Weekend watch at The American Express: Key storylines this weekend
The weekend at this week’s The American Express is set up to be an intriguing one after two rounds of tournament play. At this point, we would normally know who had made it through the cut and would be sticking around for the weekend, but not this week, we won’t find that out until the end of play on Saturday, something that only adds to the intrigue of what is to unfold over the coming days.
The scoring at The American Express this week has been electric, in fact, the leader Patrick Cantlay sits at 14 under already and we are only two rounds into this!. It is becoming increasingly evident that earning a spot in the final round on Sunday is going to require a low tally on the scorecard with anything from six-under to nine-under looking to be in play.
Saturday and Sunday are set to be awfully entertaining at The American Express, let’s take a look at a few storylines before the weekend unfolds.
Can Patrick Cantlay win The American Express this time?
“It’s a golf course that suits my game”
-Patrick Cantlay on PGA West Stadium Course
Cantlay has started 2022 at The American Express where he left off last year, in contention for the win. He leads after the first two rounds this week, this coming after being so close to winning this event last year when he shot a final-round 61 that was good enough for the course record on the Stadium Course but not good enough for the victory.
Patrick was 9th at The American Express in 2019 and after finishing 2nd here last year he is full of confidence as he gets ready to play his final two rounds on the Stadium Course where he fired the 61 last year. Cantlay believes he can produce more of the same this time when he remarked: “It’s a golf course that suits my game”.
The 2021 FedEx Cup champion has put himself in a good position to take that extra step this time around.
Will Zalatoris looks to maintain momentum
Will Zalatoris was breaking course records of his own during Friday’s second round at The American Express. Zalatoris fired a scintillating 61 on PGA West’s Nicklaus Tournament Course, the 11 under par round skyrocketed him up the leaderboard and has put him squarely in contention heading into the weekend.
Friday’s round was good enough for the Nicklaus Tournament Course record, and it was a welcome site for Will after he only managed a one-under-par round on a La Quinta Course that was playing as the easiest of the three courses during day one.
“I think today I just gave myself chances, I hit a lot close and made a couple 20, 30 footers to keep the round going” -Will Zalatoris
Zalatoris who is making his 2022 tournament debut this week was much happier with his round on Friday when he spoke about his performance after saying “I think today I just gave myself chances, I hit a lot close and made a couple 20, 30 footers to keep the round going”.
The 2021 PGA rookie of the year has had some success on Pete Dye’s courses before, like when he was 8th at last year’s PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. He will be hoping that some of that success can carry over into his final two rounds at The American Express when he takes on the Pete Dye Stadium Course this weekend.
Can Joseph Bramlett make PGA breakthrough?
Joseph Bramlett has been around for a while but his best finish on the PGA Tour came last year at the Byron Nelson where he finished 7th. So far this week he has put himself in a position to earn that first PGA Tour victory as he sits just two shots back of leader Patrick Cantlay going into the weekend.
The 33-year-old has put himself in a good position to not only contend at The American Express this time but also make the cut for the first time. Bramlett missed the cut in 2020 and 2021 but this year his stats are eye-popping even with limited data.
Joseph fired off an opening-round 65 at PGA West’s Stadium Course where he gained over three strokes tee to green, a figure that still leads the field after two days. He followed that up with a 67, five-under-par round at La Quinta during round two.
Bramlett will take on the Nicklaus Tournament Course on Saturday, a course that yielded the lowest scores of any of the three courses during round two.
Can Patrick Cantlay maintain his position at the top of the board and achieve something that he was unable to obtain last year? can Will Zalatoris continue to pile up the birdies and mount a serious challenge on Sunday? or will someone such as Joseph Bramlett come away with their first PGA Tour win?. One thing is certain, it should be another exciting finish on the PGA Tour.