Associated Press
| Associated Press
La Quinta, Calif. – J.T. Poston shot a 10-under 62 to take a one-stroke lead over Justin Lower in the opening round of The American Express on Thursday.
Poston carded nine birdies and an eagle on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West in the Palm Springs-area desert. Lower was one stroke ahead of an 8-under pack that included Jason Day, Joel Dahmen, Chris Kirk, J.J. Spaun and Matti Schmid.
PGA TOUR SCOREBOARD
Poston excels on the three mostly generous courses used for this 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 really hitting it good, I feel like I’ve got all the shots and can get the ball close to the hole and really take advantage of those scoring clubs,” said Poston, a three-time PGA Tour winner. “I feel like I can go out there and make a bunch of birdies like I did today, so a tournament like this sort of plays into that.”
Lower shot a bogey-free 63 at La Quinta that included consecutive eagles.
“I’ve never done that,” he said. “I don’t even think I’ve done it in just a regular round, but let alone a tournament round. Yeah, any time you can make back-to-back eagles, it certainly helps the score.”
Canadian Nick Taylor built on his victory in the Sony Open last Sunday with a 65 at the Pete Dye Stadium Course. Tony Finau was 7 under, while Justin Thomas shot 67 and Patrick Cantlay shot 68.
Blades Brown, the 17-year-old prodigy playing on a sponsor exemption, shot 72 in his first round as a professional. After bogeying his second hole and double-bogeying his third, the high school junior from Nashville, Tennessee, calmed down and strung together three consecutive birdies before finishing with 12 straight pars.
“It was challenging the first couple of holes, just because my adrenaline was up,” Brown said. “Whenever that happens, I hit the ball super far, so our distances weren’t going exactly what we thought they were going to go. Then a poor shot on hole 3 left me in the hazard, unfortunately. I was able to battle back, and I was super pumped about that.”
The American Express is the third event of the new PGA Tour season and one of only two pro-ams on the calendar, a carryover from the event’s long history as the Bob Hope Desert Classic.
Genesis Invitational will move
The PGA Tour is moving the Genesis Invitational out of Riviera next month out of respect for the deadly wildfires that have decimated parts of Los Angeles, including the Pacific Palisades neighborhood where Riviera is located.
Still to be determined is where the $20 million signature event, with Tiger Woods as the tournament host, will relocate for Feb. 13-16.
One option is another golf course that already is part of the West Coast Swing – away from Los Angeles – which would limit the costs and hours required to build out a tournament site with everything from grandstands to corporate hospitality to television structures.
Riviera, which sits just south of Sunset Boulevard and about 4 miles from the Pacific Ocean, was not damaged in the fires that have killed at least 25 people and destroyed more than 12,000 structures.
The tour has resisted any decision until some movement had been made on containing fires. It decided to relocate in collaboration with title sponsor Genesis, Riviera Country Club and TGR Live, which hosts the event.
The announcement of a new venue is expected in the coming days.
Dubai Desert Classic
A 22-year-old American amateur making his debut on the European Tour upstaged Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and many of the world’s top players at the Dubai Desert Classic to take a share of the first-round clubhouse lead on Thursday.
David Ford, a senior at the University of North Carolina, holed a 40-foot eagle putt at his first hole, ran off five straight birdies midway through the round and signed for a 7-under 65 at Emirates Golf Club.
Ford is a lefty, No. 6 in the world amateur rankings and playing outside the United States for the first time. He earned an exemption for the Dubai Desert Classic, one of the most prestigious events on the European Tour, as a reward for finishing the fall section of the collegiate golf schedule at No. 1 in the PGA Tour’s university ranking.
He was tied for the lead with Ricardo Gouveia of Portugal and David Micheluzzi of Australia – and five shots clear of defending champion McIlroy, who said he felt “a little uncomfortable” in shooting 70 in his first competitive round of 2025.
