The Mexico Open at Vidanta

Course Preview, Weather, Stats, Bets

Author

Andy Molitor
October 28, 2026

This one brings up nothing but bad memories, even though it was February of ‘25 that we last played it (I have Potgieter 65/1 and went home empty-handed).

I won’t try to fluff this up for something it’s not; this is an easy resort course that’s gonna get blasted with a winner in the mid-20s under par this week. Even with some weather, these are big fairways and non-penal rough with a much better rated field than last week.

Be sure to click into the full preview by Ron this week, as he’s been working on adding a new interactive data table for course history, among other nice improvements, as we prepare for the 2027 season and beyond.

Vidanta Vallarta

Tucked along the banks of the Ameca River, between the beaches of Nuevo Vallarta and the resort town of Puerto Vallarta, sits Greg Norman’s “Signature Course” at Vidanta Vallarta. The layout opened in 2015 and looks out on the Sierra Madre mountains, with Banderas Bay off to the southwest. Parota trees, native grasses and pockets of thick jungle frame most of the holes.

You won’t see a house or a storefront anywhere on the property. The course sits by itself on a quiet piece of tropical land, and players get there by crossing the Ameca on the world’s longest golf cart suspension bridge, which connects the states of Nayarit and Jalisco. As he did at TPC San Antonio and El Camaleón, Norman built the design around its natural setting: water, native plants, small changes in elevation and long views of the surrounding landscape. The land itself is fairly flat, but every one of those other elements shows up here.

As Norman said in his own words, “When designing this course, respecting and promoting the conservation of ecologically sensitive areas was of primary concern. As a result, routing was dictated by nature, according to dense vegetation corridors, streams, and wetlands.”

This year brings the biggest changes Vidanta has seen since the PGA Tour arrived in 2022. It’s the first time the event has been played in the fall, after two late April dates and two in February. The course was also reworked after Brian Campbell’s playoff win last year. The routing was shuffled so the 18th, 9th, 1st and 10th holes now sit closer together, and four holes were renovated. The par 4 4th was lengthened and turned into a slight right to left dogleg, with new fairway bunkers and a new green guarded by sand on the front right. New fairway bunkers on the par 5 8th give players more options off the tee and make it more of a risk and reward hole. The par 3 17th now plays in a stadium setting, and the par 4 18th has a new landing area between two lakes plus new greenside bunkers…..

The Mexico Open at Vidanta - 2026 Preview - Betsperts Golf

After a weather-shortened finish in Bermuda that saw Austin Smotherman win his second straight tournament, the PGA Tour heads south of the border for the

Model

Even though it was a shorter hitter that ultimately took it home last year, I’m still fine going to the well with bombers that don’t suck from long distance on their second shots. Nearly all of the stats I used are somehow related to that, including one of my favorites: Scoring Opps inside 15 feet percentage.

Betting

Had Kohles running for a bit, and I’d like to blame the lack of a 4th round, but he was fading before that. I opted to take a premium player who checks every damn box for this course and hope he takes an offseason event seriously in Clark.

Also a couple of punts on guys who meet most of the criteria and are rounding into nice form as well in Shipley and Salinda.

Wyndham Clark +1338
Neal Shipley +4944
Isaiah Salinda +10200

We went over our thoughts on the fall event as well as everyone that Noonan bet in our preview show on YouTube as well:

How to Watch

Television

  • Thursday, October 29: 4 pm - 7 pm (Golf Channel)

  • Friday, October 30: 4 pm - 7 pm (Golf Channel)

  • Saturday, October 31: 4 pm - 7 pm (Golf Channel)

  • Sunday, November 1: 3 pm - 6 pm (Golf Channel)

Streaming

Golf Channel has the only live TV coverage of all four rounds, and the Golf Channel app and golfchannel.com stream it live. NBC and CBS have no coverage this week, so there is no Peacock or Paramount+ simulcast.

All times ET.

Weather

Wind won't protect the course from scoring carnage this week with sustained speeds topping out around 13 mph all week and highs of 87 to 89 degrees every day.

The only real weather question comes early, as the afternoon wave on Thursday and Friday faces a 20 to 21 percent chance of a passing storm that could briefly stop play or soften the course. The weekend looks dry and calm, with rain chances of 1 and 3 percent and morning wind in single digits.

News and Notes

Two-month countdown:

It appears that not everyone’s paychecks cleared…

Interesting Read regarding the “rollback”

Finally, an event I don’t remember (old Fall swing stop in AZ/CA), but a video worth watching quick:

As always, bet responsibly, have fun, and ¡Bienvenidos a casa!