Mexico Open tips and predictions
The Punter's Preview: Clark is a cracking bet at 14/1
Steve Rawlings: Wyndham Clark wasn't playing well when he played here for the first time four years ago but his 24th here 12 months later was an eye-catching performance given he sat tied for 114th after a 73 on Thursday.
Clark shot 67, 69 and 65 over the next three days to climb the leaderboard and less than two months later he was a major champion. He followed his fast finishing 24th here with his first PGA Tour victory at the Wells Fargo Championship before kicking on to win his first US Open three starts later.
Clark has now won six times in total, including two US Opens, and he arrives in Mexico in search of his fourth win in 13 starts. He has top 10 finishes at both the Corales Puntacana Championship and the Puerto Rico Open on paspalum, as well as a fourth-place finish at the Great Abaco Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour back in 2018. So he's shown an aptitude for the grass type already.
Back Wyndham Clark
Each-way Tips: from 30/1 to 60/1
Dave Tindall: Neal Shipley, 25, was low amateur in both the 2024 Masters (remember the The Office style shifty look to camera?) and 2024 US Open. After two Korn Ferry Tour wins in 2025, expectations were high for 2026 but he started this year by missing nine of his first 10 cuts.
It's taken a long time to turn the corner but Shipley has now cashed in each of his last six starts. There are clear highlights in that run. At the Biltmore Championship, he opened 65-62-65 and finished third before backing that up with a top 10 at the Bank of Utah.
A 34th in Bermuda last week was decent but he still needs a late surge to secure his playing privileges for 2027. While excellent driving is a given, the rest of his game is not but there have been strong signs in various departments in recent weeks.
Shipley was fourth for SG: Putting and 14th Around The Green at the Biltmore and fourth for Approach in Utah. He was positive in all the SG categories in Bermuda... It's his course debut but 18th on his last start in Mexico (Korn Ferry 2025) helps and, on current form, he looks ready to get that breakout win.
Back Neal Shipley each-way (10 Places)
Long Odds Tips: Big-hitting Sargent needs a good finish
Steve Rawlings: The shortest priced of my two picks is the man currently sitting at number 133 in the FedEx Cup standings, Gordon Sargent, who was the first man to qualify for the PGA Tour via its University Accelerated program back in 2023, although he didn't join the Tour until he turned pro in June 2025, after he'd completed his senior season at Vanderbilt University.
The former world number one amateur hasn't exactly set the world alight in the pro ranks, but he does have two top 10s on the PGA Tour at two paspalum venues that correlate nicely with this venue.
The 23-year-old finished eighth in the Puerto Rico Open in March and second at the Corales Puntacana Championship in July.
As highlighted in the preview, length off the tee has been important in all four previous editions so the fact that Sargent hits it a country mile off the tee bodes very well.
Course debutants have featured heavily on the final leaderboards at the last two editions so the fact that Sargent has never played here before may even be a bonus.
Back Gordon Sargent
First Round Leader Tips: Trust Zach to start well again
Dave Tindall: Zach Bauchou has the third lowest R1 scoring average over the last eight weeks when crunching the numbers for this week's field so looks a good candidate to hit the ground running.
The standout score during that spell was an opening 62 at the Bank of Utah Championship which secured the first-round lead.
Two starts earlier a 64 put him fourth after day one of the Wyndham Championship while he showed just what fine form he's in by taking the 54-hole lead at the Baycurrent Classic in Japan last time out.
He heads to Vidanta Vallarta on the back of four straight top 25s and I'd rather focus on his eighth place in the Korn Ferry's Tulum Championship in Mexico last year than the missed cut at this course on his only start in the event back in 2023 when he wasn't the player he is now.
Bauchou is an early starter at 07:16 from the 10th.
Back Zach Bauchou each-way for FRL
Course and current form stats
Current Form Pick: The American missed the cut in Bermuda but his form going into that event, which saw three consecutive top five finishes, indicates it may have been an anomaly. T5 at the Black Desert came after a second place finish at the Biltmore. Before that he was third at the Wyndham.
Ben James