A quick look back at the American Express which concluded Sunday afternoon in Palm Springs, California. Scottie Scheffler started hot, jumped to the top of the leaderboard on Day 2, stayed there Saturday,
and blitzed the field on Sunday. That was his 20th win on Tour (a lifetime exemption) and put him over $100 million in on-course earnings. Defending Champ and former Bulldog Sepp Straka missed the cut as did other Bulldogs Brian Harman, Chris Kirk, and Davis Thompson. But Keith Mitchell got a T44, Harris English tied for 27th, and Russell Henley got a back door top 10 (T8) after a Sunday 67. Now onto this week’s event.
Tournament: Farmers Insurance Open. January 29-February 1, 2026
Course(s): Torrey Pines Golf Club has a North and South course. Players will rotate between the courses the first two days, then a 36 hole cut and the remainder is played on the South course. North: 7,258 yards par 72; South 7,566 par 72.
Purse: $9.6 million total with $1,758,000 to the winner.
Defending Champ: UGA’s own Harris English. He was in pretty good shape at the midway point last year, but a Saturday 66 pushed him out in front and he was able to hold everyone off on a blustery final round Sunday. This was the 5th Tour title for English, and his first in almost 4 years.
Fun Fact: The namesake of the course, the Torrey Pine, is an endangered tree and is only found on these seaside bluffs and on Santa Rosa Island off the coast of Santa Barbara.
TV Times: Because Brooks Koepka is making his first PGA Tour appearance in almost 4 years, ESPN will broadcast Thursday and Friday noon-3 pm ET (and available on Hulu and Disney+. Golf Channel will pick up those first two days from 4-7 pm ET. Weekend coverage is Golf Channel 1-3 pm ET and CBS airs its first golf of the season from 3-6 pm ET. This will be the first CBS golf production without Ian Baker-Finch, and the first with Colt Knost in a tower and Johnson Wagner on the course.
‘Dawgs in the Field:3. Harris English, Davis Thompson, and Keith Mitchell.
For the 2nd week in a row, the PGA Tour event’s defending champion is a former Georgia Bulldog. And the week before that has a ‘Dawg as a past champion. In fact, there are only a handful of PGA Tour events that have not been won by a golfer who matriculated in the Classic City. This could be a decent storyline for the golf press, and one you might have seen on a national scale.
Except the bigger story this week concerns a golfer who defected from the LIV Tour back to the PGA Tour. He also happens to have 5 major championships in his trophy case, married a girl from Winder, GA, and had a public beef with Bryson DeChambeau. Yep, Brooks Koepka is back with the PGA Tour and golf media and golf Twitter are all atwitter about it.
This is why ESPN will broadcast a non-major golf tournament for probably the first time ever, and they elevated the normal streaming ESPN+ coverage to be included on both Hulu and Disney+. And Golf Channel extended their Thu-Fri coverage by an additional hour. And now we hear that one-time UGA golfer and multiple-time cheater Patrick Reed has left LIV and is in talks to rejoin the PGA Tour as well.
Whoever you’re rooting for let’s hope for a strong finish by our boys in Red & Black. And as always…
GO ‘DAWGS!!!
