The old Bob Hope Classic, now The American Express, is one of the hallmarks of the early-year PGA Tour schedule. That includes some memorable moments—from victories by Arnold Palmer (five times), Johnny Miller (twice) and Jack Nicklaus (once)—to celebrity appearances by some of the world-class entertainers. It has given us some long-shot winners in recent years, with Andrew Landry (175-1); Adam Long (400-1) and Hudson Swafford (66-1) being three of the four most recent winners. Of course, Jon Rahm took the title in 2018 as the favorite—and he returns in 2021 as the favorite, too.
We saw Rahm debut his new Callaway equipment at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, where he finished T-7, so he returns to Palm Springs with some reps under his belt, looking for his second win in the desert. Brooks Koepka will make his 2021 debut, and oddsmakers tabbed him as the third favorite. The four-time major champion has played just once since his T-7 at the Masters, missing the cut at Mayakoba. As usual, it will be interesting to see how Koepka plays in a non-major PGA Tour event. This is the first time Koepka is playing in this tournament.
There are tons of great names below Rahm and Koepka, including Patrick Cantlay, who has slightly better odds to win than Koepka. Ten of the top-25 ranked players in the world are here, including Kevin Na, whose win at the Sony Open moved him to 23rd in the World Ranking. Scottie Scheffler, who was edged by Landry last year, is among the top-10 favorites at 22-1.
Here’s a complete list of odds for the players in the 2021 American Express field.
American Express 2021 golf odds (courtesy of Bet365, as of Monday afternoon):
Francesco Molinari: 100-1
Kristoffer Ventura: 200-1
Sebastian Cappelen: 300-1