Golf best bets: 3 props for the Mexico Open at Vidanta

After a string of great tournaments at historic golf courses, the PGA Tour heads to a mini-bye week for the Mexico Open at Vidanta. Only four of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking are in the field this week, headlined by +900 favorite and reigning champion Tony Finau. 

Is it a golf tournament we can't wait to watch? Maybe not, but there's still money to be made regardless of the field strength. 

Taylor Pendrith top-20 finish (+150 ESPN BET)

Taylor Pendrith enters the Mexico Open at Vidanta on a hot streak with five top-15 finishes in his last seven starts. The Canadian also fits this golf course well as a long driver with putting upside. This season, Pendrith ranks 10th on the PGA Tour in driving distance and seventh in proximity from 175-200 yards, which is the range where a ton of approach shots will come into play this week. 

Pendrith struggles with accuracy off the tee, but that hardly matters at Vidanta Vallarta because of its wide fairways and minimal penalty areas.

Carson Young top-40 finish (+115 FD)

Carson Young isn't the bomber off the tee that Pendrith is, but he fits this golf course in a different way. The American ranks second on Tour this season in fairway proximity and sixth in approaches from 200-plus yards. 

Long irons are Young's specialty, and he'll need to hit a lot of them this week considering his lack of distance off the tee. He finished T15 at the Mexico Open last year, and his best finish of the 2023 season came at the Puerto Rico Open, which also features Paspalum greens. 

Cameron Champ to miss the cut (+132 FanDuel)

Cameron Champ has a unique skill set on the PGA Tour. He has one strength — driving distance — but he's been terrible in every other statistical category this year. His supreme length off the tee has aided him to two straight top-10 finishes at Vidanta Vallarta, a bomber's course with wide fairways and short rough, but it's impossible to ignore his recent struggles.

Champ is on one of the worst iron stretches of his career, as he's lost strokes on approach in each of his four starts in 2024. He finished dead last in the field in strokes gained: approach at the Farmers Insurance Open and second to last at The American Express. Champ should outdrive the entire field this week, but he won't be able to score if he's not hitting it close with his irons or sinking putts.