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.
Sunday is bound to be life changing for one PGA Tour player.
None of the top four players on the leaderboard at the 2023 Barracuda Championship at Tahoe Mountain Club in Truckee, California, have won on Tour before. Two of them, Ryan Gerard and Akshay Bhatia, weren’t even PGA Tour members when the season began.
After Sunday’s final round, it’s likely someone hoists a trophy for the first time.
Patrick Rodgers birdied the 18th hole and earned two points in the Modified Stableford format to take a one-point lead over Gerard going into the final round. Rodgers tallied eight points in the third round and sits at 34 for the tournament. Gerard, who led after the 36 holes, struggled to garner any momentum on moving day, earning only three points and has 33 points.
“I was really super proud of the way that I was resilient and turned the round around and knew there was still a lot of points to be had,” Rodgers said. “The eagle on 12 was huge, and birdieing two of the last three was great to be in a good position going into tomorrow.”
Bhatia made a major move up the leaderboard, sitting in solo third with 31 points, courtesy of his 17-point outing. He shot 8-under 63 with six birdies and an eagle.
“I know I’m close to winning,” Bhatia said. “It’s a good feeling. Obviously finishing top 10 and gaining points and everything is important out here. But it’s just amazing the perspective you have when you just kind of wish you did certain things a little different, and I would have been pretty close to hosting that trophy last week.”
Beau Hossler, who is also searching for his first Tour victory, is in solo fourth with 30 points. Joel Dahmen is in fifth with 29.
The opposite-field event gives plenty of opportunities for someone to have a career-changing victory. The leaderboard is set up for exactly that come Sunday.
“I feel like any time that you’re in contention coming down the last round, last however many holes, you’ve got to play well to get into that situation,” Gerard said. “So just going to take that in stride and really just trust that we’re going to have some good stuff happen tomorrow and just really do my best and everything else is just an added bonus. So we’re excited to just go out there and see what happens.”
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.
“This is why I play, why I compete and I can’t wait to get out there tomorrow.”
There’s a lot on the line Sunday at the Valero Texas Open.
Patrick Rodgers, who has held a 54-hole lead three times previously in his PGA Tour career, has a one-shot advantage at TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course. Not only would a win Sunday for Rodgers be the first of his PGA Tour career, it would also punch his ticket to Augusta National and the Masters.
However, there are plenty of golfers chasing.
Corey Conners, who Monday qualified into the Valero in 2019 and won, is a shot back. Matt Kuchar had the round of the day until a late mishap, but he’s also playing for a ticket to the Masters and is solo third. And the veteran, Padraig Harrington, is lurking.
Rodgers’ chase for his elusive first PGA Tour victory has been more marathon than sprint.
SAN ANTONIO — Patrick Rodgers has always put a premium on fitness; at the ripe age of 30, he’s got a slender physique that could be mistaken for that of a teenager.
In terms of career fitness, Rodgers’ chase for that elusive first PGA Tour victory has been more marathon than sprint. In 234 starts, the Stanford University product has pocketed more than $10 million in earnings but has failed to find his way into the winner’s circle.
During an awkward Friday at TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course, one that had players making up for Thursday’s inclement weather, Rodgers’ fitness was again on display. Rather than wilting under the weight of additional holes, the ninth-year pro got stronger as the day progressed, posting five birdies in his final six holes as he pushed his way atop the field at the Valero Texas Open.
Rodgers fired a 67 in his second round and sits at 11 under, with Corey Conners three back and Michael Thompson four back as the weekend begins.
The closest he’s come to lifting a trophy on the Tour was losing in a playoff to Charles Howell III at the 2018 RSM Classic. That week, Rodgers shot 61-62 at Sea Island’s Seaside Course, the lowest 36-hole weekend score in Tour history. Also a member of the “Class of 2011” which included major winners Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, Rodgers equaled the record of Tiger Woods with 11 victories during his college career at Stanford.
So getting a victory at the Valero would be extra sweet, especially since a debut in the Masters would be part of the prize package.
Rodgers makes no bones about the fact that he’s as hungry as ever to get a victory.
“It’s something I’ve always dreamt of, it’s the reason why I’m out here,” Rodgers said. “I love this job because I love to compete and I do my best to win a golf tournament every time I tee it up. I’m excited for the chance. This is, like I said, why I play. It’s going to be a really fun next couple of days.”
Patrick Rodgers tees off on the 18th hole during the second round of the 2023 Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio. (Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
Nothing about his recent form would have indicated he’d play like he did Friday. Rodgers has missed the cut in six of his last eight tournaments, has fallen to 143rd in the Official World Golf Ranking and his track record at the Valero has been abysmal. He failed to reach the weekend in each of his first three appearances and even when he finally did make the cut last year, he dropped hard with a 75 on Sunday.
