2025 The American Express picks, field, predictions, odds: Golf expert high on Sam Burns in La Quinta

The third event of the 2025 PGA Tour season begins on Thursday with The American Express 2025, which is the first of the year in the continental United States. Nick Dunlap is looking to defend his title after winning the event as an amateur last year, but he will have to deal with several notable names in the 2025 American Express field. This week’s tournament takes place in California’s Coachella Valley, featuring a three-course rotation. The top 65 and ties will play the Pete Dye Stadium Course on Sunday. 

World No. 2 Xander Schauffele is the +700 favorite (risk $100 to win $700) in the 2025 American Express odds, followed by Justin Thomas (12-1) and Sungjae Im (14-1). Which golfers should you include in your 2025 The American Express bets? Before making any 2025 The American Express picks or bets, you need to see The American Express 2025 predictions and best bets from golf insider Patrick McDonald.

McDonald joined CBS Sports as a golf writer in 2022 after stops at NBC Sports and RyderCup.com. Covering the sport from a broader perspective, McDonald still likes to dip his toes into the betting pools on a weekly basis between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and more. Featured weekly on the Early Wedge, he gave out numerous winners in 2024, including Jake Knapp (50-1) at the Mexico Open and Xander Schauffele (20-1) at the PGA Championship. Anyone who followed his lead could have been way up.

Now, McDonald has focused his attention on the 2025 American Express field and locked in his best bets and top longshot sleepers. You can only see them here.

Top 2025 The American Express expert picks

We can tell you that McDonald loves the value of Sam Burns at 20-1. Burns is one of six golfers ranked inside the top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking who is in the field this week in La Quinta, California. He put together a strong showing at this tournament last year, finishing tied for sixth at 25-under following a mediocre final round. 

It was not his first impressive weekend at PGA West, as he has been inside the top 18 in three of his other four appearances. Burns was in good form down the stretch last year, and he is coming off a T-8 finish at The Sentry earlier this month. McDonald thinks Burns can keep pace in a low-scoring event this weekend, creating value as a 20-1 longshot. See who else to back here.

How to make The American Express golf picks

McDonald has locked in his best bets for the 2025 American Express and has also selected an epic longshot who’s priced at over 60-1. This golfer “has been good in four trips to Palm Springs.” You can only see the picks at SportsLine.

So which players should you target for the 2025 American Express, and which golfer could bring a huge payday of more than 60-1? Check out the 2025 American Express odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Patrick McDonald’s top picks for The American Express 2025, all from the expert who gave out numerous winners last year, including Xander Schauffele at the PGA Championship.

2025 American Express odds, field

See the full The American Express picks, best bets and predictions here.

Xander Schauffele +700
Justin Thomas +1200
Sungjae Im +1400
Patrick Cantlay +2000
Sam Burns +2000
Tony Finau +2500
Tom Kim +3300
Wyndham Clark +3500
Si Woo Kim +3500
Max Greyserman +4000
J.J. Spaun +4000
Harry Hall +4500
Kurt Kitayama +4500
Cameron Young +4500
Davis Thompson +5000
Nick Dunlap +5500
Brian Harman +5500
Eric Cole +5500
Will Zalatoris +6000
Nicolas Echavarria +6000
Patrick Fishburn +6000
Ben Griffin +7000
Denny Mccarthy +7000
Tom Hoge +7000
J.T. Poston +7000
Sepp Straka +7500
Nick Taylor +7500
Jason Day +8000
Keith Mitchell +8000
Cameron Davis +8000
Adam Hadwin +8000
Daniel Berger +8000
Michael Thorbjornsen +8000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +9000
Kevin Yu +9000
Rickie Fowler +9000
Beau Hossler +9000
Bud Cauley +9000
Jhonattan Vegas +9000
Lucas Glover +10000
Lee Hodges +10000
Andrew Novak +10000
Mac Meissner +11000
Alex Smalley +11000
Doug Ghim +11000
Michael Kim +11000
Billy Horschel +11000
Erik Van Rooyen +12000
Jesper Svensson +12000
Harris English +12000
Patrick Rodgers +12000
Jackson Suber +12000
Samuel Stevens +12000
Andrew Putnam +12000
Mark Hubbard +12000
Chris Kirk +12000
Joe Highsmith +15000
Rico Hoey +15000
Chan Kim +15000
Mackenzie Hughes +15000
Taylor Moore +15000
Matthias Schmid +15000