Cameron Champ – Syndication Server

10 of the best players at the Mexico Open at Vidanta over the last two seasons

These players love this event.

The Mexico Open at Vidanta has been played at Vidanta Vallarta for the last two seasons and a few players have seen more success than others.

Take defending champion Tony Finau for example. Before he beat Jon Rahm by three shots last year, he finished in a tie for second in 2022.

This year’s field is on the weaker side, but that’s easy to understand if you take a look at the PGA Tour schedule. After this week, the Tour heads to the Sunshine State for the Florida Swing, a stretch that includes the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players, both of which are signature events.

To get you ready for this week, here are 10 of the best players at the Mexico Open over the last two years.

Mexico Open: Picks to win, odds

Top 125 bubble watch: Which PGA Tour players are on the verge of losing their cards?

Some golfers are in danger of losing their status.

Some players have work to do to ensure themselves of a PGA Tour card come 2024.

With only three events left in the FedEx Cup Fall, numerous golfers will have to battle it out to remain inside the top 125 in the FedEx Cup Standings to ensure they keep their card for the 2024 season. The World Wide Technology Championship, Butterfield Bermuda Championship and RSM Classic could be the difference in someone playing on the PGA Tour next year or losing their card.

Plenty of FedEx Cup points remain up for grabs, and a win could even vault someone into the 51-60 spot, which earns spots in the first two signature events of 2024 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational.

Additionally, in a new change, players who finish 126-200 in the FedEx Cup Standings can accept full membership on the DP World Tour.

Here’s a look at which PGA Tour pros have work to do to retain their card for the 2024 season.

(Note: some golfers may be below the top 125 in the standings but are exempt because of career achievements.)

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly included Cameron Champ.

2023 Zozo Championship odds, course history and picks to win

Lee won the Asian Tour’s Macau Open last week.

After a week in Sin City, the PGA Tour is across the world in Chiba, Japan, for the 2023 Zozo Championship at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club.

A loaded field including Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Hideki Matsuyama and defending champion Keegan Bradley is set to tee off Thursday — or Wednesday for those on the East Coast, as the first tee time is 7:45 p.m. ET.

Schauffele, who has finished inside the top 10 twice in Japan in three appearances, including last year when he tied for ninth, is the betting favorite at +700 (7/1), followed by Morikawa at +1100 (11/1). Home-country hero Matsuyama sits tied for the fourth-best odds at +1600 (16/1).

Golf course

Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club | Par 70 | 7,079 yards

A view of the 16th green during the final round of the 2022 Zozo Championship at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan. (Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images)

Betting preview

Cameron Champ’s mindset, Lexi Thompson impresses and more second-round takeaways from Shriners Children’s Open

Here’s what you need to know from the second round in Las Vegas.

Heading to the weekend in Las Vegas, there’s a lot on the line with a full house at the top of the leaderboard.

The story of the first two rounds was Lexi Thompson, the 28-year-old who became the seventh woman to compete on the PGA Tour. Although she missed the cut, she captured the attention of the golf world, especially during her second round when she shot 2-under 69 and was well in contention to make the cut through most of her final nine holes.

However, near the top of the leaderboard is a host of players, including a pair of former PGA Tour winners looking to break long cold streaks and others looking for their first Tour victory.

Here’s what we learned from the second round of the Shriners Children’s Open.

Past champion Cameron Champ withdraws from 3M Open after birth of first child

Congrats to the Champs!

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BLAINE, Minn. — There aren’t many situations where past champions of a PGA Tour event will miss heading back to a place where they’ve made special memories.

Cameron Champ has a pretty good reason for withdrawing from the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities, which he did Thursday morning before his scheduled afternoon tee time. Champ and his wife, Jessica Birdsong, welcomed their first child Sunday evening, a baby boy.

The three-time PGA Tour winner was going to try to make it to Minneapolis on Wednesday night or Thursday morning but decided to remain home.

Chris Stroud replaced Champ in the field.

Champ won the 3M Open in 2021 and needed a good week, as he sits 136th in the FedEx Cup standings with the playoffs beginning in two weeks.

Instead, he has a new trophy at home to take care of.

PGA Tour players on the FedEx Cup Playoffs bubble heading into 3M Open

It’s make or break time.

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BLAINE, Minn. — There are only two regular season events left in the 2022-23 PGA Tour season, meaning the FedEx Cup Playoffs are right around the corner.

However, this year, they’re going to be unlike ever before. Only 70 players will qualify for the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, unlike the 125 who have in year’s past. From there, the top 50 make it to the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields in Illinois, and then the top 30 advance to East Lake in Atlanta for the Tour Championship.

The change in amount of players who qualify for the playoffs means some big names joined the field of this week’s 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota, at TPC Twin Cities.

At the top end, Jon Rahm is No. 1 in the FEC standings, with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler right behind. Rory McIlroy won his third FedEx Cup last year.

Here’s a closer look at some interesting names in the FedEx Cup points standings, including some who have work to do to stay in the top 70 and others who need to make a push to make it to Memphis.

2023 Mexico Open: Tony Finau’s fire start, Jon Rahm is lurking and more from Friday’s second round

Catch up on Friday’s action here.

After finishing runner-up to Jon Rahm in 2022, Tony Finau has used rounds of 65-64 to take the 36-hole lead at the Mexico Open at Vidanta.

