With its second stop of the 2024 season in Honolulu at the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club this week, the PGA Tour will set sights on the traditional California swing next. That starts with The American Express over three courses in La Quinta Jan. 18-21.
With a California swing coming in January for the PGA, it got us wondering who performs well in the events held in the Golden State. BetCalifornia.com, your source to keep track of California sports betting efforts, checked PGATour.com to find the scores of the top 100 PGA Tour golfers in the Official World Golf Rankings at the six events in California in the 2023 calendar year. We list the Top 10 golfers by average score of each golfer in the events they played, measured by average strokes under par.
Golfers were only included if they played in three California tournaments or more. All players currently on the LIV Tour were eliminated. The tournaments included were Fortinet Championship, The American Express, Farmers Insurance Open, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Genesis Invitational and the U.S. Open. Here are the success stories:
Best PGA Golfers in California (in 2023)
Scottie Scheffler Did Best In California
There are no legal California sports betting apps, but golf fans in the state can look forward to a full slate of PGA Tour action this year. After next week’s American Express comes the Farmers Insurance Open (Jan. 24-27 in San Diego), Pebble Beach Pro-Am (Feb. 1-4 in Pebble Beach), The Genesis Invitational (Feb. 15-18 in Pacific Palisades) and
The top-ranked player in the world, Scottie Scheffler, started his 2024 season finishing in a five-way tie for fifth at The Sentry on the Plantation Course at Kapalua, Maui on Sunday.
Scheffler had the top spot in our 2023 California listing with three PGA Tournaments played, posting an average score of 12.33 under par. That number was one stroke ahead of Long Beach native Patrick Cantlay (finished in a two-way tie for 12th Sunday), who posted an average score of 11.33 under also in three tournaments played.
Keith Mitchell played in four tournaments in the Golden State, with an average score of 11 under, to place third on the list. Orange native Sahith Theegala, who recorded a runner-up finish to champion Chris Kirk (ninth on list, 8.67 under, three tournaments played) Sunday at The Sentry, tied for the most tournaments played on the list with five and finished fourth with an average score of 10.80-under.
La Jolla native Xander Schauffele rounded out the top five with an average score of 10.33 under in three tournaments played. The remaining players include: No. 6 and Burbank native Max Homa (10.00-under, four tournaments played); Tom Kim and Erik Van Rooyen (9.33 under, three) each tied for seventh and Brendon Todd (8.60 under, five) rounded out the top 10.
Who won last year’s American Express? Current Masters champion and now LIV Golf member Jon Rahm (-27) won by one stroke over Davis Thompson (-26), while Kirk (-25) and Schauffele (-25) finished two shots back in a tie for third place.
What else is happening the weekend of Jan. 20 and 21? The second round of the NFL playoffs, which is where the San Francisco 49ers will join in after having a first-round bye. Check out San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl odds at BetCalifornia.com as the postseason rolls on.
