Desert Classic

Professional golf tournament in California, United States

the European Tour event played in Dubai

The Desert Classic (currently known as The American Express for sponsorship reasons; previously known as the CareerBuilder Challenge, Palm Springs Golf Classic, the Bob Hope Desert Classic, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and the Humana Challenge) is a professional golf tournament in southern California on the PGA Tour. Played in mid winter in the Coachella Valley (greater Palm Springs), it is part of the tour's early season "West Coast Swing." It previously had five rounds of competition (90 holes) rather than the standard of four rounds, and was known for its celebrity pro am. For many years, the event was named for and hosted by entertainer Bob Hope and featured a number of celebrity participants. In 2012, the Desert Classic changed to a traditional 72 hole format over three different courses with a 54 hole cut, similar to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am, and ended their celebrity pro am. The tournament is organized by the nonprofit Impact Through Golf, which took over from Desert Classic Charities in 2020.

Only three amateurs have made starts in this event: Charlie Reiter (2018, 2019, 2020), Caleb Surratt (2023), and Nick Dunlap (2024). Dunlap is the only amateur to have made the cut at the event; he won the tournament by one stroke after a 2 under final round.

1960: Arnold Palmer wins the inaugural version of the tournament by three shots over Fred Hawkins. Joe Campbell earned $50,000 in unofficial money for scoring a hole in one on the fifth hole of the Tamarisk Country Club. 1963: Jack Nicklaus defeats Gary Player 65 to 73 in an 18 hole playoff for the tournament title. 1964: 53 year old Jimmy Demaret who rarely played competitive golf any more finishes regulation play tied for first with Tommy Jacobs but loses on the second hole of sudden death. 1967: Club professional Tom Nieporte birdies the 90th hole to beat Doug Sanders by one shot. 1972: Bob Rosburg wins for the first time since the 1961 Bing Crosby National Pro Am. He beats Lanny Wadkins by one shot. 1973: Arnold Palmer wins the tournament for a fifth time by two shots over Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller. It is Palmer's final PGA Tour triumph. 1976: Johnny Miller shoots a final round 63 to successfully defend his Bob Hope title. He wins by 3 shots over Rik Massengale. 1980: Craig Stadler wins for the first time on the PGA Tour. He beats Tom Purtzer and Mike Sullivan by 2 shots. 1982: Ed Fiori, expecting to become a first time father any day, rolls in a 35 foot birdie putt on the second hole of a sudden death playoff to defeat Tom Kite. 1985: Lanny Wadkins plays the last five holes of regulation in five under par to tie Craig Stadler, then goes on to beat him on the fifth hole of a sudden death playoff. 1989: Steve Jones becomes the first golfer since Gil Morgan in 1983 to sweep the first two events of the PGA Tour Schedule. He defeats Paul Azinger and Sandy Lyle on the first hole of a sudden death playoff. 1990: Peter Jacobsen birdies the 90th hole to win the Hope by one shot over Brian Tennyson and Scott Simpson after NBC golf announcer Johnny Miller talked about how easy it would have been for Jacobsen to choke his second shot to the par 5 finishing hole. 1991: Corey Pavin holes a 35 foot wedge shot on the first hole of sudden death to defeat Mark O'Meara. 1992: John Cook holes a chip shot from 100 feet to defeat Gene Sauers in sudden death. The playoff, originally composed of five players, also involved Tom Kite, Mark O'Meara, and Rick Fehr. 1993: Tom Kite, who had twice previously lost the tournament in playoffs, shoots 325, a PGA Tour record for 90 holes at the time. He beats Rick Fehr by 6 shots. 1999: David Duval shoots a final round 59 to beat Steve Pate by one shot. 2001 Joe Durant shoots a record score for a 90 hole PGA tournament with a 36 under par score of 324 (65 61 67 66 65). 2003: Mike Weir birdies the final three holes to win by two shots over Jay Haas. 2009: Pat Perez shoots 124 to set a new PGA Tour record for the first 36 holes of a tournament. He goes on to win the Hope by three shots over John Merrick. 2011: In just his fifth PGA Tour start and second as a Tour member, Jhonattan Vegas became the first Venezuelan to win on the PGA Tour. It was also the last year the tournament was a five round event. 2014: Patrick Reed shot 63s in his first three rounds, a PGA Tour record 27 under par for 54 holes. 2017: Adam Hadwin shot a 59 in the third round. He is the first Canadian on the PGA Tour to accomplish this and only the third player to shoot 59 on a par 72 course. 2024: Nick Dunlap becomes the first amateur to win the event and the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour since 1991.

From the mid 1960s through 1998, NBC broadcast the fourth and fifth rounds of the tournament. ABC took over the coverage in 1999 through 2006, with CBS covering the tournament in 2003 due to ABC's involvement with Super Bowl XXXVII. On the cable side, the first three rounds were covered by ESPN through 2002. From 2003–06, USA Network covered the early action. Beginning in 2007, the tournament lost its network coverage and the Golf Channel showed all five rounds on cable television. Even with the move to four rounds and the reduction in celebrity involvement, the tournament is still exclusive to cable, as it is usually the last full field stop restricted to cable only coverage, as network television coverage of the PGA Tour currently does not begin until the week after the NFL's Conference Championship Games, which is two weeks before the Super Bowl.

Prior to 2007, USA and ESPN/ABC consistently covered all four courses used for the event, with the primary camera crew covering PGA West, but live coverage still emanating from the other courses. However, when Golf Channel took over coverage, the network only assigned live coverage to PGA West (both the Palmer and Nicklaus courses). All other courses used did not receive live coverage at all, with an hourly highlights package sent in and played, but none of it live. This has been the approach consistently taken by Golf Channel in regards to tournaments with multiple courses, including the Pebble Beach National Pro Am and the Walt Disney World Golf Classic.