Steve Palmer's American Express first-round preview, best bets, free golf tips

When to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 4.30pm Thursday

Best bets

Sungjae Im & Abraham Ancer dual forecast
1pt 350-1 Coral
Bet on this tip with Coral

Charles Howell first-round leader at Stadium Course
1pt 16-1 Power, Sky Bet
Bet on this tip with Paddy Power

Charles Howell to beat Francesco Molinari
1pt 17-20 Betfred

Preview

The Presidents Cup appears to be having a significant impact on the early events of the PGA Tour year and the two best performers for the Internationals side could make merry alongside one another in The American Express this week.

The top six on the Sentry Tournament of Champions leaderboard competed in the Presidents Cup, including Sentry victor Justin Thomas, who top scored for the Americans at Royal Melbourne. And the Sony Open last week was won by Cameron Smith, who gained great confidence from beating Thomas in the Cup singles.

The high-octane clash between the United States and the Internationals just before Christmas has seen the competitors enter 2020 with their games in mint condition – and this week could be the turn of Sungjae Im and Abraham Ancer to show off their talents. They can be backed at 275-1 to fill the first two places on the AmEx leaderboard on Sunday.

Im and Ancer were joint top scorers in the Cup, joining forces to beat Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele in the Saturday morning fourballs, and fresh self-belief is coursing through the veins of the Korean and the Mexican.

The duo will have been pleased to have been drawn together for the first three rounds of the three-course AmEx, starting at La Quinta Country Club, before moving to the Nicklaus Tournament Course on Friday, then having a weekend at the Stadium Course.

Golf history is littered with examples of playing partners excelling in tandem and there must be every chance of Im and Ancer inspiring one another for the first 54 holes of this tournament.

The Stadium Course is the most difficult of the trio, but Charles Howell appears to be playing well enough to handle the test, and the experienced campaigner is worth backing at 16-1 to score best of the runners competing there in round one.

Howell, typically a vibrant early-season performer, tied for 12th in the Sony Open last week and can be expected to bank another healthy cheque from the AmEx. He was a playoff loser in the 2013 edition and over the last four years with the course rotation currently being used his results (11-12-20-34) have been a solid.

Howell also looks worth supporting to beat Francesco Molinari in an AmEx match. Molinari, who has been badly out of sorts since losing a Masters duel with Tiger Woods, is making his first start of the year.

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