Turning on the television and watching the last round of the American Express golf tournament from the La Quinta Country Club course in California is the ideal method to block out the snow outside the window.
You can watch the Golf Channel live on PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ and on Fubo TV (FREE trial) from 4 to 7 p.m. ET.
The winner will receive a share of $1.53 million out of the $8.5 million prize money. Since Phil Mickelson in 1991, no amateur has won on the PGA Tour until defending champion Nick Dunlap.
After three rounds, Austrian Sepp Straka leads Charley Hoffman, Jason Day, and Justin Lower by four shots going into Sunday’s play. At the La Quinta Country Club, Straka finished his third consecutive round without making bogeys after making six birdies on his front nine. Since this tournament switched to a three-course rotation in 2016, he is only the third player to remain bogey-free after 54 holes, standing at 23-under 193.
After starting the event with a 65 on the Nicklaus Course, Straka also recorded a 64 on the Stadium Course on Friday. After missing the fairway with his drive on his penultimate hole on Saturday, he still required a 10-foot putt and a smooth wedge shot to preserve par.
He is the first golfer of Austrian descent to be a member of the PGA Tour and to win on the circuit.
He told the Associated Press, “I believe that Stadium is the kind of course where no lead is safe.”My first victory came at (the) Honda (Classic), which is a very similar golf course, where I started the day five strokes behind. Therefore, no lead is safe. I definitely want tomorrow to be a nice, solid ball-striking round because you have to keep hitting your areas and you really need to hit the ball well out there.
Each player at the top of the scoreboard is striving for a big win. While 48-year-old Hoffman is vying for another trophy at the tournament where he won the first of his five career victories back in 2007, Day, a former PGA Championship winner, has only won once on the tour since 2018. Lower wants to win his first tour.
On Thursday, January 16, 2025, during the first round of the American Express golf tournament in La Quinta, California, spectators watch as Justin Thomas hits to the fourth fairway at La Quinta Country Club Course. (Photo courtesy of William Liang)AP
Blades Brown, 17, shot a third-round 74 and missed the cut in his debut professional event, while Dunlap made the cut at 9-under 207. On Monday, Brown will try to earn a spot in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
Also missing the cut was Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who placed second the previous year but was nonetheless awarded the winner’s purse because Dunlap was unable to claim it as an amateur.
More sports news