Winners, Losers & Payouts from the 2026 American Express 

When Scottie Scheffler showed up in the desert for the 2026 American Express Championship, the rest of the field—which was the best field in the history of the event—realized beating Scottie may be too big of a challenge to take on. If he played his best, they were playing for second place. You could see the fear in their eyes. Scottie was there, healthy, and ready to roar.

By Sunday afternoon at PGA WEST Stadium Course, Scheffler had done what he so often does — calmly separated himself from a very strong field who were playing very good golf. His closing 6-under 66 gave him a four-shot victory at 27-under par. In short, Scottie did what Scottie does – lift a big trophy with the cameras zoomed in and bank loads of cash.  

The thing about Scheffler is that he rarely looks like he’s trying to dominate. He doesn’t strut. He doesn’t hunt camera angles. He just keeps hitting fairways, flagging irons, and cashing checks. This win earned him roughly $1.66 million, pushing his PGA Tour career earnings past $100 million — a club so exclusive it currently includes Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and now… Scottie, who somehow still looks like he could help you move a couch on Monday.

Chasing him at 23-under par were Jason Day, Ryan Gerard, Matt McCarty, and Andrew Putnam — a group that perfectly illustrates how deep the Tour is right now, and how little that matters when someone is operating on Scheffler’s frequency.

Jason Day probably enjoyed Sunday the most. The former world No. 1 and major champion rolled in an 8-under 64, reminding everyone that muscle memory is a beautiful thing. Day’s runner-up finish earned him just over $600,000, adding to a career haul north of $60 million. IMHO, he’s a few wins away from establishing a Hall of Fame-worthy résumé by any reasonable standard.

Unfortunately for Day — and everyone else — Scottie Scheffler has made “reasonable standards” obsolete. Day played spectacular golf on Sunday. Scheffler simply played Scottie golf all week. One is a reminder of how great the past was; the other is a reminder that the present is being monopolized.

Ryan Gerard represented the future — and probably checked his bank app several times on the flight home. His share of a second-place finish is a massive step forward for a player still early in his PGA Tour career. What’s crazy is that he has already ascended to 24th position in the OWGR. Gerard’s game is polished and ready for bigger stages.

Still, the difference between Gerard and Scheffler is the same difference between a rising stock and a blue-chip company that prints dividends. Gerard is building momentum. Scheffler is already underwriting the entire market.

Matt McCarty’s week was quietly impressive, which somehow feels like the highest compliment in modern professional golf. Nothing flashy, nothing forced — just solid, repeatable scoring. His tie for second confirmed that his PGA TOUR success isn’t a fluke and that his Korn Ferry dominance two years ago, and his victory on the PGA TOUR last season, is lining up nicely with the lefty big-time power.

But while McCarty is proving he belongs, Scheffler is proving he owns the place. McCarty earned a career-boosting paycheck. Scheffler earned enough to buy a very nice house and still have money left over for alignment sticks.

Andrew Putnam rounded out the group of runner-ups as the seasoned professional who knows how to survive on Tour. He’s carved out a career approaching $20 million in earnings through precision, patience, and a short game that refuses to panic. His week in La Quinta was excellent and entirely deserving of a runner-up finish. Putnam is a bona fide tour journeyman. One that has carved out a great career for he and has family.

Back to the Big Tex: It’s not that others can’t shoot low — clearly, they can. It’s that Scheffler does it without drama, without volatility, and without giving anyone the courtesy of hope for very long. While others chase hot rounds, Scheffler stacks good decisions like compound interest.

By the time the American Express wrapped up, five players had played well enough to win most PGA TOUR events. But one player made it look routine because, for him, it was. Right now, Scottie Scheffler isn’t just the best golfer in the field. He’s the measuring stick, and his stick isn’t just sizing up his current competitors; it’s being laid down right next to the best that have ever played the game.

Winners & Losers from Sunday at PGA WEST:

Winner: Jason Day. The handsome Malbon man leapt up the leaderboard with a closing round, 8-under, 64 on the Stadium Course. He can mostly coast the rest of the year assured of playing in the biggest tourneys in golf.

Loser: Blades Brown. It doesn’t seem fair to call the 18-year-old Brown a loser after finishing up T-18 on Sunday. But he did post a 2-over 74 on Sunday on a benign golf course, playing in the final group with world #1. It was surely a good learning experience, one that will pay off down the road, the next time he is in contention.

Loser: Matty Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick’s final round 74 dropped him 43 spots on the leaderboard, by far the biggest drop of the day. Maybe he needs to spend less time playing SIM golf and more time playing outdoors.

Winner: Harry Hall. The Englishman jumped 37 spots on the board, the biggest jump on Sunday, finishing up T-24. Always looking dapper with a Hogan-style hat, he slayed PGA West, posting a 7-under 65 – the 2nd best round of the day, only behind Jason Day’s 64.

Winner: Sahith Theegala. After a miserable ’25 run on tour, he has now started off ’26 with two strong finishes, including a Top 10 finish this past weekend. His game is trending upward, which it needed to if he wanted to maintain his star standing in the game.

American Express 2026 prize money payouts

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