How to watch WM Phoenix Open, Round 2: Featured Groups, live scores, tee times, TV times

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LA QUINTA, Calif. – The American Express announced its initial wave of player commitments toward its 2023 tournament includes a foursome in reigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, Long Beach native and UCLA product Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau. Together, the four American teammates from September’s victorious Presidents Cup squad, are ranked among the top 12 golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking. Additionally, they will be joined at the 64th edition of The American Express by World No. 19 Sungjae Im – a two-time PGA TOUR winner, the PGA TOUR’s 2022 FedExCup Playoffs runner-up and the 2019 Arnold Palmer Award winner as the PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year – and Idyllwild, Calif. native and Irvine, Calif. resident Brendan Steele, a three-time PGA TOUR winner and a 2005 graduate of UC Riverside. The American Express, featuring a record $8 million purse, will showcase 156 professional golfers and 156 amateurs playing at PGA WEST’s Stadium Course (host course) and Nicklaus Tournament Course and La Quinta Country Club in La Quinta, Calif. from Jan. 19-22, 2023. The American Express is the first PGA TOUR regular season event in the continental U.S. each year and kicks off the TOUR’s West Coast swing. “We are grateful and thrilled to announce such a high-profile group of players committing this early to play in The American Express tournament next month,” said Pat McCabe, Executive Director of The American Express. “Our field strength continues to grow stronger year after year. Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay and Tony Finau have been loyal to our tournament, and welcoming Xander Schauffele back to the desert gives the tournament three of the world’s top six players. Sungjae Im showed his class in September’s FedExCup Playoffs and Presidents Cup while playing for the International Team. Brendan Steele is a hometown favorite as he may end up being the player who grew up closest to our event.” Daily ticket options for The American Express are now on sale at the tournament’s website, www.theamexgolf.com. American Express Card Members receive a 20% discount on any online ticket price (terms apply). World No. 2 Scheffler and World No. 4 Cantlay are the PGA TOUR’s past two Players of the Year. Scheffler will make his fourth consecutive start in The American Express, since graduating from the Korn Ferry Tour as its 2019 Player of the Year. It will be the third consecutive start for Cantlay, the PGA TOUR’s 2021 FedExCup champion who was The American Express’ 2021 runner-up and owns eight PGA TOUR wins. Scheffler, the PGA TOUR’s 2021-22 Player of the Year, won his first four PGA TOUR titles in a six-tournament stretch from February to April that led to his ascent to the world’s No. 1 ranking. The PGA TOUR’s 2020 Rookie of the Year also finished runner-up in four tournaments last season, including the U.S. Open and the TOUR Championship. Schauffele, a native of La Jolla, Calif. and a San Diego State product, is set to make his third start in The American Express, and his first start since 2017. The world’s No. 6-ranked player won three of his seven PGA TOUR titles last season. Finau, ranked No. 12 in the world and one of the sport’s longest hitters, has broken through as a frequent winner on the PGA TOUR, having claimed four of his five PGA TOUR titles over the past 16 months. This streak began with him winning THE NORTHERN TRUST during the 2021 FedExCup Playoffs. He will make his fourth consecutive, and sixth overall, appearance in The American Express. Annually, The American Express has become a leading entertainment staple, combining golf and music, in the Coachella Valley. The tournament earlier announced that its upcoming Concert Series, which returns for its sixth year (after debuting in 2017), will feature a pair of three-time GRAMMY Award winners with iconic Southern California native Gwen Stefani and singer/songwriter Darius Rucker on the PGA WEST Stadium Course driving range. Stefani, born and raised in Anaheim; a singer songwriter and charismatic frontwoman of No Doubt, will open The American Express’ Concert Series after the conclusion of second-round play on Friday, Jan. 20. Rucker, who first achieved musical prominence as the lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish and has since become a hugely successful Country artist, will take the stage after the tournament’s third round on Saturday, Jan. 21. The American Express also continues to be one of the desert region’s most charitable sporting events, giving back to its community. In November, The American Express announced a $1 million charitable donation to 37 local Coachella Valley organizations, bringing the event’s all-time donation to more than $64 million since its inception in 1960 as the Palm Springs Golf Classic. Follow The American Express on Facebook (www.facebook.com/theamexgolf), Twitter (@TheAmexGolf) and Instagram (@TheAmexGolf).

