Lowry +6000
• Alex Noren +6500
• Daniel Berger & Stephan Jaeger +7500
• Beau Hossler, Davis Thompson, Adam Schenk, Billy Horschel, Taylor Pendrith +8000

Tournament Favorites

Scottie Scheffler (+550)

Scheffler opened his year by finishing tied for fifth at The Sentry, coming in four shots behind Kirk.

As fantastic of a year as Scheffler had in 2023, he hasn’t won since his five-stroke win at The Players Championship last March. Don’t expect that drought to last long.

Patrick Cantlay (+900)

Cantlay hasn’t won since the 2022 BMW Championship, but he spent a lot of time near the top of the leaderboard last year and started 2024 by finishing tied for 12^th at The Sentry.

Xander Schauffele (+1100)

Are the winless droughts getting longer as we go down the list of favorites for The American Express? Schauffele hasn’t won since the 2022 Scottish Open, but the 2023 TOUR Championship runner-up enters his second event of 2024 with a tie for 10^th at The Sentry to his name. In last year’s edition of this tournament, Schauffele finished tied for third, two shots behind Rahm.

Sungjae Im (+1800)

Im is still seeking his first win since the 2021 Shriners Children’s Open, but like the other golfers on this list, he played well at Kapalua, tying for fifth along with Scheffler.

Tom Kim (+2500)

Whereas all of the other names on this list did well at The Sentry, Kim did not, finishing tied for 45^th, 15 shots behind Kirk. But he finished tied for sixth at The American Express last year and absolutely should be considered a top contender this week.

J.T. Poston (+3000)

I skipped over a few names and landed on Poston, based on his performances in the year’s first two tournaments.

At the Sentry, he was part of the five-way tie for fifth along with Scheffler, Im, Harman, and Collin Morikawa.

He scored another strong finish at the Sony Open in Hawaii, with a final round 61 (9-under) firing him up to sixth, two shots behind playoff combatants Murray, Byeong-Hun An, and Keegan Bradley.

Can Poston keep it up this week? He finished tied for sixth at The American Express last year.

The American Express Tournament Predictions and Picks

All picks listed below are courtesy of BetOnline. Bet these plays there and get a 100% BONUS on your first cryptocurrency deposit.

Tournament Winner Prediction & Pick: Xander Schauffele (+1100)

As tempted as I was to take Scheffler, I think there’s a strong chance Schauffele finally returns to the winner’s circle this week.

Tournament Finishing Position Picks

Last week’s Sony Open in Hawaii finishing position picks went 3-1, with a disappointing missed cut for Sahith Theegala accounting for the lone loss.

Is another winning week in store?

Sungjae Im to finish in the top 20 (+110)

Even if Im doesn’t contend for the win at The American Express, expect to see him in the upper echelon of the leaderboard. In five appearances at this event, he has finished in the top 20 each time.

• 2019: t-12^th
• 2020: t-10^th
• 2021: t-12^th
• 2022: t-11^th
• 2023: t-18^th

J.T. Poston to finish in the top 20 (+150)

Given both his current form, this is exceptional value.

Eric Cole to finish in the top 20 (+160)

Cole came through for me last week, and I’m not getting off of the train this week after his solid finishes at The Sentry (tied for 14^th) and the Sony Open in Hawaii (tied for 13^th).

Chris Kirk to finish in the top 20 (+230)

Kirk was in contention heading into Sunday at Waialae, where he has done well in the past. But after bogeying only four of his first 54 holes, he had four bogeys in his final round, and an even-par 70 dropped him to a tie for 18^th.

Still, he has had two positive weeks to start 2024, and I’m riding with him to keep it going this week. Last year, he finished tied for third at The American Express.