The PGA Tour ventures south of the border this week for the WGC-Mexico Championship, an event previously sponsored by Cadillac and staged from 2007-16 at Doral.
Located less than 10 miles from downtown Mexico City, Club de Golf Chapultepec was completed in 1921 before being renovated in 1972, since when Ben Crenshaw (1981) and Jay Haas (1991) were among the winners of the Mexican Open.
The par-71 layout measures 7,330 yards but with the highest part of the course more than 7,800 feet above sea level, the ball will be travelling a long way and judging distances is going to be a major factor. For example, Rory McIlroy revealed he hit an eight iron 210 yards in practice.
Without any recent course form to go on, the obvious temptation is to stick to the market leaders, especially considering the last four winners on the PGA Tour were Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler.
McIlroy is now thrown into the mix as he makes his return from a seven-week injury lay-off, the world number three having lost a play-off for the South African Open in January after playing through the pain barrier caused by a stress fracture to his ribs.
However, with McIlroy understandably rusty, our first selection is his Ryder Cup team-mate Justin Rose, who has recorded three top-four finishes in his four events so far in 2017.
Rose showed he was capable of quickly adjusting to a brand new venue when he won Olympic gold in Rio last summer and can continue the trend for high-class winners at odds of 22/1.
With 49 of the world’s top 50 in the field, some generous prices are available elsewhere, particularly for European players who should be suited by a course that has been compared to the tight, tree-lined venues often found in Italy and Spain.
First up at 50/1 is Italy’s Francesco Molinari, who has quietly finished in the top 14 in seven of his last eight starts worldwide, a run stretching back to his win on home soil last September.
Next at a surprisingly generous 125/1 is England’s Tommy Fleetwood, who missed back-to-back cuts after his brilliant victory in Abu Dhabi but bounced back to finish 12th in Malaysia on his last outing.
Finally, American Kevin Na – who has joined the European Tour as an affiliate member – was fourth last time out in the Genesis Open at Riviera, where the greens are the same poa annua/bentgrass mix to be found in Mexico City. Na has won just once on the PGA Tour, but could reward an each-way interest at 100/1.
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