J.T. Poston leads the American Express golf tournament by one stroke
J.T. Poston has a one-stroke lead over fellow American Justin Lower after the first round of the $8.8 million The American Express PGA tournament, shooting a 10-under 62 at Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West.
What a beautiful day it is at La Quinta Country Club to start the first start day @theamexgolf. @KESQ @BlakeArthur24 @newsmanzach pic.twitter.com/yKBPzuIDvF
— Kenji Ito (@KenjiitoKESQ) January 16, 2025
Americans Joel Dahmen, Chris Kirk, J.J. Spaun, Australian Jason Day and Matti Schmid of Germany are tied for third, two strokes off the lead.
Poston began his round with a par on the 10th hole Thursday, then birdied four of his next six holes. He had his only bogey on the par-4 first hole, then birdied each of the next three holes. After a par on the par-4 fifth hole, he birdied the par-4 sixth hole, had an eagle on the par-5 seventh and a birdie on the par-3 eighth, completing a string of seven holes he played at 7-under-par.
Time to shine ✨ pic.twitter.com/IoSMeCnafk
— The American Express ® (@theamexgolf) January 16, 2025
Poston parred his final hole for his fifth round of 62 on the PGA Tour, one stroke shy of his career-low round of 61 set in the fourth round of the 2024 Sony Open in Hawaii. It was his low round in his nine appearances in The American Express after twice shooting 64s.
"It was just one of those days where everything was sort of clicking,'' the 31-year-old Poston said. ``I really hit my irons great, drove it good, gave myself plenty of chances, and, yeah, believe it or not missed a few putts inside of 10 feet the first nine holes.
"Just one of those days tee to green it was really good and iron play was really sharp.''
Poston is seeking his fourth win on the PGA Tour and first since the Shriners Children's Open in October. The American Express is his third start of the year. He tied for 40th in the season-opening The Sentry, then missed the cut in Sony Open in Hawaii which concluded Sunday.
Poston, and the other golfers who played on the Nicklaus Tournament Course Thursday will play on Pete Dye Stadium Course at PGA West Friday which has undergone what he called ``a few subtle changes.''
``For the most part it's just kind of resurfacing the greens and maybe making them a little bit bigger,'' Poston said. ``With the new surface they're definitely firmer, so it's always been the toughest of the three this week, but I think it will especially play tough just with that firmness.
``I think you may not see quite as many birdies, but again there's a lot of wedge, a lot of scoring clubs, so somebody will still play well out there and shoot a low number.''
Carson Young, Jackson Suber and Sony Open winner Nick Taylor had Thursday's best scores on the Stadium Course, 7-under 65s, putting them in a 10-way tie for eighth, three strokes off the lead.
The scoring average at the Stadium Course was 72.23, compared to 68.154 for the Nicklaus Tournament course and 68.286 for the La Quinta Country Club.
Defending champion Nick Dunlap is among 18 golfers tied for 28th, five strokes off the lead, after shooting a 5-under 67 at the La Quinta Country Club. Dunlap shot a 12-under 60 at the La Quinta Country Club last year, tying the PGA Tour record for the lowest round by an amateur.
Dunlap parred each of his first six five holes Thursday, eagled the par-5 sixth hole, bogeyed the par-4 eighth and birdied the par-4 ninth. Dunlap birdied the 11th and 13th holes, both par-5s, bogeyed the par-4 14th, had consecutive birdies on the 15th through 17th holes, but closed his round with a bogey on the par-4 18th
Nick Dunlap getting some shots off before his 8:41 am tee off. Dunlap looks to defend his title. @KESQ @BlakeArthur24 @newsmanzach pic.twitter.com/2DWsUmK6pf
— Kenji Ito (@KenjiitoKESQ) January 16, 2025
``It was kind of a weird day,'' said Dunlap, who 2024 victory at The American Express made him the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since Phil Mickelson won the 1991 Northern Telecom Open. ``I felt a little strange. I don't know, I didn't feel awesome waking up this morning. Sometimes you wake up feeling great, sometimes you don't, it just kind of it is what it is.
``I hit some good drives, hit some really good wedges, made some 15-, 20-footers when I needed to, and just hit some bad shots at the wrong time.''
No champion has successfully defended his title at what is now The American Express since Johnny Miller in 1976.''
Pre-tournament favorite Justin Thomas also shot a 5-under-67 at the La Quinta Country Club.
The golfers who played the La Quinta Country Club Thursday will play at the Nicklaus Tournament Course Friday.
Lower's 9-under-63 at the La Quinta Country Club equals his low round in his 98 starts on the PGA Tour. He had back-to-back eagles on the fifth and sixth holes, the first player to accomplished that feat in 2025's three tournaments. It was accomplished by five players in 2024.
``Hit two really good tee shots, had basically the same yardage on each hole,'' Lower said. ``No. 5 I hit it to about 3 feet, which was perfect 5-iron. Then hit a perfect 5-iron on the next hole as well and hit it to about 20 feet, luckily made the putt.''
The 35-year-old Lower has never won on the PGA Tour. He finished second once and third once.
The highest ranked player in the field of 156, 2023 U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, who is ranked seventh, shot a 1-under 71 at the La Quinta Country Club and is tied for 99th.
The four-time Grammy-winning country vocal group Little Big Town will perform a concert on the PGA West Stadium Course driving range following conclusion of play Friday. The rock band Journey, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, will perform a concert at the same site following conclusion of play Saturday.
All Friday and Saturday tournament tickets include admission to the concerts. There are no concert-only tickets.
The concert area on the Pete Dye Stadium Course driving range will open to spectators at 4 p.m., with the concerts expected to start at approximately 5 p.m. Chairs and blankets will only be allowed in designated areas.
We'll have complete coverage of the tournament, watch News Channel 3 for highlights and more.
