Next on the schedule, we have the 2025 Mexico Open at VidantaWorld. The field is rather weak and lacking star power. Defending Champ Jake Knapp is in the field along with the Hojgaard brothers, Bhatia and Mav McNealy.

Last year Jake Knapp got his first career win shooting 19 under defeating Sami Valimaki by two strokes. Knapp lead the field gaining 8.7 strokes on approach and held on to win despite shooting even par on Sunday.

In 2023, Tony Finau held off Jon Rahm by three strokes shooting 25 under to win. He shot a five under 66 on Sunday and that was actually his worst round of the week. Brandon Wu made his way to the top of the leaderboard for the 2nd straight year finishing in 3rd place.

2022 was the first time this tournament had been played at Vidanta Vallarta. Jon Rahm won at 17 under, shooting in the sixties in all four rounds. It was a pretty lackluster field outside of Rahm and Finau. Speaking of Finau, he tied for 2nd with Kurt Kitayama and Brandon Wu. Both Finau and Wu stormed up the leaderboard on Sunday shooting finishing rounds of 63.

Twenty-three golfers finished the tournament at ten under par or better in 2022 and 29 golfers finished at ten under or better in 2023 and another 23 golfers again last year. It’s safe to say this is a birdie fest.

Vidanta Vallarta is a Greg Norman designed 7,436 yard, par 71, with Paspalum greens. Vidanta is a longer resort-type course with beautiful backdrops set along the Ameca River.

Vidanta is an interesting setup with nine par fours, five par threes and four par fives. Even more interesting is the fact that there are three par fives and three par threes on the back nine.

The average length of the par fours is 457 yards. There are four that are right around 500 yards or more. The 475 yard 10th hole is the most difficult on the courae with a 32% bogey rate. The 297 yard par four 7th hole is the easiest hole on the course boasting a 60% birdie rate. It is tied with the par five 6th hole for the highest Eagle rate on the course.

Scoring well on the Par fives is a must for anyone looking to contend this week. The par fives play as some of the easiest holes on the course. Three of them boast a birdie rate well over 40 percent.

The par threes are fairly straight forward with two of them ranging from 150-175 yards, one is 195 yards, one 208 yards and the most difficult of the bunch is the 226 yard 17th hole. It’s the only par three with a birdie rate well under 10% and a bogey rate over 20 percent.

Ball Strikers are the preferred skillset at the Mexico Open with slightly more emphasis on off the tee game. Around the green play is an afterthought here. Mainly due to the large size of these greens.

Driving accuracy is slightly above tour average coming in at 63 percent. Driving Distance definitely helps at Vidanta with the average drive coming in well over tour average at 296 yards. Power in general will be an advantage as 41% of all approach shots come from over 200 yards.

You would think that greens in regulation would be a bit more difficult considering the amount of lengthy approach shots. These greens are rather large and as a result GIR percentage actually comes in at 65% which is right at tour average. However, proximity to the hole is a bit further than tour average with the average approach coming to rest at 37 feet from the hole. With many long putts, 3 putt avoidance could come into play on some holes. If you are missing greens you will not be in contention.

All in all bombers who can make birdies should be targeted. In such a weak field anyone can really be considered here.

The Cut Line has been -1 the last three years.

There are 132 Golfers in the field with the top 65 and ties making the cut after 36 holes.

2025 Mexico Open: The Key Stats

• Strokes Gained Off The Tee
• Strokes Gained Approach
• Proximity 200+ yards
• Opportunities Gained
• Driving Distance

Previous Winners

2024: Jake Knapp -19
2023: Tony Finau -25
2022: Jon Rahm -17

Golfers to Consider

*all statistics are prior tonthe conclusion of the Genesis Invitational

Akshay Bhatia

Bhatia played the Mexico Open in 2023 and finished 4th that year. He gained 6.7 strokes on approach and 5.5 strokes putting in the tournament. He had a legitimate chance to win going into Sunday but the moment was a little to big for him at the time competing against Tony Finau and Jon Rahm.

Bhatia hasn’t been incredible so far in 2025 but hasn’t played poorly. He’s been putting well and has made the cut in all of his appearances. The irons have been stronger gaining strokes on approach in back to back tournaments coming into the Genesis. He is 4th in strokes gained putting on Paspalum greens. He won the Exuma Classic on the Korn Ferry tour which was on Paspalum.

Mav McNealy

Mav has played the Mexico Open each of the last two years with mixed results. In 2023 he finished 60th losing 5.1 strokes tee to green. Last year was much better with a 13th place finish. He gained 3.6 strokes off the tee. With putting being a strength of his it’s no surprise that he’s gained about four strokes putting in each of his appearances at Vidanta.

Mav has been solid in 2025 making the cut in all six of his tournaments. His best finish came at the Sentry where he finished 8th. He also came 9th at the Waste Management and has only lost strokes off the tee or on approach once this year. Over the last 24 rounds Mav is 3rd in birdies or better, 4th in opportunities gained, 4th in par three scoring, 9th on approach and 15th off the tee.

Stephen Jaeger

Jaeger has played quite well in Mexico over the last three years with finishes of 3rd last year, 18th in 2023 and 15th in 2022. He’s gained the 2nd most total strokes at Vidanta over that span. He’s gained strokes on approach in all of his appearances here, with his best performance coming in 2023 when he gained 8.2 strokes.

Jaeger has missed one cut in four appearances so far in 2025. His best finish so far was a 3rd place at the Sony. He had a chance to win down the stretch but lost it with his driver. He’s gained strokes putting in three straight tournaments.

Patrick Rodgers

Rodgers has performed well in Mexico over the last three years with three straight top 10 finishes. He leads the field in total strokes gained at Vidanta over that span.

Rodgers had his best finish of 2025 a few weeks ago at Pebble Beach finishing in 22nd place. He’s gained strokes tee to green in all but two of his five appearances this year. Rodgers is tied for 5th in the field in strokes gained putting on Paspalum greens.

He is currently the leader heading into the final rounds of the Genesis Invitational.