Blog #216 Results Mexican Open Feb 24, 2025

Blog #216 Results Mexican Open Feb 24, 2025

As you can see by the leaderboard this is without a doubt the weakest field of any tournament this year. There was a unification meeting at the White House on Thursday in an attempt to speed up an agreement between PIF & The PGA. A tournament like this exemplifies the need for a major change in golfers who participate in sanctioned PGA events. Only 4 top 50 players here.

ROUND 1

1 H. Hall-7 64 0 bogies 1 eagle 5 birdies #1 at Sony RD1, finished 12th. Finish 34-9

4 A Potgieter-6 65 (198 OWGR) 1bogie on his 18th hole with 7 birdies. Finish 2-20

4 B Campbell-6 65 (222 OWGR) 1 eagle, 2 bogies, 5 birdies. Finish Wins

9 S Jaeger-5 66 Three bogies 8 birdies. One of these 3 should win. Finish 6-17

9 A Bhatia-5 66 Two bogies 7 birdies. “ Finish 9-15

18 A Rai-5 66 One bogie 5 birdies. Finish 4-18

18 B Griffin-4 One bogie 5 birdies. Finish 45-18

ROUND 2 Sparse crowd, some holes more Marshall’s in red shirts than fans.

1 Aldrich Potgieter-16 61 Course record, 5 straight birdies 0 bogies.

2 Stephan Jaeger-12 64 One bogie 8 birdies.

2 Brian Campbell-11 65 One eagle 6 birdies 2 bogies, 2nd RD of 65.

4 Aaron Rai-11 Bogie free 1 eagle 5 birdies.

5 Akshay Bhatia-10 66 Birdies last 3 holes, bogie free RD with 5 birdies.

CUT-3 Missed C Hoffman, B Hossler, Kitayama.

ROUND 3 The way top 3 have been playing through one of them should win.

1 A Potgieter-20 67-20 67 Bogies 17 and pars 18 with 2 very bad shots.

2 B Campbell-19 64 Low RD & bogie free Par on 17 birdie on 18 cuts lead to1.

3 S Jaeger-17 66 Still a threat with 1 bogie 6 birdies 1 on 18.

5 B Griffin-14 67 One bogie 5 birdies but I think he is to far back to win.

5 A Rai-14 68 Bogie free RD but same as above, 1sr RD killed them both.

FINAL ROUND Not a good final RD record for Potgieter. At the Farmers 4 weeks ago he was 3rd after RD 3 and shot a 78 to finish 15th. Campbell has over 160 professional starts and 0 wins is #163 FedX Cup. Jaeger came in 4th last year and won the Houston Open In March of 2024. He has the most experience to win.

1 Brian Campbell1 20 70 First PGA win, playoff on 2nd hole with 5’ putt. $1.3M

2 Aldrich Potgieter-20 71 Missed a makable putt to lose playoff. $763K

4 Aaron Rai-18 Birdies 1st 3 holes then eagle on 6 but bogies 16&17. $315K

6 Stephan Jaeger-16 Bogies 1st hole and never in contention. $245K

COMMENTARY

I have been critical of this tournament, but it did present opportunities for these 4.

Karl Vilips Will represent the clothing line Sun Day Red launched by Tiger Woods.

He moved from Australia to the US at age 11 and like Woods attended Stanford.

This was his first PGA start, he wears Red on the final round. Finished 72 $14K.

Blades Brown Turned pro at 17 made his 1st cut after missing at American Express.

His game and poise remind me of a young Jordan Spieth. Finished 34 $35K.

Aldrich Potgieter is a 20 year old rookie from South Africa, the tour driving leader.

Rd1 on #12 (661 yards par 5) his tee shot went 331’ and 2nd shot on the green.

Became the youngest winner on Korn Ferry in Jan 2024.

Could have won but starting with hole #17 on RD 3 made several bad shots.

Jake Knapp Won his first last year $1.4M, this year just made cut finished 45th $60K.