The First Look: Mexico Open at Vidanta

Reigning Masters winner Jon Rahm returns to action after a whirlwind stretch of time with the green jacket.

Rahm, who stands atop the FedExCup after his victory at Augusta National, will head to Mexico to defend his Mexico Open title from a year ago.

The Spaniard said in 2022 he was keen to find the winner’s circle to help grow the game – and he’s likely done just that.

“I came this week wanting to do it. I've spoken at length about the importance of Seve (Ballesteros) and his impact on the game of golf and how I play because of him. Nowadays we have a much bigger reach, the PGA TOUR has become a bigger tour, and with social media, we're worldwide stars, bigger than they were in the past. I feel like I can make some impact in Mexico as well, and Mexico deserves a good event,” Rahm said last year. “You can even see golf growing in Mexico as well. So, it's a true honor to be able to come here in this first edition of the event to be the champion. It was a wonderful week.”

While Rahm’s victory in Mexico in 2022 was his lone trip to the winner’s circle last year – and it came after a 17-event drought worldwide, matching the longest of his career – the Spaniard has already won four times this season.

Rahm, the world No. 1, comes into the week after a tie for 15th at the RBC Heritage, a solid result after his Masters triumph.

“I can't help but be proud of what I've done this week. To come here, I know the expectations weren't really high to the public, but in my mind every time I tee it up I'm going to try to do my best,” Rahm said Sunday in Hilton Head.

Now he’s back in Mexico and looking for another big-time result.

FIELD NOTES: Rahm headlines the field while Tony Finau (No. 11) and Wyndham Clark (No. 14) are the other players inside the top 20 in the FedExCup standings teeing it up in Mexico. Finau – who finished runner-up in Mexico last season – has missed only one cut so far this season, but he bounced back nicely with a victory the very next week at the Cadence Bank Houston Open. Clark has four top-10 finishes so far this season, including a tie for 10th at the designated WM Phoenix Open … There will be 17 Latin American players in the field, led by Nico Echavarria who sits 67th on the FedExCup standings. Echavarria, from Colombia, won the Puerto Rico Open earlier this year … This will be the second event after accepting Special Temporary Membership for Nicolai Hojgaard and Ryan Gerard. The team of Hojgaard and Thorbjorn Olesen stood T20 into Sunday in New Orleans, while Gerard missed the cut alongside Ben Griffin … Major champs Gary Woodland, Jimmy Walker, Geoff Ogilvy and Francesco Molinari are in the field … Brandon Wu, who holds the Vidanta Vallarta course record with Finau and finished tied for second last year, is back in action in Mexico. His season so far is highlighted by a T2 in Pebble Beach … Martin Trainer made the most birdies of anyone a year ago at the Mexico Open (24).

SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: Mexico nativeJose de Jesus Rodriguez, 42, a Korn Ferry Tour winner who held 2019 PGA TOUR membership, is set to compete at Vidanta Vallarta … There is plenty of collegiate firepower teeing it up including UCLA sophomore Omar Morales, Oregon sophomore Jose Islas, and Arkansas senior Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira – who won the Latin America Amateur Championship earlier this year. This will mark the non-major PGA TOUR debut for Fernandez de Oliveira, who missed the cut at the Masters … Alejandro Tosti, who has three top-10 results on the Korn Ferry Tour, earned his sponsor exemption via an in-season points list on the Korn Ferry Tour for Latin players. He topped the list, comprising the circuit's three early-season Latin America events, by just a single point … Sebastián Vázquez earned his way in as the top Mexican finisher in the Tabachines Classic on the Mexican Tour, co-sanctioned with the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica Dev Series … 2019 Latin America Amateur Championship winner Alvaro Ortiz will return to action at the Mexico Open. He made the cut in Mexico last season and finished tied for 42nd … Cristobal Del Solar of Chile will make his PGA TOUR debut. Del Solar is 51st on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, having made six of seven cuts so far this season.

STORYLINES:

1) RAHM RETURNS

A year ago, it was Scottie Scheffler who got off to a comparable start to Jon Rahm with four victories, including a Masters triumph, by the end of April. Scheffler didn’t find the winner’s circle for the rest of the season, however, and Rahm is looking to avoid that same fate this week. Rahm leaned into his elite tee-to-green game to find the winner’s circle a year ago, and he’ll need to do more of the same in 2023 to win in Mexico. That said, he’s first in Strokes Gained: Total and third in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green so far this season.

2) TOUGH AT THE TURN

While Vidanta Vallarta ranked as the 24th-toughest course on the PGA TOUR last season, those who started on No. 10 were met with a tricky opener. The par-4 played as the eighth toughest hole on TOUR last season. The 500-yard par 4 provided Rahm's lone bogey in the final round a year ago.

3) MEXICAN WINNERS ON THE PGA TOUR

Four native Mexican players have won on the PGA TOUR, with Abraham Ancer’s triumph at the 2021 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational as the most recent.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.

COURSE: Vidanta Vallarta, par 71, 7,456 yards. This design opened in 2015 and meanders along the Ameca River while views of the Sierra Madres are offered on every hole. There are large landing areas off the tee while the large greens are protected by cavernous bunkers. Positioning off the tee is key to success at Vidanta Vallarta, as nine of the top 15 names on the leaderboard a year ago were in the top-10 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, including winner Jon Rahm, who was second. The course added 250 yards from its original design in preparation for the arrival of the PGA TOUR, along with 51 new bunkers (for a total of 106).

72-HOLE RECORD: 267, Jon Rahm (2022)

18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Tony Finau (Round 4, 2022), Brandon Wu (Round 4, 2022)

LAST TIME: Jon Rahm captured his seventh PGA TOUR title – and first since the U.S. Open the summer prior – at the 2022 Mexico Open. Rahm was in a four-way tie for the lead as he made his way through the closing stretch of holes but rolled in a 12-foot birdie try on No. 14 to jump ahead of the pack. Back-to-back pars left him with a 2-under 69 in the final round and a one-shot triumph over Tony Finau, Kurt Kitayama and Brandon Wu. Finau and Wu shot 8-under 63s on Sunday to set the course record. Finau went out in 3-under 32 and firmly entered the conversation after going birdie-eagle-birdie on Nos. 13-15. Wu had his own birdie-eagle-birdie stretch but on the front nine (Nos. 5-7). He added four more birdies on the back nine but hit his approach on the par-5 finisher into the bunker and couldn’t get up and down for another birdie that would have put the pressure on Rahm. Rahm made things interesting on the closing hole, hitting his tee ball into a fairway bunker and needing to punch out. Still, his birdie try nestled up to just inches away and he converted the par for the win.

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