This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
Mayakoba Golf Classic
Playa del Carmen, Mexico
El Camaleon GC - Par 71 - 6,987 yards
Field - 132 Entrants
Purse - $7.2M
The Preview
Vamos a la Playa del Carmen for this week's Mayakoba Golf Classic, as El Camaleon GC once again plays host to the event down in Mexico along the Caribbean shoreline. The underwhelming 132-entrant field is highlighted by just one member of the Official World Golf Ranking's Top 10, Rickie Fowler, though Nos. 14 and 15 will also be in attendance as Jordan Spieth and Tony Finau tee it up. El Camaleon features a miniscule sub-7,000 yard setup that has catered to shorter hitters and seasoned vets, as opposed to the Cameron Champs of the world. The average age of the medalist throughout the past four years has been right around 35 years old, which somewhat correlates with how unimportant driving statistics can be here while irons, wedges and the flat stick take precedence. Wind has the ability to play a major factor given Playa del Carmen's proximity to the ocean, but the forecast actually calls for a fairly tame gust, which will help improve scoring conditions.
Recent Champions
2017 - Patton Kizzire
2016 - Pat Perez
2015 - Graeme McDowell
2014 - Charley Hoffman
2013 - Harris English
2012 - John Huh
2011 - Johnson Wagner
2010 - Cameron Beckman
2009 - Mark Wilson
Key Stats to Victory
Birdie or Better percentage - The average winning score has been 19.2-under-par over the past five years
GIR percentage - A lack of emphasis on driving performance makes El Camaleon more of a second-shot course
Par-4 scoring - Kizzire led the field in par-4 scoring en route to his 2017 victory
SG: Putting - Undulating greens are kept relatively slow due to a regular ocean breeze
Yahoo Value Picks - based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Rickie Fowler - $46
Fowler is the betting favorite this week, and he is coming off an eight-under 63 in his final round at the Shriners Open to notch his third straight top-8 finish. He fell to Kizzire by one stroke at El Camaleon in 2017, earning a runner-up result in his tournament debut. Fowler ranked 17th in birdie average, fifth in par-4 scoring and 15th in putting from inside 10 feet last season.
Gary Woodland - $42
Woodland was only a couple strokes away from winning here in 2016, when he posted a four-day total of 19-under-par, which was two short of champion Pat Perez. The former has been on a tear of late, finishing no worse than tied for 12th in five straight starts dating back to the BMW Championship. El Camaleon isn't a bomber's paradise, but neither was TPC Summerlin, where Woodland racked up nine final-round birdies.
Emiliano Grillo - $41
The Argentinian has yet to finish outside of the top-10 at El Camaleon, placing T9-T10 in two trips to the venue. Grillo's 2018-19 campaign is off to a solid start thanks to a runner-up finish at the CIMB Classic. He ranked 12th in SG: Putting and 32nd in birdie average last season.
Glue Guys
Charles Howell III - $34
Howell has been a staple near the top of the leaderboard here, with seven career top-20s in nine starts at El Camaleon. He has been particularly sharp of late, finishing a combined 30-under-par over the past two years. The 39-year-old ranks eighth in GIR percentage and 21st in par-4 scoring on Tour this season.
Chez Reavie - $32
Reavie is five for five in cuts made at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, and he impressively finished T14-T4 the past two seasons at El Camaleon. He collected four scores of 70 or better en route to a seventh-place finish during his last start at the CJ Cup, notching his first top-10 since early June. Reavie has been trending in a positive direction since the PGA Championship.
Beau Hossler - $32
A venue where driving the ball well doesn't matter very much comes at the perfect time for Hossler, who was brutal off the tee last week at TPC Summerlin. He still managed to finish top-25 at the Shriners Open, however, leading the field in SG: Around-the-Green and ranking 13th in SG: Approach. The former Longhorn has gone three consecutive starts with a top-30 result.
Bargain Bin
Kevin Streelman - $29
The 40-year-old veteran has never missed a cut in five appearances at El Camaleon GC, posting a pair of top-4 results in the process. He fired a four-under 67 during his final round in Las Vegas and ranked fourth among the field in SG: Around-the-Green throughout the tournament. Streelman also hit nearly 81 percent of the greens in regulation, but struggled to convert enough birdie chances as the putter gave him issues.
J.J. Spaun - $29
Spaun is a combined 20-under-par in two career voyages to Playa del Carmen, finishing T14-T28 in 2017 and 2016. His recent form includes a pair of top-15s at the Shriners Open and CJ Cup, and he racked up 36 total birdies while avoiding any doubles or worse at those two events. Spaun also led the field in SG: Approach in Vegas, which could translate to a lofty GIR percentage this week at the Mayakoba.
Scott Piercy - $26
Celebrating his 40th birthday this week in Mexico, Piercy has enjoyed El Camaleon in recent years with finishes of T4-T16 in his last two appearances. He also collected a second consecutive top-10 result at last week's Shriners Open, where he ranked top-12 among the field in several categories, including SG: Tee-to-Green, driving accuracy, and scrambling.
Strategy Tips on Yahoo this week
This week's layout is a bit funky. Although driving distance and accuracy aren't even close to paramount, there are still plenty of birdie chances out there, so it's okay to be a bit aggressive in targeting the field's best iron players. Fading a young bomber such as Tony Finau at the top of the board could pay dividends in overall lineup construction this week at a venue like El Camaleon, where experience and short-game performance unusually become more important than SG: Off-the-Tee. The list of generally unlikely past champions proves an inconsistent price-to-success ratio.
