This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
WGC-Mexico Championship
Mexico City, Mexico
Club de Golf Chapultepec - Par 71 - 7,355 yards
Field - 72 Entrants
Purse - $10.5M
The Preview
Expect "altitude" and/or "elevation" to replace "kikuyu" as the buzzword this week in Mexico City after the latter drew copious mentions at Riviera Country Club. Situated about 7,400 feet above sea level, The Club de Golf Chapultepec is primed to host the WGC-Mexico Championship for the fourth consecutive year while its 7,355-yard, par-71 layout plays much shorter than it appears on paper. Distance control on approach shots is both tricky and essential, but the no-cut structure of this WGC event will allow all 72 entrants the full four rounds to become accustomed. Chapultepec's greens are small and undulating, emphasizing the importance of proximity with irons/wedges and comfortability putting on poa annua. As for the weather, precipitation should be scarce, but sustained winds of 10-15 miles per hour could be on tap Thursday and Friday.
Recent Champions
2019 - Dustin Johnson
2018 - Phil Mickelson
2017 - Dustin Johnson
2016 - Adam Scott
2015 - Dustin Johnson
2014 - Patrick Reed
2013 - Tiger Woods
2012 - Justin Rose
2011 - Nick Watney
2010 - Ernie Els
2009 - Phil Mickelson
Key Stats to Victory
SG: Approach/Proximity
SG: Putting
Par-breaker percentage
Driving accuracy
Yahoo Value Picks - based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Dustin Johnson - $46
It was a bit of a strange week for Johnson at Riviera Country Club as he failed to break par twice, though he played Rounds 2 and 3 in a collective nine-under-par while tallying three eagles during this stretch to ultimately post a top-10 result. He led the entire field in putts per GIR, but he only hit 50 percent of the greens in regulation throughout the tournament. Johnson now heads to the Club de Golf Chapultepec, where he owns the strongest track record out of anyone in attendance with finishes of Win-T7-Win in three showings here. He's brilliant when it comes to putting from 10-25 feet on poa annua greens and he just ranked third in proximity from 100-125 yards at the Genesis Invitational.
Webb Simpson - $43
Coming off his playoff victory at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, the red-hot Simpson is second to none in both SG: Approach and SG: Putting over his last 24 rounds. He's placed Win-3-2-T7 in his past four official events on the PGA Tour dating back to the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, rejoining the top-10 in the Official World Golf Ranking as he currently resides one spot ahead of Tiger Woods. Additionally, Simpson has not lost strokes putting since the 2019 RBC Heritage last April.
Tommy Fleetwood - $40
Following a win at the European Tour's Nedbank Golf Challenge and solo runner-up honors at the DP World Tour Championship, Fleetwood continued his international surge as 2020 commenced with results of T2-T11 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and Omega Dubai Desert Classic. The Englishman's history at the WGC-Mexico Championship is impressive as well, having finished T19-T14-2 at the tournament since 2017. Throughout the past 12 months, Fleetwood has made a whopping 92 percent of his putts from 4-6 feet on poa annua greens, which is 10% higher than the PGA Tour average.
Glue Guys
Adam Scott - $39
Back-to-back wins at the Australian PGA Championship and the Genesis Invitational and Scott still carries a sub-$40 price tag? That's solid value for a guy who just gained over six strokes on approaches at Riviera CC en route to a two-shot victory, while also leading the Genesis field in GIR percentage and birdies along the way.
Louis Oosthuizen - $35
Oosthuizen will be making his first PGA Tour appearance since a solo-third finish at the WGC-HSBC Champions in early November, but he notched four top-6s in six starts on the European Tour from the Nedbank Golf Challenge through the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. At the Club de Golf Chapultepec in 2019, the South African broke 70 twice and played the par-4s in a collective eight-under-par, which ranked seventh among the field.
Tyrrell Hatton - $30
Hatton enjoyed a successful fall series in which he finished T18 or better in four consecutive starts from the Euro Tour's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship to the WGC-HSBC Champions, foreshadowing what became his first win since 2017 in November at the Turkish Airlines Open where he emerged from a six-man playoff. The Englishman is a combined 29-under-par in three showings at the Club de Golf Chapultepec, which includes a T3 here in 2018.
Bargain Bin
Sergio Garcia - $25
Per usual, a lousy putter has kept Garcia under the radar as of late as he posted a mediocre T37 at the Genesis Invitational despite ranking fourth in SG: Off-the-Tee. Garcia has gained eight total strokes putting in three WGC-Mexico Championships, however, resulting in quite a respectable Chapultepec resume that includes back-to-back top-7s and a T12 in 2017 as he just may have these greens figured out.
Bubba Watson - $25
Last week's chalk play at Riviera burned a bevy of gamers when he missed a four-footer on the par-4 18th during Friday's second round, ultimately failing to advance to the weekend by one shot, but the MC should help limit Watson's exposure in Mexico City despite consecutive top-6s at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and Farmers Insurance Open prior to the Genesis blooper. Watson lost a wicked 4.3 strokes putting in just 36 holes at Riviera CC, but he actually gained nearly three strokes from tee to green. He's still ninth in SG: T2G over his last 12 rounds and he tied for ninth here at Chapultepec in 2018.
Rafa Cabrera Bello - $20
On the opposite side of the spectrum as Bubba, Cabrera Bello gained over three strokes putting at the Genesis Invitational and has been great from the 7-10 ft. range on poa annua greens. The Spaniard finished just one stroke shy of joining the playoff between Phil Mickelson and Justin Thomas at 16-under during the 2018 edition of this event, when Cabrera Bello ranked second in putting average and holed a pair of eagles.
