According to the PGA Tour website, Nick Taylor of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Roger Sloan of Calgary, Alberta, are both in contention at the 2021 American Express Championship from Palm Desert and La Quinta, California. Taylor is tied for second place at -10, while Sloan is tied for 10th place at -8.
Sei-young Kim of South Korea currently has the lead at -11. The players Taylor is tied for second place with are Abraham Ancer of Mexico, Si-woo Kim of South Korea, Tony Finau of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Brandon Hagy of Santa Monica, California.
Three players are tied for seventh at -9. They are 2018 British Open champion Francesco Molinari of Italy, Emiliano Grillo of Argentina, and Doug Ghim of Des Plaines, Illinois.
Meanwhile, Sloan is in a group of eight at -8 and three strokes back. He is tied with seven Americans–John Huh of New York, New York, Brian Harman of Savannah, Georgia, Adam Schenk of Vincennes, Indiana, Brendan Steele of Idyllwind-Pine Cove, California, Max Homa of Burbank, California, Charley Hoffman of San Diego, California, and Andrew Putnam of Tacoma, Washington.
In the first round on Thursday, Taylor shot a score of four-under-par 68. He birdied the seventh, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 16th holes, and bogeyed the second and 10th holes. In the second round on Friday, Taylor shot a score of six-under-par 66. He birdied the second, fifth, eighth, 15th, 16th, and 17th holes, and did not have a bogey to his score.
In the first round on Friday, Sloan shot a score of three-under-par 69. He had an eagle on the fourth hole, birdies on the sixth, 10th, 11th, and 15th holes, and a triple bogey on the eighth hole. In the second round on Friday, Sloan shot a score of five-under-par 67. He birdied the first, third, eighth, ninth, 10th, and 16th holes, and bogeyed the seventh hole.
This is the second straight week Taylor has been in contention on the PGA Tour. Last week Taylor had the lead after the second round of the Sony Open in Hawaii, and finished tied for 11th at -17. The winner was Kevin Na of Diamond Bar, California, who shot a four-round score of -21.
The tournament has had a lot of names over the years including the CareerBuilder Challenge, the Bob Hope Desert Classic, and the Humana Challenge. In 2003, Mike Weir of Sarnia, Ontario won the event as he posted a score of -30, the same year he won the Masters.
