About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After a weather-shortened finish in Bermuda that saw Austin Smotherman win his second straight tournament, the PGA Tour heads south of the border for the Mexico Open. Dating back to 1944, the VidantaWorld Mexico Open has quite a historical past and has been considered Mexico's national championship. Located a few miles off the Pacific coast near the town of Puerto Vallarta, the Vidanta Vallarta Resort (one of the highest-rated hotels in Mexico) and its "signature course" designed by Greg Norman will host this event for the fifth time. Holes wind along the banks of the Ameca River and provide scenic views of the Sierra Madre mountains.
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Through its first four editions at Vidanta Vallarta (2022–2025), the Mexico Open has gone from star winners to breakthrough winners. Jon Rahm won as a heavy favorite in 2022, edging Tony Finau, Brandon Wu and Kurt Kitayama by a stroke, and a year later Finau got revenge by three over Rahm. Since then, the event has produced first-time winners: Jake Knapp in 2024 and Brian Campbell won in 2025 at 20-under in a playoff over Aldrich Potgieter.
Vidanta Vallarta rewards power. The Greg Norman design plays to 7,337 yards this year, roughly 120 yards shorter than in 2025, but it remains a long par 71. Its wide fairways and lack of penal rough still let bombers swing freely with little cost for a miss. Elite iron play, especially from over 200 yards, has been just as important. Rahm and Finau both hit 80 percent of their greens, and Knapp ranked first in the field in both strokes gained/approach and SG/tee to green, while past winners have rarely needed difficult up-and-downs. As at most oceanside resort courses, a proven record in coastal winds and comfort on the wall-to-wall paspalum greens also go a long way. Scoring has been low, ranging from 17-under to Finau's record of 24-under, and the shorter setup could push it lower still.
The Mexico Open features a 120-player field headlined by Wyndham Clark, Ben Griffin, Tom Kim and defending champion Brian Campbell. The tournament returns to the fall portion of the PGA Tour schedule with players competing for a $6 million purse and 500 FedEx Cup points. With the FedEx Cup Fall approaching its final stretch, the Mexico Open offers an important opportunity for players to improve their standings and strengthen their position heading into the 2027 season.
Here are my favorite plays and fades in each price range for DraftKings contests for the 2026 Mexico Open. $9,000+ range Play: Marco Penge, $9,700
Penge has the skills Vidanta rewards. He is one of the longest hitters in this field, ranking eighth in carry distance, and he gains 0.63 strokes per round off the tee on driver-heavy courses. At a venue where you need to play aggressive on the par 5s, he goes for the green on his second shot 78 percent of the time, second-highest in the field.
His 2026 season has been uneven, but he has spiked with some high finishes: fourth at the Valspar, 18th at The Open, 10th at the Biltmore and sixth at the British Masters. He has gained strokes in five of his past six starts across both tours, including four top-20 finishes. His DP World Tour record on warm weather resort courses is strong, too, with a win in Hainan and a ninth at Yas Links in the last year.
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Conners is the kind of player who looks safe at this price, and that is the problem. He makes cuts, 93 percent over the last two years, but he has one top 10 in his past 22 starts and that will not pay off a $9,300 salary in a birdie fest. His iron play is as good as ever, third in this field in approach over the past two years, but Vidanta rewards distance and aggression on the par 5s, and over his last 24 rounds he ranks 68th in the field in birdie or better percentage, 33rd in strokes gained on par 5s and outside the top 50 in carry distance.
The putter has cost him a quarter of a stroke a round over the last year, and on an easy scoring course with slow paspalum greens that gap gets exposed. He has a fine cash game floor, but I would rather pay $300 less for Blades Brown or $100 more for Doug Ghim and get real upside.
Smith arrives at Vidanta in some of the finest form of his PGA Tour career, having finished fourth in his most recent start and gaining 0.93 strokes per round over the past three months, 13th best in this field. His game is built for a course that hands the advantage to long, aggressive drivers. Over his past 24 rounds he ranks sixth in the field off the tee and fifth in going for the green, and he has gained nearly half a stroke per round with the driver on driver-heavy courses over the past two years.
Just as important, he backs up those long drives with sharp long iron play, ranking 13th in strokes gained on approaches from 200-plus yards, a range that accounts for more than 40 percent of the approach shots at Vidanta. Add an 81-percent cut rate over two years, and Smith offers both a reliable floor and genuine upside at a fair price.
Read The Line's Keith Stewart and Pat Mayo discuss the keys to handicapping the 2026 VidantaWorld Mexico Open.
Watch the full 2026 VidantaWorld Mexico Open show here .
Clanton is coming off two strong starts, and his price has climbed more than $1,000 as a result, but this is the wrong course on which to chase him. He is one of the shorter hitters in the field, 94th in driving distance over his last 24 rounds and 92nd off the tee, and he lays up more than almost anyone, 98th in going for the green. Vidanta rewards the opposite. Over the last 12 months he has lost 0.29 strokes per round, he ranks 86th in the field in putting over that stretch and he has made just 55 percent of cuts over two years. The irons are legit, sixth in approach, but they have not been enough to consistently keep him around on the weekend. At $8,300 I would rather have Kevin Yu for $300 less.
Roy has quietly become one of the most consistent players on the PGA Tour, and his salary has moved in the opposite direction, sitting $700 below his average over his past five events. Before last week he strung together five straight finishes inside the top 35, capped by a 13th at Baycurrent.
His underlying numbers match the Vidanta blueprint closely. Over his last 24 rounds he ranks fourth in this field in proximity from 200-plus yards and seventh in both birdie or better percentage and bogey avoidance, and over his last 48 rounds no one in the field has made birdie more often when going for the green in two.
He has also shown that the course suits his eye, gaining 1.59 strokes per round across two appearances with finishes of 18th in 2023 and 17th last year. At this price, that combination of form, fit and course history is difficult to find.
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Dahmen offers more course specific upside than anyone in the $6,000 range, and Mexico has been the most reliable stop on his calendar. He has made the cut in all nine of his starts in the country, gaining 1.56 strokes per round across those 36 rounds, with a third and a sixth at El Camaleon and a sixth at Vidanta last year. Over the last two seasons he also ranks second in this field in strokes gained on coastal courses.
His recent ball-striking is also trending up, as he ranks 12th in this field tee to green, 11th on approach and 16th in strokes gained from 200-plus yards over his past 24 rounds. The putter has held him back, but slow paspalum greens tend to compress the gap between the best and worst putters, which places the emphasis squarely on the long game where Dahmen has been excellent.
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Ron Klos ( @PGASplits101 on X ) is a PGA Tour data analyst for Betsperts Golf.
Source: Sports
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