VidantaWorld Mexico Open 2026: a shorter course, a drivable 13th

The 13th at Vidanta Vallarta was a par 3 when Brian Campbell won the Mexico Open in February 2025. This week it is a drivable par 4. Greg Norman’s design firm, which built the course in 2016, began reworking it in September 2025. According to the PGA TOUR, the 11th also goes from a par 3 to a par 4, the 15th from a par 4 to a par 3, and the 4th, a 520-yard par 4 last year, is now 423 yards. The new routing finishes on a 455-yard par-4 18th, and the course is a par 71 of 7,337 yards, 99 yards shorter than before.

The grass is Platinum paspalum from tee to green, the rough is 2.5 inches and the greens can reach about 11 on the Stimpmeter, according to the PGA TOUR. In its four years as host, the course has never ranked lower than fourth on the tour for proximity to the hole, and last year’s field set the event’s lowest scoring average, 69.510, the tour says. The forecast is for sun, highs of 27–32C and light wind, with a chance of storms on Thursday, according to the tour’s preview.

Campbell, 277.8 yards, against Potgieter, 326.9

When Campbell and Aldrich Potgieter tied on −20, Campbell was averaging 277.8 yards off the tee and Potgieter 326.9, according to GOLF.com. Campbell’s drive on the second extra hole was heading right until it hit a branch and came back towards the fairway, and he made birdie from three feet to win his first PGA TOUR title. Isaiah Salinda, who shot 65 that Sunday, finished a shot out of the playoff. Campbell ended 2025 with the shortest average drive of the tour’s 180 members, the PGA TOUR says, and Potgieter with the longest.

Campbell won again in July 2025, at the John Deere Classic, beating Emiliano Grillo in another playoff. Grillo and Potgieter are both in the 120-player field. Potgieter shares the course record of 61 with Jon Rahm, and Tony Finau’s 260 in 2023 is the 72-hole record, both set before the redesign. Nobody has defended this title since it became a PGA TOUR event.

On Thursday Campbell plays with Tom Kim and Wyndham Clark, who is fifth in the world and top of this field’s rankings. Clark has won three times in 2026, including his second US Open. Kim has not played a PGA TOUR event since the Tour Championship in August, according to the Korea Herald. In between he played the Presidents Cup and won the men’s individual gold medal at the Asian Games in Japan. The gold exempts him from South Korea’s military service. He won the Genesis Scottish Open this year and was third at the US Open. The PGA TOUR’s power rankings put him second this week.

Hodges and Greyserman fall to 102nd and 103rd

This is the first of the last four FedExCup Fall events. The standings close after The RSM Classic, and players inside the top 100 then keep full cards for 2027. Seamus Power and Taylor Moore moved inside the top 100 in Bermuda, which pushed Lee Hodges to 102nd and Max Greyserman to 103rd, according to the PGA TOUR. Finau, the 2023 champion, is also outside the top 100. Players ranked 51st to 60th earn places in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational through the Aon Next 10. Corey Conners, third in Bermuda, climbed from 66th to 54th.

Ortiz, Daly II and the Monday qualifiers

Alvaro Ortiz, who won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour this year to earn his card, leads the home entries. