After a very busy portion of the schedule that featured a pair of Signature Events, the WMPO and Farmers Insurance Open, the PGA TOUR heads to the sunny shores of Vallarta, Mexico for the fourth ever rendition of the Mexico Open. Vidanta Vallarta will be the host course, and measures as a long 7,436-yard par 71 with Paspalum greens.
We are back to a full-field, 36-hole cut event this week that will feature 132 golfers. Akshay Bhatia is the biggest name teeing it up, but joining him will be the likes of Kurt Kitayama, both Hojgaard brothers (Rasmus and Nicolai), along with the defending champ, Jake Knapp.
Below, I have outlined three of my favorite DraftKings plays for the week.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $500K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st]
Kurt Kitayama ($10,200)
Kitayama has not had a particularly strong start to 2025, as his best finish has been T37 through four starts. However, if you check under the hood you’d find that the tee-to-green game has been phenomenal, and that it’s been an extremely cold putter holding him back.
While having your putter working at this event is a nice luxury, you’ll want to make sure your ball-striking is in tip-top shape, and Kitayama’s is absolutely locked in. The 32-year-old ranks No. 1 in both SG: Ball-Striking and SG: Tee-to-Green over his past 16 rounds, while sitting seventh in Total Strokes Gained in the same time frame.
He ranked 32nd on the PGA TOUR in driving distance last season, and more importantly 11th among anyone in this field. I bring this up because Vidanta Vallarta is one of the longest courses on the circuit, and so far through three years of this event, the winners have been Tony Finau, Jon Rahm and Jake Knapp — three incredibly long hitters.
In his lone start here back in 2022, Kitayama finished runner-up to Rahm, while gaining 1.95 strokes per round from tee-to-green. Kitayama’s lone win on the PGA TOUR came at a very difficult Bay Hill track, which is also a long course that requires length off the tee and accuracy with your long-irons.
When you factor in the lack of strength this field offers, along with both the course history and recent rolling numbers, Kitayama is arguably the best play on the slate at $10,200.
Matt Wallace ($7,900)
Wallace is one of the few golfers in the field that have played this event all three years it’s been held. His results have not been anything to write home about, but he has made two-of-three cuts, including a T33 last year. That finish could have been even better, because the Englishman was tied for the lead heading into Saturday, before blowing up over the weekend.
Wallace is a battle-tested veteran, having posted four-career wins on the DP World Tour and one PGA TOUR at the Corales Puntacana Championship, which is very a similar course to Vidanta Vallarta. You want to target Wallace shortly after he shows signs of life in his most previous start, and that’s exactly what he did at the WMPO two weeks ago, gaining 3.5 strokes from tee-to-green, including 3.3 on approach.
The fact that his lone PGA TOUR win came at a long track with Paspalum greens really bodes well for his chances this week, and in addition to his $7,900 DFS salary, Wallace also makes for a strong outright bet.
Vincent Norrman ($7,000)
Norrman is the archetype of golfer you want to target at Vidanta, as he’s one of the longest hitters in the world, and can absolutely rip his long irons. After bursting onto the scene in 2023 by winning the Barbasol Championship and Horizon Irish Open (DP World Tour), Norrman regressed a bit last year, missing a ton of cuts and posting zero top-10 finishes.
He’s bounced back pretty nicely so far in 2025, making the weekend in all four of his starts so far this year, including a T29 finish at the AMEX.
The Swede has been absolutely striping the ball so far this year, ranking third in this field in SG: Ball-Striking over his past 12 measured rounds, while sitting 25th in Total Strokes Gained. Norrman missed the cut on the number at this event last year while he was in the midst of an awful campaign, but finished T18 in his rookie year back in 2023. Being that he’s playing much better of late, I fully expect a bounce-back performance this week at a course that was virtually designed for him.
At just $7,000, Norrman does not need much more than a made cut to pay off this salary.