Finau made eight birdies around Vidanta Vallarta on Friday, including two stretches of three in a row — Nos. 16, 17 and 18 (his seventh, eighth and ninth of the day) and Nos. 5, 6, and 7.

“After 36 holes I’m playing nicely, find myself at the top,” he said when asked about his confidence level after two rounds. “With my experience, we’re only halfway, there’s so much golf to be played. You always want to say that you have what it takes to win a golf tournament. I think luckily for me, I’ve done that a few times over the last year, but every week has its own challenges, every day has its own challenges, so this is not a time to get ahead of myself.”

Finau (13 under) leads Erik van Rooyen and Brandon Wu by one stroke.

If you missed any of Friday’s action south of the border, no worries, we have you covered. Here are some highlights from the second round of the Mexico Open.

Mexico Open: Photos

Here are 5 bets to consider for the 2023 Mexico Open, including a Jon Rahm/Gary Woodland top-10 parlay

Which pick are you rolling with in Mexico?

The PGA Tour is south of the border this week for the Mexico Open at Vidanta in Vallarta.

Defending champion and world No. 1 Jon Rahm tied for 15th in his last start at the RBC Heritage a week after slipping on the green jacket in Augusta, Georgia.

Rahm won this event by a single shot last season over Tony Finau and Kurt Kitayama.

As for the rest of the field, it’s one of the weakest we’ve seen in a bit. Three of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking are set to tee off Thursday.

Here are five bets you need to consider for the 2023 Mexico Open.

More Mexico Open betting: Expert picks, odds

So much for Tyrrell Hatton’s Augusta warmup. He leads our list of 7 big names to miss the cut at the Valero Texas Open

Hatton had six bogeys in a sloppy second-round 75 and was the biggest name sent packing from the tournament.

SAN ANTONIO — Organizers of the Valero Texas Open can’t be thrilled with the fate of the top players who’ve traveled to the Alamo City over the last few years, each hoping to fine-tune their game before the Masters.

In 2022, Rory McIlroy came to TPC San Antonio, hoping to break his Augusta drought. He left early after missing the cut.

This year, Tyrrell Hatton tried the same move, saying on Tuesday that he’s been pleased with the beginning of his season, but still felt adding this tournament might be the springboard to better results at the year’s first major.

Unfortunately, Hatton’s game plan worked about as well as McIlroy’s did the year before.

The Brit had six bogeys in a sloppy second-round 75 and was the biggest name sent packing from the tournament, one that saw some players finish their second round Saturday because of inclement weather early in the week.

The cutline is the top 65 players plus those tied at the end of that group, and the number settled at even par. Here’s a look at the biggest names who fell on the wrong side of the cutlist after two rounds at the Oaks Course:

Exclusive: Rookie of the year, recent winner among PGA Tour players given OK for controversial Saudi event

The reigning Rookie of the Year is among the players granted permission to compete at an event in Saudi Arabia next month.

The PGA Tour’s reigning Rookie of the Year and a winner last season are among the players granted permission to compete at a controversial tournament in Saudi Arabia next month.

While the Tour has declined to reveal the exact number or the names of those who requested releases for the PIF Saudi International, multiple sources have told Golfweek that Cameron Young, Lucas Herbert and Cameron Champ are among the members who obtained waivers to compete in Saudi Arabia. Three Korn Ferry Tour players also received releases.

Young was named the PGA Tour’s Rookie of the Year after earning more than $6 million during a debut campaign in which he finished second five times, including at the Open Championship in St. Andrews. Herbert won the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in October 2021 and finished the season with more than $2.5 million in official prize money.

Herbert’s agent, Davis Holman, confirmed that the 27-year-old Australian plans to compete at King Abdullah Economic City on Feb. 2-5. Representatives for Young and Champ, a three-time winner on Tour who has emerged as a leading voice for racial equality, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. While sources say both Young and Champ obtained releases to compete in the Saudi International, it is not known if they actually intend to do so.

A Tour spokesperson declined to comment on specific players who have obtained releases.

PGA Tour members are required to obtain conflicting event releases to play events on other tours. In 2022, the Tour denied waivers to members for a Saudi-sponsored event near London, which was the first tournament staged by the rival LIV Golf league. The Tour and LIV Golf are now locked in an antitrust lawsuit that has bitterly divided players on both circuits.

The Saudi International was created in 2019 by the regime’s Public Investment Fund, which is also bankrolling LIV Golf. Offering lucrative appearance fees, the event attracted many high-profile PGA Tour stars who later jumped to LIV, including Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau.

The tournament was originally a DP World Tour stop, but the European circuit is also now being sued by LIV. The 2023 Saudi International is not officially part of LIV Golf’s schedule but is instead listed as an event on the Asian Tour, in which LIV invested more than $200 million last year. That distinction accounts for why the PGA Tour did not reverse precedent and deny releases to members, who are independent contractors.

The number of Tour members seeking waivers to play the Saudi International is down sharply from 2022, even allowing for the players who have since signed with LIV Golf.

Asked why Herbert has opted to play the event and whether he is concerned that doing so will alienate fellow PGA Tour members given the ongoing litigation, his agent Holman said: “He has played the event in the past, enjoys the golf course and it fits well into his playing schedule following the Dubai Desert Classic.”

Herbert has competed in the Saudi International for the past three years, with his best finish a tie for 21st in 2022. Young and Champ have never previously competed in the tournament.

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