JT Poston’s 62 leads American Express with a low score

LA QUINTA, Calif. – JT Poston shot a 10-under 62 to take a one-stroke lead over Justin Lower in the first round of The American Express Thursday.

Poston carded nine birdies and an eagle on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West in the Palm Springs desert. Lower was one stroke ahead of an 8-under group that included Jason Day, Joel Dahmen, Chris Kirk, JJ Spaun and Matti Schmid.

Poston excels on the three mostly generous courses used for the event, finishing tied for sixth at The American Express in 2023 and tied for 11th last year. The North Carolina native has also done well in other deserts, winning in Las Vegas last fall.

“When I feel like I’m hitting really well, I feel like I have all the shots and I can get the ball closer to the hole and really take advantage of those clubs,” said Poston, a three-time PGA Tour Champion. “I feel like I can go out there and make a bunch of birdies like I did today, so a tournament like this kind of lends itself to that.”

Lower shot a bogey-free 63 at La Quinta that included back-to-back eagles.

“I’ve never done that,” he said. “I don’t think I did that just in the regular round, let alone in the tournament round. Yeah, any time you can make back-to-back eagles, it definitely helps the score.”

Canadian Nick Taylor built on his Sony Open victory last Sunday with a 65 at Pete Dye Stadium. Tony Finau was 7 under, while Justin Thomas shot a 67 and Patrick Cantlay shot a 68.

Blades Brown, a 17-year-old prodigy playing on a sponsor’s exemption, shot a 72 in his first round as a professional. After bogeying his second hole and double bogeying the third, the high school student from Nashville, Tenn., settled down and strung together three straight birdies before finishing with 12-even par.

“It was challenging the first couple of holes, just because my adrenaline was pumping,” Brown said. “Whenever that happens, I hit the ball super far, so our distances didn’t go quite as far as we thought they would. Then a bad putt on hole 3 left me in danger, unfortunately. I was able to fight back and I was very excited about that.”

American Express is the third event of the new PGA Tour season and one of only two pro-ams on the calendar, carrying over from the event’s long history as the Bob Hope Desert Classic.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler had planned to play but withdrew 10 days ago to give his right hand injury more time to heal.

Defending champion Nick Dunlap shot a 67 at La Quinta in his return to the tournament where he became the first amateur in 33 years to win on the PGA Tour.

“It’s nice to be back,” Dunlap said earlier this week. “It’s nice to know where I’m going the first week (as a pro). I don’t have to find everything the first time.”

Now 21, Dunlap turned pro a week after winning in the desert and jumped right from the camaraderie and closeted life of the Alabama golf team into the cauldron of the PGA Tour. Although he struggled, he ended up being named the tour’s Rookie of the Year after picking up another win at the Barracuda Championship in Truckee, California.

“I would definitely say it was overwhelming,” Dunlap said. “I’ve had a lot of things happen to me, whether on the golf course or off the course, that it all came to me pretty quickly, and some I was ready for, some I wasn’t, and I was blindsided. a little. My life has sped up a bit, and in a good way. I’m here, I’m living my dream and I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but not everything happens easily or smoothly.”