Now just two weeks away from the second major of the season, the PGA Championship, the Tour heads south of the border for a brand new event: the Mexico Open. Formerly filled with the WGC-Mexico event, players will travel to a course they’ve never seen before, a Greg Norman-designed course called Vidanta Vallarta.
With Jon Rahm leading the way as the biggest name in the field, a handful of tier 2 guys trail just behind in the odds. Let’s take a closer look at the course and this week’s field, and key in one guy I think has some remaining value.
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Previous Winners of the Mexico Open
First-time PGA Tour Event
Course Preview: Vidanta Vallarta
The 7th longest track these guys will see this season, Vidanta Vallarta comes in at 7,456 yards and is located along Mexico’s western coast known for its high and sometimes temperamental winds. Featuring over 100 bunkers, Vallarta has the 2nd most on Tour in addition to some sand-covered rough areas that are not considered official “bunkers.”
The fairways are covered in Paspalum as the surface of choice, as are the greens rank among (#12) the largest on the PGA Tour this season. With 11 holes with water in play, accuracy off the tee and on the approach will be critical for success this week.
Relevant Betting Stats
- SG: Approach
- Putting on Paspalum
- Driving Accuracy
Outright Betting Picks
Chris Kirk (+3500 on DraftKings Sportsbook)
Though he has cooled off in recent weeks in large part due to a putter that has been ice cold, Kirk started the year with a flurry of three straight top 15 finishes, highlighted by a T5 in the stacked field that was the Arnold Palmer Invitational. At a course like Vallarta, which features slower than average Paspalum greens, Kirk will be able to get away with a putter that has let him down over the past few weeks.
As far as his most recent form, a missed cut at the RBC Heritage was followed up with a T21 last week at the Zurich, shooting an opening-round 64 before coming back down to earth over the weekend. Currently ninth on Tour in SG: Tee to Green, Kirk has the long ball and driving accuracy to compete at courses like Vallarta.
With a weaker than average field, look for a confident Kirk to come out firing darts early this week in Mexico.
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