Alright folks, time to sit down and hash out how I actually stumbled my way through trying to predict the field for that American Express golf thing coming up in ’24. Like always, it wasn’t pretty.
Starting in the Dark (As Usual)
Honestly? I opened my laptop Monday morning staring at a blank screen. The calendar said “predictions needed,” and my brain felt like mush. Grabbed a cold coffee leftover from Sunday – bad start. Needed players, names, who might actually show up to this Californian swing fest.
First thought? Dig around online, obviously. Fired up the big search engine, typed in “American Express golf 2024 players.” Clicked about ten different links.
- Got useless stuff first: Found schedules from last year, outdated news, and some website trying to sell me vacation packages to Palm Springs. Ugh.
- Player announcements: Found bits here and there but scattered. One site said maybe Rahm plays, another hinted Scheffler’s schedule is packed. No solid list anywhere.
- Social media rabbit hole: Checked Twitter, X, whatever it’s called now. Saw fan rumors, player selfies, zero official confirmations. Wasted like 45 minutes there, felt stupid.
Trying to Make Sense of the Mess
By lunch, I had a notebook scribbled with maybe 20 names and a bunch of question marks. Felt totally disorganized. Needed structure.
Opened a trusty spreadsheet – my old friend Excel, the only constant in this chaos. Made some columns:
- Player Name
- Tour Status
- Past AmEx Played?
- Strong Winter/Desert Player?
- 2023 Form Check
- Confirmed? (Maybe/Probably/No)
Started filling in what I did know or think I knew.
The “Probably” List: Threw in names like Cantlay and Xander ’cause they love Cali usually. Added Homa – home state guy, right? Rahm won it, figured he should defend unless scheduling gets weird. Just marked ‘Probably’.
The “Maybe” Zone: This got messy. Young guys chasing points? Older names past winners? Struggled hard. Saw chatter about Fowler maybe bouncing back – added him. Talk about Morikawa possibly starting there – tossed him in. Lots of maybes.
Finding Hints: Dug through Tour blogs, a couple of fan forums (yeah, dangerous territory). Picked up murmurs about certain caddies booked rooms early. Heard a guy like Theegala might favor it. Took those crumbs and added names hesitantly.
The Crunch (And Panic)
Deadline was ticking. Couldn’t just post a list of 50 maybes. Time to cut it down, make some real calls.
Looked back at my spreadsheet’s “Past Played?” column. Cross-referenced players who played last few years. Saw who tends to tee it up early season. Looked at 2023 performances – were they playing like crap lately? Maybe skip them.
This is where I just had to guess. Gut feeling time, mixed with scraps of info.
- Put Scheffler on the list expecting him to want points, then heard later he might rest… too late, I’d already written him in.
- Forgot about Zalatoris coming back from injury – nearly left him out, slapped myself mentally.
- Remembered the pro-am format attracts certain personalities – added a few fun guys like Kim that way.
Pressed send on my final 40-name prediction list. Felt… queasy. Knew it was full of holes.
Aftermath & Owing Beers
Like clockwork, official announcements started trickling out later that week. Saw the first big confirmations.
- Nailed some: Cantlay? Yup. Xander? Confirmed. Homa? Locked it in. Patted myself on the back weakly.
- Missed badly: Rahm? Opted out completely! Gut punch. Scheffler? Resting after Hawaii. Totally wrong on both. Oops.
- Sneaky adds: Got lucky with some younger guys the Tour promoted later that day. Pure luck.
The end result? Probably got 65-70% right if I’m generous. The misses sting, especially the big names skipping. Looks like I owe some folks beers when we see the actual tee times. Prediction work – it’s messy, you guess a lot, and you accept you’ll be wrong as often as you’re right. Always an adventure!