“Thank you for the reminder,” he said, when being told he’d failed to break par in his first three years at TPC San Antonio. “It’s a very demanding golf course. I think experience definitely makes me more comfortable around here. It’s demanding mentally because you know that on both sides of every hole there’s some pretty thick forest and some places you don’t want to be. It’s just been helpful to focus on where I’m trying to hit it and manage the golf course well and I’ve done a great job of that for two days.”
The biggest difference this week is his iron play. Rodgers was No. 1 in strokes gained approach the green through his first two rounds, picking up seven strokes on the field in that category.
Despite his recent struggles, the former 2014 Haskins Award winner said he’s been working diligently on his routine in this area, making sure he’s committed to his decisions.
“That’s been a huge area of focus for me, it’s been what’s keeping me from playing better golf and yeah, I’m really proud that the work that I’ve been putting in week in and week out even when it wasn’t paying off on the golf course,” Rodgers said. “Now it’s starting to and I’m happy with the patience that I’ve showed to get here.”
“This is why I play. I want chances to win golf tournaments.” — Patrick Rodgers
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The fact that Patrick Rodgers still is seeking his first PGA Tour victory after 225 career starts is one of golf’s great mysteries. But that could change on Sunday at the RSM Classic as Rodgers made four straight birdies on the back nine Saturday to shoot 6-under 64 and shares the 54-hole lead with Ben Martin. It’s Rodgers’s first 54-hole lead since the 2017 John Deere Classic.
“This is why I play. I want chances to win golf tournaments,” he said. “That was one of the big things my coach (Jeff Smith) and I talked about during the offseason – to get my nose in there a little more often and this is a really fun opportunity.”
Big things were expected of Rodgers, 30, a member of the ballyhooed “Class of 2011” that includes major winners Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. Rodgers equaled the record of Tiger Woods with 11 victories during his college career at Stanford, but the closest he’s come to lifting a trophy on the Tour is losing in a playoff here to Charles Howell III at the 2018 RSM Classic. That week, Rodgers shot 61-62 at Sea Island’s Seaside Course, the lowest 36-hole weekend score in Tour history. (Three times in all he’s been a runner-up on Tour.)
RSM Classic co-leader Patrick Rodgers has six rounds of 65 or better this season (including two this week), the most of any player on TOUR.
What has kept the 30-year-old Rodgers from living up to the high expectations placed upon him? Poor iron play has been the biggest culprit. Until improving to 94th in the rankings, he’d never finished better than 117th on Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach.
“He extends early, left hip goes up early, spine angle goes back and he doesn’t trap his irons,” Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee said. “He flat out is going to have to learn to hit his irons better to have the sort of success that was anticipated for him.”
This season, Rodgers has made seven straight cuts and finished T-3 at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship three weeks ago. After rounds of 69 at the Plantation Course on Thursday and a tidy 65 at Seaside on Friday, Rodgers got hot on the back nine on Saturday, going on a birdie binge that began at 13 and continued through the 16th hole.
“I’m hoping it plays difficult tomorrow because I feel like that plays to my advantage but I’m looking forward to the fight,” Rodgers said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Patrick Rodgers is making his 199th start since joining the PGA TOUR at the start of the 2015-16 season, the most of any player without a win in that span.
Davis Love III has a veritable museum of his achievements on display all over the island at Sea Island Resort.
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – In 1978, Davis Love III’s father, renowned instructor Davis Jr., was given a blank slate to start an instructional school anywhere in the country. He chose Sea Island Resort here in this picturesque corner of southern Georgia—halfway between Savannah and Jacksonville, Florida—and it’s been Love’s home ever since.
Love, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017, has a veritable museum of his achievements on display all over the island. A local restaurant, Brogen’s North, has a caddie bib worn by brother Mark at the 1995 Ryder Cup matches at Oak Hill and a framed print of Love after his cup-clinching putt at The Belfry in 1993. Some of Love’s winning hardware have been the focal point of an elegant trophy room at Sea Island Resort.
When Love won the 1997 PGA Championship, hand-painted banners and a billboard along U.S. 17 offered congratulations. After the 2016 Ryder Cup victory, Love was welcomed home by a live band at McKinnon Airport, a small airstrip on the island favored by players who fly private.
Love has returned the community’s affection by hosting the PGA Tour’s RSM Classic, a tournament that has raised nearly $29 million for local charities. He does everything from handing out the trophy to hosting the pro-am party, and is making his 788th Tour start in the tournament this week, which kicks off its 13th year on Thursday at the Resort’s Seaside and Plantation courses.