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SANDWICH, England — The majors finally had a degree of normalcy Thursday at Royal St. George’s. Louis Oosthuizen leading the way and Jordan Spieth contending at The 149th Open Championship felt pretty familiar, too. RELATED: Spieth sends message with opening 65 | DeChambeau, Rahm bitten by Royal St. George’s Cheered on by the biggest golf crowd since the coronavirus outbreak, Oosthuizen saved par from a fairway bunker on the final hole for a 6-under 64 to take the early lead. Spieth was only one stroke back by making putts like it was 2017 all over again. “It feels inside the ropes, from the first tee forward, the most normal of any tournament we have played thus far relative to that same tournament in previous years, pre-COVID,” said Spieth, whose run of four straight birdies in his round of 65 reminded him of his play at Royal Birkdale when he lifted the claret jug four years ago. Oosthuizen is coming off two straight runner-up finishes at majors — the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open — and is contending again after tying the lowest opening round at Royal St. George’s. Christy O’Connor Jr. had a 64 in 1981. That didn’t look as though it would be the case after the South African opened with seven straight pars. He followed with six birdies in his next nine holes. “I’ve learnt over the years playing major championships that patience is the key thing,” said Oosthuizen, who hasn’t won one of them since the British Open at St. Andrews in 2010. There have been six runner-up finishes in the majors since then. Patience already might be wearing thin for U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm, who slapped his thigh in frustration after making a double-bogey at No. 9 after taking two shots to get out of a pot bunker in the fairway. He shot 71. Bryson DeChambeau had the same score after spending much of his first round up to his knees in deep grass and unable to use his power to overwhelm Royal St. George’s. Shane Lowry, the defending champion from 2019, also shot 71 in front of a crowd that has a daily capacity of 32,000 this week. Not since Royal Portrush, where Lowry won, has a major seen so many spectators through the gates. There was plenty of good scoring on a course where soft fairways and greens — because of recent rain — negated the impact of its storied undulations. By halfway through the first round, 14 players had shot 67 or better. They included Justin Rose and three more of his countrymen looking to become the first English winner of golf’s oldest championship since Nick Faldo in 1992. Brian Harman was tied for second with Spieth after making five birdies in his first eight holes and finishing with another for 65. Stewart Cink, the 2009 champion at Turnberry, was in a three-way tie for fourth place with Dylan Frittelli and MacKenzie Hughes after 66s. Top-ranked Dustin Johnson hit 14 greens in regulation and said he was pleased with his round of 68 that had him in a tie for 15th. Spieth had not won since Birkdale until he ended his slump at the Valero Texas Open in April. He looked the happiest of anyone, saying he liked where his game was at after matching his lowest score at an Open. He also had a 65 on the first day at Birkdale. And he made reference to that victory while running off four straight birdies starting at No. 5, telling former caddie John Wood — part of the U.S. broadcast team — that it was just like 2017 the way he was making putts and Wood was watching him. Wood was caddying in the final round at Birkdale for Matt Kuchar, who was second. “Here I feel for the first time since then I’m at least coming in with a bit of form, a bit of confidence, and really my start lines off the tee,” Spieth said. The return of the spectators made it feel like a proper Open, especially on the hill overlooking the par-3 6th hole that attracted some of the biggest galleries of a day that started with a blue, cloudless sky and featured sporadic gusts. Just before midday, the group containing Cink, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer all hit tee shots inside 6 feet of the pin. As they walked onto the green to mark their balls, one spectator shouted: “You three should be professionals.” To which Kaymer’s caddie, Craig Connolly, replied back across the green: “You should be a comedian.” “I feel like the fans here are very knowledgeable about the sport,” Spieth said, “and they’re also having a great time.”

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