Top 10 power rankings in 2022 The American Express

The PGA Tour concluded its two-week Hawaii swing and is moving on to the mainland United States for the first time in 2022 for The American Express. This pro-am tournament still known to many as the Desert Classic or the Bob Hope, is currently a 156-player, four-day event spread out over three courses with a 54-hole cut.

Due to COVID-19, the pro-am was canceled in 2021, fans were not allowed on site and only two courses were used to make a 36-hole cut: PGA West’s Stadium Course for all four rounds and PGA West’s Nicklaus Course on Thursday and Friday.

The tournament was once even a 90-hole event, but we’re back in 2022 to the more recently traditional 72-hole event with a 54-hole cut and pro-am. La Quinta Country Club is the course added back to the mix.

The Stadium Course was designed in 1986 by Pete Dye. It was intended to provide a stern test to the game’s top players. In fact, it was deemed too difficult by players early on, leading them to demand changes be made

The PGA Tour acquiesced, and now it’s regarded as one of the more feeble tests on the schedule. Sure, the pro-am format lends itself to some easier pin locations and green speeds, but it’s still a birdie fest here and at the two other courses regardless.

The Stadium Course shares a lot of similarities and hole templates with its older brother, the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

At all three courses, most guys will be able to bomb it off the tee to hit past bunkers and other hazards that are more in play for the 15-handicap than the top players in the world.

The fairways are fairly wide, with relatively non-penal dormant Bermuda rough playable for approach shots. Hit it long and straight, bring a good short game and stay out of the water that comes into play on several closing holes, and you’ll be in good shape.

Don’t forget to make birdies, either. Winning score has been 20-under-par or better every year since 2007. The forecast looks ideal, with little to no chance of rain projected this week and temperatures in the 60s to lower 80s and sunny.

There doesn’t expect to be much wind, either, so it could be a bonanza out there. Two top-five players in the Official World Golf Rankings headline the field for the first of four events in the Golden State on this portion of the schedule.

One strategical move to consider this week is weighing the jet lag factor for those who are coming from Hawaii last week versus those who came back after the Tournament of Champions or were not on the islands at all. Travel isn’t as rigorous as it used to be, especially for the top players, but it can make for a tough week for lower-rung players.

Without further delay, let’s get down to this week’s top 10 power rankings: