The PGA Tour makes the 2nd of two trips south of the border for the Mexico Open at Vidanta. The other PGA Tour stop in Mexico was the World Wide Technologies at Mayokoba back in November.
Established in 1944, this will be the 63rd edition of the Mexico Open, however it will only be the second tournament played under the PGA Tour banner.
Prior to being a PGA Tour event, the Mexico Open was on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica schedule from 2013 to 2021 and on the Nationwide and Web.com (Korn Ferry) Tours from 2008 to 2012.
The purse for this year’s event received a slight boost from the 2022 tournament. The field played for $7.3 million last year, and the purse increased by $400,000 to $7.7 million for the 2023 tournament.
Despite the bump the purse for the Mexico Open is still among the bottom in purse size for non-opposite field events. Many of the top players are skipping this week to prepare for the next designated event on the schedule, the Wells Fargo Championship, to be played the week following the stop in Mexico.
Eight players in the top-100 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) made the trip south of the border for the Mexico Open, only two in the top-25 are here this week.
Defending champion and world #1, Jon Rahm, vowed after he won last year to return prior to the revamping of the tour schedule. Jon won the Masters three weeks ago, but played in the RBC Heritage the following week.
Rahm did not play last week at the Zurich Classic, so a week’s absence from the top player in the world before teeing it up in Mexico this week and in Charlotte the following for the Wells Fargo Championship.
Notables in the field (top-100 OWGR)
| Jon Rahm -1 | Tony Finau – 16 |
| Alex Noren – 50 | Andrew Putman – 68 |
| Gary Woodland – 80 | Wyndham Clark – 81 |
| Maverick McNealy – 82 | Emiliano Grillo – 92 |
Players to Watch
Tony Finau
This will be Tony’s second trip south of the boarder for the Mexico Open. In 2022, Tony finished in 2nd place. At one point in last year’s competition Tony was in a three way tie for the lead with Kurt Kitayama, and the eventual champion Jon Rahm.
Tony Finished at 16-under-par just a shot behind Rahm’s winning score of 17-under-par.
In 12 events on the PGA Tour this season Tony has nine top-25 finishes which include three top-10s. His best finish so far this season was a win at the Cadence Bank Houston Open in November.
Tony is currently ranked 11th in the FedEx Cup and 16th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Joseph Bramlett
This will be Joseph’s second entry into the Mexico Open. In last year’s tournament Joseph missed the cut after rounds of 71 on Thursday, and 70 on Friday.
So far this season in 17 events Joseph has four top-25 finishes which include two top-10s. Joseph’s best finish of the season was a tie for 7th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Bramlett is currently ranked 87th in the FedEx Cup, and 189th in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Cam Champ
This will be Cam’s second trip to the Mexico Open. He finished sixth in last year’s event.
So far this season in 13 events, cam has one top-25, also his lone top-10 that came at the ZOZO Championship back in November.
Champ is currently ranked 169th in the FedEx Cup, and 220th in the Official World Golf Rankings
Tee Times
Finau: Thursday – 2:23; Friday – 9:18 AM EDT
Bramlett: Thursday – 1:50 PM EDT; Friday – 8:45 AM EDT
Champ: Thursday – 2:34 PM EDT; Friday – 9:29 AM EDT
How to Watch
Thursday (4/27) & Friday (4/28): 3:30 – 6:30 PM EST (Golf Channel)
Saturday (4/29) & Sunday (4/30): 1 – 3 PM EST (Golf Channel); 3 – 6 PM EST (CBS)