#118 Preview Mexican  Open 

#118 Preview Mexican  Open 

Feb 22 to 25 2024

Vidanta Vallarta MX Par 71 

Purse $8.1M last year $7.7M up .4K+5% 

HISTORY 

This is the third year Vidanta has hosted the tournament.  Its time slot last year was April 27 to 30, 2023.  This year it takes the date of the Honda classic which has been renamed  The Cognizant classic and will be held next week.  Tony Finau won last year (-17).

Jon Rahm(-24) won in 2022, the first held at this location.  A field of 132 players is weakened because the Arnold Palmer, followed by The Players will be played in 2 the weeks following these 2 tournaments.  An unfortunate example of the effect the signature events and majors have on these tournaments with smaller purses.  The course has wide fairways and favors long hitters like Finau and Hogaard.  There are 3 par 5’s and #7 is a drivable par 4. (275’) with a small green with a stream in the middle of the fairway which makes a layup not practical. 

FAVORITES

Tony Finau 13/2 He won last year(-17) and is the best payer in the field.  He should win.

Nicolia Hogaard 16/1 The best young player in the field, has a shot, finished 39th last week.

Emiliano Grillo 18/1 Finished 5th last year and 33rd in 2022.  Finished 44th last week.

Thomas Detry 25/1 Led at Pebble Beach and was #4 in Rd 3 when it was called after 54 Rds.

Stephan Jaeger 25/1 Contended at the Sony, but has not done much in 2023. 

LONGSHOTS

Keith Mitchel 35/1 Took last week off, finished 17th at W/M and 9th at American Express.

Eric van Rooyen 40/1 Won World Wide Technology in November 2023 in Mexico.

MacKenzie Hughes 60/1 Played well in first 2 RDs last week, then folded.

Cameron Champ 65/1 He is one of the longest drivers (+308) putting his weakness.

Dylan Wu 150/1 Has played well in Fall and could be a good longshot bet.

FIRST HOLE

#1 is a drivable par 4 with a risk of water if players don’t layup and go for the green.