Tommy Fleetwood looking for 1st PGA Tour win at WGC-Mexico

The PGA Tour heads south of the border for the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec near Mexico City. One main feature is the long drives on this course, which sits around 7,500 feet above sea level. The longest drive on the PGA Tour last year, a 457-yard bomb by Justin Thomas, occurred here.

But players will still have to hit precise approach shots or they can’t contend. That part of golf never changes. Chapultepec has a listed yardage of 7,345 and a par of 71, which is not long for these guys, considering the thin air.

This tournament has been played at Chapultepec since 2017, so many of the players have already made several appearances, including defending champ Dustin Johnson. He recorded his 20th Tour win a year ago and hasn’t won since.

Fleetwood is still looking for his first PGA Tour win

Perhaps even more peculiar, one player still looking for his first win on the PGA Tour is Tommy Fleetwood. Ranked 11th in the world, the 29-year-old Englishman captured Gary Player’s tournament in South Africa in November, then earned second alone in DP World Tour Championship in Dubai and tied for second in Abu Dhabi.

In his last tournament appearance, Fleetwood tied for 11th in the Dubai Desert Classic. The form is there for a strong showing, especially since he’s shown an affinity for Chapultepec. In his first appearance, Fleetwood finished second, which he followed up with a tie for 14th the following year and a tie for 19th in 2019. He’s showing odds of +2200 for top honors and has the game and form to do it.

Last season Fleetwood ranked in the top 20 on Tour in strokes gained total, strokes gained off the tee, strokes gained around the green, and strokes gained tee to green.

Bezuidenhout is a live longshot

There are several longshots who merit some consideration. One of those is +10000 shot Christiaan Bezuidenhout from South Africa. This is his debut at Chapultepec, but the 25-year-old exits a win back home last week, and earlier this winter lost a playoff in the Dubai Desert Classic.

Bezuidenhout, who is now ranked 48th in the world, gained his first victory on the European Tour over the summer in Spain. I’ll give him some consideration for each-way wagers and in any matchup he has, given his current form.

Another I’ll give a close look is Frenchman Victor Perez. Ranked 38th in the world, Perez tied for second with Fleetwood in Abu Dhabi and recorded a top 20 in the Dubai Desert Classic. This will be his first appearance at Chapultepec, but Perez won the Alfred Dunhill Links in September and followed that up with a top five in the WGC events in China and Turkey. He’s worth a look at +7000.

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