WGC - Mexico Championship
The PGA Tour heads south and out of the USA this week for the first World Golf Championship event of the season - the Mexico Championship.
Held at the Club de Golf Chapultepec resort in Mexico City, it is a course with many similarities to Riviera - home to the Genesis Open a fortnight ago. The 7,330 yards sounds long, but played at decent altitude, being a big hitter has never proved the decisive factor, although it does come into in when setting up the approach to the tight greens.
The two key stats we'll be looking to to provide the winner this week are Greens in Regulation and Strokes Gained Approaching the Green. They've traditionally been a good guide, while we'll also put an eye on the results at Riviera in our search.
The first pick has to be Patrick Cantlay for us - on offer at 30/1 with as many as six places available. The American wasn't present here last year, but comes fresh from a week off having finished 4th at the Genesis. He currently lays 25th for GIR this season, having finished overall 13th on that metric in 2017, and also banked some decent strokes-gained on appraoch stats last season - finishing 17th overall. It's a good quality field, but he looks primed for another big weekend and looks worth chancing at 33/1.
At the front of the market, Jordan Spieth much feel he's due some fortune after carding a top 10 finish at the Genesis - his first since the start of the year. He's been playing the long end of the fairways nicely though, and currently ranks 7th on GIR and 16th on SG-Approaching, so this course should suit nicely. The top five in the world are all here, but at 12/1, Spieth is preferred to the likes of Dustin Johnson (last year winner and 6/1 shot), Justin Thomas (last week winner and 15/2) or Jon Rahm (12/1).
Finally, we'll add in Tony Finau who is enjoying a very handy season. The world number 32 came out 2nd at the Genesis, and this will will his first trip to this event. He's really comfortable in this part of the world however, and carded a top 25 finish in the Mexico Championship on his first trip south, and also finished 7th in the OHL Classic. Finally, he's finished inside the top seven in five of his last ten starts, which would have ensured an e/w payout to put you well in profit on him this season.
1pt e/w Jordan Spieth at 12/1 (6 places, 1/5 odds)
1pt e/w Tony Finau at 40/1 (6 places, 1/5 odds)
1pt e/w Patrick Cantlay at 33/1 (6 places, 1/5 odds)