With the West Coast Swing in the books and the Florida Swing on deck, where better to take a deep breath, relax in the tropical air and reset than a resort community in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, site of this week’s Mexico Open at VidantaWorld.

The 4-year-old tournament has a new name but the host course basically is the same. How VidantaWorld's Vidanta Vallarta course will test the field of 132, an early peek at the weather and more details are below.

Welcome to VidantaWorld! This tag on how the tournament now identifies is a reflection of the progress and broader inclusion of the theme park adjacent to the par 71, albeit across the Ameca River that divides. While vacationers decide on how to fill their day with fun in the sun, the question facing touring professionals who have made the trip with loved ones is to decide which is more welcoming, VidantaWorld or Vidanta Vallarta. The answer is yes.

Make no mistake, the Greg Norman Vidanta Vallarta Course isn’t without its fair share of thrills, either. There are five par 3s complementing a full boat of four par 5s. Also consider that after averaging 4.417 and slotting as the third-hardest par 4 (of 616) throughout the 2022-23 season, the 10th hole climbed into the 2-spot (of 530) at 4.446 last year. (Only No. 18 that anchors the "Green Mile" at Quail Hollow Club was higher at 4.500.) Meanwhile, with scoring averages ranging from 3.340-3.408, the seventh hole at Vidanta Vallarta has been the easiest par 4 on the PGA TOUR every season since the tournament debuted in 2022.

Averaging aggregate par on those two holes would elicit reactions stretching from disappointment to relief, but overall scoring will need to be much lower to contend. Last year’s scoring field scoring average of 70.074 ranked just inside the easier half of all 50 courses played in 2024. While contested in the latter half of February, it was in line with the first two editions that were held in late April.

Chalk that up as a win for the tournament organizers who allowed the highest of the rough to grow to 2 ½ inches due to the earlier date without negatively influencing the result. A viable strategy in the first two was to send it off most tees, find it and attack flagsticks on sizeable greens. Putting would determine the outcome. Last year’s formula rewarded more of a balanced attack in the macro, the kind representative of a fair and consistent test that is the goal.

In pursuit of a pressure point, because Vidanta Vallarta has ranked a respective first, second and third in proximity to the hole in its first three stagings, building a plan for course management from the green back to the tee has more merit than a bomber’s paradise otherwise suggests. Furthermore, at this level where success often is determined in the margins, comfort in this clime is the invaluable intangible. So, flighting approaches in the wind plays up. If only it’d matter this week. Relatively calm conditions under passing clouds and daytime highs in the 80s are expected, so aggressive tactics will be rewarded.

The entire property is blanketed with Platinum paspalum grass with putting surfaces prepped to max at 11 feet on the Stimpmeter. Returning participants could notice that the par-4 eighth hole is capped at 476 yards, 20 fewer than before. That accounts for all of the drop in the course’s overall yardage to 7,436 yards.

Rob Bolton's schedule

PGATOUR.COM's Rob Bolton previews and recaps every tournament from numerous perspectives. Look for his following contributions as scheduled.

MONDAY: Power Rankings
TUESDAY*: Fantasy Insider
SUNDAY: Payouts and Points, Qualifiers

*Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by PGA TOUR Superstore, which also publishes on Tuesday.