This is the 63rd Mexico Open but just the third at Vidanta Vallarta.
The Mexico Open at Vidanta may not have the high-profile leaderboard as some other PGA Tour events, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t great storylines coming out of Vidanta Vallarta.
Defending champion Tony Finau is looking to go back-to-back south of the border. Raving about a place where he can play a par-3 course with his kids, Finau, the highest-ranked player in the field, is looking to win on Tour for the fourth season in a row.
He had four birdies in his first-round 69, but did post a double-bogey on the par-4 eighth hole, his second-to-last of the day.
Four golfers defended their title last season. Finau is seeking to be the first to do it in 2024. He was solo second two years ago, losing by a shot to Jon Rahm.
After a few weeks of wind and rain, the Tour is enjoying some fantastic weather along the Mexican coast. Here are five more things to know about the first round of the 2024 Mexico Open at Vidanta.
Del Solar has the lowest score ever recorded in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.
If you didn’t get a chance to see Mr. 57 in action two weeks ago, here’s your chance.
Cristobal Del Solar is in the field for this week’s Mexico Open at Vidanta. He posted the lowest score ever in a PGA Tour-sanctioned tournament at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Astara Golf Championship in Colombia on Feb. 8. Del Solar shot a 13-under 57 on the par-70 Pacos course, one of two used for that event and also the shortest on the Korn Ferry Tour. It played at 6,254 yards at nearly 9,000 feet above sea level.
His scorecard from the first round that week showed four 4s but the rest of it was all 3s and 2s. He had two eagles and nine birdies. Del Solar followed that up, though, with rounds of 69 and 75 before closing with a 63 to tie for fifth.
As Justin Ray noted, it was the lowest 72-hole score on the Korn Ferry Tour by a golfer who had a round 74 or higher.
This week’s event at the Greg Norman-designed Vidanta Vallarta will play as a par-71, 7,456-yard in Puerto Vallarta along the west coast of Mexico.
Del Solar made his PGA Tour debut a year ago in this event, posting scores of 66 and 74 and then missing the cut. He is in the field this week on a sponsor exemption.
Del Solar is joined in the field by defending champion Tony Finau (ranked 24th in the world), Nicolai Hojgaard (No. 33), Emiliano Grillo (No. 35) and Ryan Fox (No. 36). Also in the field is Padraig Harrington. Will Zalatoris was originally committed to play but withdrew shortly after his tie for second at the Genesis Invitational on Sunday.
His cousin was the first Chilean to win on the LPGA and he almost considered a tennis career.
No matter the tour, sub-60 rounds are usually few and far between in professional golf. Last week Joaquin Niemann fired a 59 at LIV Golf Mayakoba. A day later Wyndham Clark shot a 60 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Cristobal Del Solar made history Thursday in Bogota, Colombia.
Cristobal Del Solar made history Thursday in Bogota, Colombia.
The 30-year-old, who went to college at Florida State, shot 13-under 57 during the opening round of the Astara Golf Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour at the Pacos Course at Country Club de Bogata. It’s the first time in the history of professional golf that someone has shot 57 on a par-70 layout, and it’s the ninth sub-60 round on the Korn Ferry Tour.
The score is the lowest ever in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.
“Incredible, man,” Del Solar said. “Honestly, I was just playing. I didn’t even know what I was at. Actually, I asked my caddie on the 18th after hitting my 18th tee shot, we were just walking and I told him, I was like, hey, am I going to break 60, because I’ve never broken 60 before. He was like, you’re going to break a little bit more than 60. Yeah, I mean, I played really good golf. I drove the ball well, chipped it well, putted well. Yeah, I mean, I’m happy. It was a great round.”
Del Solar tied history with an 8-under 27 on the front nine, the lowest nine-hole score in Korn Ferry Tour history. He had six birdies and an eagle on the 330-yard par-4 ninth.
On the back nine, the Chilean added another eagle at the par-5 12th to move to 11 under after 12 holes. Birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 moved him to 13 under thru 15. Pars on the last three holes saw him sign for his record-setting 57.
Cristobal Del Solar of Chile holds his official scorecard which features his score 57 during the first round of the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard at Country Club de Bogota on February 08, 2024 in Bogota, Colombia. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
The Pacos course is the shortest on the Korn Ferry Tour, playing at 6,254 yards, as well as being nearly 9,000 feet above sea level. However, narrow fairways and tricky greens always create challenges for players, and there had never been a sub-60 score until Thursday.
“It had to be a specific type of course to kind of do this stuff,” Del Solar said. “Obviously if it’s difficult, the score’s going to be higher. I haven’t even broken 60 practicing on my home course, and my home course is pretty difficult. I’m excited. I mean, maybe if I play from the women’s tee I’ll break 60 someday there. But I’m just happy, it was a great round.”
Del Solar has played three events on the Korn Ferry Tour this year. His lowest round before the 57 on Thursday was a 67.
Last week, Joaquin Niemann shot 11-under 59 in the opening round of LIV Golf Mayakoba en route to his victory. Last year, Bryson DeChambeau shot 58 at LIV Golf Greenbrier. The only 58 in PGA Tour history was Jim Furyk at the Travelers Championship in 2016.
It’s one of the hardest things to achieve in the game.
The first one came in 1977.
It was another 14 years before someone did it again.
It was then eight years after that before it happened a third time.
Breaking 60 has always held mythical status in golf.
Al Geiberger (1977), Chip Beck (1991) and David Duval (1999) were the first three to pull it off.
Since 2010, there have been eight more PGA Tour golfers who shot a 59, including Jim Furyk, who also shot a record-setting 58 from in 2016. He remains the only golfer to shoot a 58 on Tour and he’s the only golfer to break 60 twice.
Bryson DeChambeau joined the 58 Club after his 12-under round in a LIV Golf event.
Scottie Scheffler is the latest to break 60 on the PGA Tour, shooting a 59 in the second round of the 2020 Northern Trust. It’s the 12th time that a Tour golfer broke 60.
On the LPGA, there has only been one 59. It came in 2001 and was accomplished by Annika Sorenstam.
Joaquinn Niemann’s 59 in the 2024 LIV opener made him the second on that circuit to do it.
And in 2024, a golfer on the Korn Ferry Tour became the first to shoot 57 in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.
Here’s a closer look at the sub-60 rounds in pro golf.
