Field Level Media’s Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: Zurich Classic of New Orleans (Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele)
THIS WEEK: Mexico Open, Vidanta Vallarta, Vallarta, Mexico, April 28-May 1
Course: Vidanta Vallarta (Par 71, 7,456 yards)
Purse: $8.3M
Defending Champions: Inaugural event
FedExCup Leader: Scottie Scheffler
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 3:30-6:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
PGA Tour Live: Daily feeds on ESPN+
Social Media: @MexicoOpenGolf (Twitter)
NOTES: Vidanta Vallarta will play host to the event for the next three years. The Greg Norman-designed course opened in 2015 and 250 yards and 51 bunkers were added in preparation for the PGA Tour stop. … The Mexico Open was first held in 1944 and is considered the country’s national championship. … Patrick Flavin and Turk Pettit advanced from a 6-for-2 playoff to earn Monday qualifier spots along with Jeffrey Kang and Bryson Nimmer. … The 10 players from Mexico in the field are the most on record for a PGA Tour event.
BEST BETS: No. 2 Jon Rahm (+475 at BetMGM) is the heavy favorite as the only top-15 player in the field. He tees it up for the first time since the Masters still seeking his first win since last year’s U.S. Open. … Abraham Ancer +2000) and Carlos Ortiz (+6600) are among the Mexican players seeking to win in their home country. Ancer has a pair of top-10s in 12 starts this season, including a T7 at Mayakoba. Ortiz is 83-under par when playing in Mexico, the second-best of any player since the start of the 2014-15 season (Justin Thomas, -90). … Gary Woodland (+2200) has three top-10s and three missed cuts in his last seven events. … Tony Finau (+2200) is a multiple-time winner on the PGA Tour but does not have a top-10 in 12 starts this season. … Kevin Na (+2800) has one top-10 in nine starts as he seeks a win for the fifth consecutive season. … Patrick Reed (+3300) won the 2020 WGC-Mexico Championship.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Wells Fargo Championship, Potomac, Md., May 5-8
LPGA Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: DIO Implant LA Open (Nasa Hataoka)
THIS WEEK: Palos Verdes Championship, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., April 28-May 1
Course: Palos Verdes Club (Par 71, 6,258 yards)
Purse: $1.5M
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Race to the CME Globe leader: Danielle Kang
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 6:30-9:30 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 6-9 p.m. (All times Golf Channel)
Social: @PV_Champ (Twitter), @pvchamp (Instagram); #PVChamp
NOTES: The 145-player field includes seven of nine winners this year and will be cut to the top 70 and ties after 36 holes. … Minjee Lee leads the tour in scoring average (69.050) while Lexi Thompson leads in greens in regulation (78.1 percent) and total strokes gained (2.210). … The average age of winners on tour this year is 25. … Kang and Thompson lead the Team USA Solheim Cup standings, followed by Jennifer Kupcho, Nelly Korda and Jessica Korda.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Founders Cup, Clifton, N.J., May 12-15
Champions Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: ClubCorp Classic (Scott Parel)
THIS WEEK: Insperity Invitational, The Woodlands, Texas, April 29-May 1.
Course: The Woodlands Country Club (Par 72, 7,002 yards)
Purse: $2.3M (Winner: $345,000)
Defending Champion: Mike Weir
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Miguel Angel Jimenez
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Friday, 12-3 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 3-6 p.m. (Golf Channel)
Social: @InsperityInvtnl
NOTES: Four-time event champion Bernhard Langer set the tournament scoring record of 191 in 2007, before it moved to The Woodlands the following year. … Steve Stricker will make his first Champions start since October. … The field includes nine World Golf Hall of Fame members.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Mitsubishi Electric Classic, Duluth, Ga., May 2-8
–Field Level Media
