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Mexico Open at VidantaWorld Preview: Course, Field, History, Tee Times, How to Watch

The PGA Tour will head to VidantaWorld for the Mexico Open—and it could be a life-changing week for someone.

Max Schreiber

Akshay Bhatia is the second-highest-ranked player in the Mexico Open field.
Akshay Bhatia is the second-highest-ranked player in the Mexico Open field. / Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

South of the border we go. 

After the conclusion of the West Coast swing, the PGA Tour will head to VidantaWorld Golf Course for the Mexico Open before heading to Florida the following week.

A 132-player field will play for part of a $7 million purse, with the winner collecting $1,260,000 and 500 FedExCup points. 

From its field, course, history and tee times, here’s what you need to know for the 2025 Mexico Open.

The field

The Mexico Open field doesn’t jump off the page, with just two of the world’s top 30-ranked players in the field: Aaron Rai (29) and Akshay Bhatia (30). 

But the week can still be life-changing. 

Ten players who competed at last week’s Genesis Invitational will tee it up in Mexico: Patrick Rodgers, Bhatia, Michael Kim, Jake Knapp, Kevin Yu, Sam Stevens, Rai, Ben Griffin, Stephan Jaeger and  Rasmus Højgaard. 

Five natives of Mexico are in the field: Álvaro Ortiz, Santiago de la Fuente, José Cristóbal Islas, Gerardo Gómez and José Antonio Safa. 

Justin Hastings, the Latin America Amateur Championship winner, who is currently a senior at San Diego State, is making his second Tour start—before playing three majors later this year. 

Blades Brown, a 17-year-old phenom, is making his second start on Tour since turning professional. 

Four-time Tour winner Scott Piercy and three-time major champion Padraig Harrington will play on sponsor’s exemptions. 

Knapp is the defending champion. Last season, he came into the Mexico Open as a rookie ranked No. 101 in the world after four seasons on the Canadian tour and two on the Korn Ferry Tour. During his path to the PGA Tour, he worked as a nightclub bouncer and used the money to pay tournament entry fees as he needed time during the day to practice. 

With his victory a year ago, he notched a spot in the remaining five signature events, which offer a $20 million purse, and also the Masters and PGA Championship. 

Maybe someone will follow suit this year. 

The course 

The Greg Norman-designed VidantaWorld is best described as a bomber's paradise. 

It’s one of the Tour’s longer courses, stretching 7,436. A par-71, it features 40 acres of fairway, 136 acres of rough, 55 bunkers and 12 water hazards. 

It’s above average in terms of difficulty. In 2024, it was the Tour’s 21st hardest course (out of 50) with a scoring average of 70.074 (-0.926).

Last season, Vidanta boasted the second toughest hole on Tour: its par-4 10th. At 475 yards, it yielded an average score of 4.446 (+0.446). 

On the contrary, however, the course's easiest hole is the 297-yard, par-4 7th, which was the 868th hardest hole on Tour in 2024 out of 900. Its average score was 3.408 (-0.592).

History: stars and underdogs 

The Mexico Open has been a part of golf for nearly 80 years.

Serving as Mexico’s national championship, it boasts champions such as Stewart Cink, Jay Haas, Fred Funk, Billy Casper, Ben Crenshaw,  Roberto De Vicenzo and Lee Trevino.

However, it’s only been a PGA Tour event since 2022. 

In the past, it was a Challenge Tour, Web.com (Korn Ferry) Tour and PGA Tour Latinoamérica event. But three years ago, it took the WGC-Mexico Championship’s place.

In 2022, Jon Rahm won as a heavy favorite, edging Tony Finau, Brandon Wu and Kurt Kitayama by a stroke. 

A year later, Finau got revenge, winning by three strokes over Rahm. 

Then, a year ago, Knapp claimed his maiden Tour win. He is now looking to become the first player to successfully defend a title on Tour since Scottie Scheffler at the 2024 Players Championship.

How to watch (all times EST)

  • Thursday: 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel)
  • Friday: 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel)
  • Saturday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (NBC)
  • Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (NBC)

ESPN+ will also have over 10 hours of featured coverage all four days. 

Round 1 and 2 tee times  

Published
Max Schreiber
MAX SCHREIBER

Max Schreiber is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, covering golf. Before joining SI in October 2024, the Mahwah, N.J., native, worked as an associate editor for the Golf Channel and wrote for RyderCup.com and FanSided. He is a multiplatform producer for Newsday and has a bachelor's in communications and journalism from Quinnipiac University. In his free time, you can find him doing anything regarding the Yankees, Giants, Knicks and Islanders.

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