Oh, the irony of a new tournament on the PGA Tour schedule being hosted on a 🉐Greg Norma🌠n signature course.
The Mexico Open has been contested since 1944, but this week it will make its debut on the game’s most elite circuit at Vidanta Vallarta, a course that was constructed not long ago by the m𝓀an now serving as CEO of a rival tour.
I’m not going to maintain that I own much intimate knowledge of this venue, so let’s stick with the f🐼acts: It was built in 2016 and plays to 7,456 yards as a par-71ꦫ, suggesting it might have some teeth.
According to a course description: “Paspalum grass covers the entire layout, which winds along the Ameca River and provides views of the Sierra Madre mountains from almost every hole.” It cont𒁏inues: “The course has large landing areas, but sandy waste areas and numerous water hazards await to catch shots that stray too far. The water also adds a strategic element to many holes, as do the bunkers [55 total] that dot the course.”
Also, and this one is l🎉ess fact than opini𓄧on: It looks downright beautiful.
It seems length will be more advantageous than🅘 accuracy off the tee, and approach shots will be key — especially from 175 or more yards, hinting that we should consider the better long- and mid-iron players in what is a predictably weaker field.
If there’s another hint, it’s that traditionally when the PGA Tour travels to a new venue for what is theoretically an annual event — not a one-timer ♛— the powers-that-be will err on the side of caution when setting up the golf course. There’s at least an underlying subplot that beating up on some of the woꦑrld’s best players isn’t exactly the best way to get more of them to play that event in future years.
All of which is to say that while a near-7,500-yard, par-71 sounds like a brute, it might wind up being more score-able than at first💧 blush.
With that in൲ mind, let’s get to the plays, which are forever an inexact science, but even less exact and less scientific for this one.
Check Out the Best Sports Betting Sites and Apps
- Check out the best sports betting sites
- Download the best sports betting apps
Outright Winner
Aaron Wise (22/1): Much like we’ll hear from some NFL general managers leading up to the draft, I’m going with some combination of the “best pl🎀ayer available” and “massive upside” theories here. That’s not to suggest that Wise has a brighter future than, say, pre-tourney favorite Jon Rahm, but they can’t all be No. 1 overall picks, if you get what I mean.
Eschewing the absolute top of the board, Wise is a player I’ve ꦛbeen very bullish on since he posted five finishes of 26th or better in five starts during the fall portion of this season’s schedule, though it hasn’t quite come to fruition yet this year. Though⭕ he has missed the cut in half of his eight starts so far, Wise does own a T17 and T21 among his last four appearances and a field without most of golf’s elite feels like a perfect place for him to claim a long-awaited second career title.
Top-5 finish
Sebastian Muñoz (6/1): Full disclosure — it essentially came down to a coin flip for my fave outright play between𒅌 Wise and Muñoz, and the reality is that I’ll have an investment in each player on a few different platforms.
Muñoz gets the early-year Charles Howell III-Maverick McNealy good-🤪but-not-great award, with all of his results between🧸 21st and 39th over his past half-dozen starts. While most players insist they strive for this kind of consistency, one massive performance and five stinkers are actually rewarded better.
That said, the type of golf that has yielded those results shoౠuld lea♒ve him higher on the board this week