Sea Island Golf Club in Sea Island, Georgia. (Photo: Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
“The community rallies behind it every year,” said Zach Johnson, a Sea Island resident who is one of two players in the field that has competed in every edition of the RSM Classic to date (the other being Chris Kirk).
Johnson, who grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, already has claimed the John Deere Classic, his true home game, and now he’s gunning for his adopted hometown tourney. Somehow, none of the local boys, who are collectively known as the Sea Island Mafia, have ever had bragging rights as champion of the RSM Classic.
“Based on the amount of talent that lives here, based on the resumes that live here and having that course knowledge, it is a little bit surprising. I find it a little bit odd. But it’s hard,” Johnson said. “At some point that’s probably got to happen.”
Johnson, who has three top-10 finishes in his last five RSM starts, would love nothing more than to set off a celebration on the island. But the 12-time Tour winner hasn’t won on the since hoisting the Claret Jug in 2015 at St. Andrews.
“It completely and utterly eats at me,” Johnson said of his victory drought. “But I know how hard this game is and typically, you know, when I’ve had valleys, if you will, the motivation to go work and try to get out of that valley has never been an issue.”
It should be noted that technically a resident already has won the RSM.
Kevin Kisner, a longtime Sea Island member, won the 2015 title and was living on the island while his home in Aiken, South Carolina, was being renovated. But Kisner’s home course is Palmetto Golf Club and he’s only an unofficial member of the Sea Island Mafia. Harris English, who is attempting to climb back into the top 50 in the world, counts as a full-blooded member, one of 16 local residents in the field this week, and plays enough at the two Sea Island courses that he figures he should have an advantage.
“I never get tired of playing this place,” English said. “The challenging part about playing this week is we never play it in these kind of conditions.”
A view of the sixth green during the final round of the 2020 RSM Classic at the Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club in St Simons Island, Georgia. (Photo: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Asked where he would head on the island to celebrate with the local folks should he hoist the trophy, English smiled and said, “I don’t think Ziggy Mahoney’s will be open on Sunday, but that’s a pretty good celebration spot.”
Stat of the week
116. That is how many birdies Patrick Rodgers has made during the first seven events of the 2022-23 season, the most of 10 players who have topped 100 birdies. The annual RSM Birdies Fore Love competition concludes this week at The RSM Classic, with the player making the most birdies (or better) throughout the fall portion of the schedule receiving $300,000 to donate to a children- or family-focused charitable organization of his choice ($150,000 for second, $50,000 for third). With this being the final week of the competition, each birdie (or better) will count for two.
Last week, Tony Finau missed the cut. This week, everyone is chasing him.
HOUSTON – Last year, the winning score was 10 under. The year before, 13 under.
As of now, it looks like golfers at the 2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open will blast past those numbers.
The Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course continued Friday, the penultimate FedEx Cup event of the PGA Tour’s fall slate. The first round was halted by darkness, and a handful of players had to come back and finish their opening 18 holes before starting their second round.
And now, the second round won’t finish until Saturday.
However, a name at the top of the leaderboard hasn’t changed since Thursday night.
Here’s a look at some takeaways from the second round of the Cadence Bank Houston Open.
Patrick Rodgers is relishing the calm after the storm, both in his career and typically turbulent Bermuda.
Forget the calm before the storm, Patrick Rodgers is relishing the calm after the storm—both in his career and typically turbulent Bermuda.
After six solid years on the PGA Tour, each one netting at least $1 million, Rodgers struggled through 2020, lost his card and was forced to play his way back on Tour through the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
But the reprieve has triggered instant results. A relaxed and refreshed Rodgers started the season with a T-6 in Napa at the Fortinet Championship, and on Friday — after nasty weather rolled through the region on Thursday — he fired a 64 to jump into the lead at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship after the early wave of players at Port Royal Golf Course.
Rodgers admitted he struggled with returning to the Korn Ferry Tour, noting that he’d gotten comfortable with life on the PGA Tour.
“It was really difficult to go through, to be honest with you. My mindset and I think the mindset of most players out here is that I got my card at 22 and I didn’t feel like I would ever be in that position, to be quite honest with you,” Rodgers said. “I felt like I had the game to not put myself there and it was maybe a little slice of humble pie, and more so just kind of managing stress on the golf course.
“I’m definitely feeling like I’m able to breathe a breath of fresh air here as the new season started. I’m really grateful to be out here and I’m playing some stress-free golf, which is nice.”
The highlight of Rodgers’ round on Friday was a chip-in eagle on No. 7, in which the Stanford product simply followed the lead of his playing partner, Michael Kim. After watching Kim chip in four times in eight holes, Rodgers finally followed suit.
