One thing officials of next month’s American Express golf tournament in La Quinta know for sure: Even with, defending champion Jon Rahm not in the field because of a jump to the LIV tour, the tournament should be just fine.
While Rahm, the No. 3 player in the Official World Golf Rankings, won’t be playing, The American Express has announced commitments from three of the top six players in the world to its field in January. Those players are Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. Also announced were players ranked 11th (Tom Kim) and 21st (Tony Finau) in the rankings. More top players, including one or two surprises for the desert, will be announced in the coming weeks.
That 21st player, Finau, has been the latest name in the “will he or won’t he?” conversation about players jumping to the LIV Tour. Finau has been a fixture in the La Quinta tournament, in part because of his endorsement status with American Express, and he posted Monday evening on social media that he is staying on the PGA Tour despite the rumors.
Okay, those players weren’t targeted because of their wins in the desert, but perhaps those victories show the field of the desert event was never as weak as some critics believed.
More: Defenders not defending? It happens more than you might think in the desert
Here’s a look at how The American Express seems to have lost more players than average to LIV, even as the desert tournament focuses on another strong field for 2024.
For instance:
Jon Rahm (2018, 2023)
A two-time past champion — the defending champion, in fact – at the top of his game isn’t a player that any tournament would want to lose, especially just weeks before the tournament is played. At least rumors of Rahm’s departure to the LIV tour have been circulating for weeks, meaning that by the time he made the actual announcement, the news was no surprise at all. But Rahm, more than most players on the PGA Tour, would have sold tickets for the La Quinta event.
Phil Mickelson (2002, 2004)
Mickelson’s relationship with the desert tournament has always been a roller coaster, from playing in the 1990s to disappearing from the field for a while to two wins in the early 2000s to disappearing again after appearing to dislike Classic Club in the tournament in the later 2000s. Then he was the official host of the tournament starting in 2020. When he left the PGA Tour, Mickelson was still a player who could attract a crowd. Mickelson has played well in majors since leaving the PGA Tour, but has been a non-factor in most LIV events.
Hudson Swafford (2017, 2022)
Swafford was the surprise name among golfers who jumped to the LIV tour in 2022, especially after winning The American Express just a few months earlier. But his jump meant The American Express had no defending champion in 2023. Swafford has not been a prominent name in LIV events in part because of hip surgery that knocked him off the tour for almost all of 2023.
Patrick Reed (2014)
Reed was a polarizing player on the PGA Tour for a variety of reasons, but he was also a winner who had a Masters championship to his credit among his nine tour wins. Unlike Swafford, Reed was probably not a surprise when he announced he was heading to the LIV tour in 2022, meaning he wouldn’t return to The American Express. Reed has had a handful of top-five finishes in his two years on LIV, but he has not won yet.
Pat Perez (2009)
Perez won his first PGA Tour event at The American Express, but was again perhaps not a surprise in jumping to the LIV. Perez was one of the first golfers who came flat out and said his move was about the money. A three-time winner on the PGA Tour, Perez struggled in 2022 on the LIV but was better in 2023 with three top-10 finishes in 14 events.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Jon Rahm just another defending American Express champ lost to LIV