While the chip was the TV moment, Rodgers’ early-season success has hinged on his putter. After finishing 11th in putting on the Tour two seasons ago, Rodgers fell to 96th during last season’s struggles.
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Through three events and eight rounds this season, it appears he’s regained his putting stroke, and that helped Rodgers take advantage of surprisingly tranquil conditions on Friday.
“I’ve never seen Bermuda this calm, at least here at Port Royal. I felt like it was a round where we needed to take advantage of it and I just did a great job of staying patient and giving myself a ton of opportunities,” Rodgers said. “I didn’t feel like I was overly aggressive at any point today and I just kind of plodded along. I think I hit 17 greens, so I just kept giving myself chance after chance and it added up to a great day.”
Rodgers still has plenty of golf ahead this weekend, but he’s in the right frame of mind to enjoy the surroundings, even as the competition gets ramped up.
“That was a really just difficult emotional battle. I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders since coming back,” he said. “I don’t feel like there’s much that can stress me out on a golf course at the minute and I’m just really grateful to have opportunities to play.
“So, yeah, I’m excited to be here. It’s our little slice of paradise here this week, so it’s easy to enjoy ourselves and I think that translates into some great golf.”
Analyzing the golf betting odds to win the 2020 Puerto Rico Open, with PGA Tour betting odds, picks, predictions and best bets.
With many of the world’s top golfers in Mexico for this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship, an alternate field of up-and-comers led by Viktor Hovland are participating in the 2020 Puerto Rico Open at Coco Beach Golf and Country Club. Below, we’ll analyze the golf betting odds, while making our picks to win the 2020 Puerto Rico Open.
This week’s winner will not receive an invitation to the 2020 Masters Tournament.
The key stats for the 7,506-yard, par-72 Coco Beach Golf and Country Club are:
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee
Strokes Gained: Approach
Birdies or Better Gained
Good Drives Gained
Puerto Rico Open – Tier 1
Aug 4, 2019; Greensboro, NC, USA; Viktor Hovland studies a putt on the first green during the final round of the Wyndham Championship golf tournament at Sedgefield Country Club. (Photo Credit: Rob Kinnan – USA TODAY Sports)
At No. 25 in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings, Hovland is the top golfer in attendance. While the win won’t get him to Augusta National, it could propel him to better play, as was the case with Collin Morikawa‘s victory at the 2019 Barracuda Championship. That ran as the alternate event to the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
Hovland is No. 1 in my stat model this week at Fantasy National. He missed the cut in three of his last five events against stiffer competition on the PGA and European Tours, but he tied for 38th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and is definitely the class of this field. He’ll look to follow suit of Tony Finau and his breakout win in 2016.
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Patrick Rodgers (+2200)
Rodgers tied for ninth at the star-studded Farmers Insurance Open for his best result since 2018. He followed it up with a T-16 at the Waste Management Open before missing the cut at Pebble Beach, but he rebounded for a quality T-30 showing at last week’s Genesis Invitational. He’s playing his best golf right now, and could finally break through against weaker competition.
Puerto Rico Open – Tier 2
Jul 18, 2019; Portrush, IRL; Kiradech Aphibarnrat after hitting his tee shot on the 5th hole during the first round of The Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Portrush Golf Club – Dunluce Course. Mandatory Credit: Ian Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports
Kiradech Aphibarnrat (+5000)
Aphibarnrat will make his debut at this event following a stretch of three straight missed cuts against stronger fields. He has been struggling around the greens, but he has the length to be able to handle Coco Beach.
Roger Sloan (+8000)
Sloan tied for second in 2019 in his first appearance since a missed cut in 2015. The Canadian has missed the cut in six straight events dating back to November’s Bermuda Championship, but his co-runner-up finish last year came on the heels of two missed cuts at Pebble Beach and the Farmers. He’s typically great around the greens and strong off the tee.
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Puerto Rico Open – Longshots
Jan 18, 2020; La Quinta, California, USA; Robbie Shelton plays his shot from the eighth tee during the third round of The American Express golf tournament on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West. (Photo Credit: Orlando Ramirez – USA TODAY Sports)
Robby Shelton (+10000)
Shelton skipped last year’s tournament following a missed cut in 2017 – the 2018 tournament was held as a team fundraiser event. He has struggled of late against strong fields, but he has two top 10s in the 2019-20 season: at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier and the Mayakoba Golf Classic. Those are much are more comparable to his competition this week.
Martin Trainer (+12500)
Trainer snapped a skid of five straight missed cuts with a T-47th-place finish at the Genesis Invitational last week. These odds represent far too great of value for the defending champion, despite his current form. He missed the cut of five of seven PGA Tour events in the build-up to his win last year.
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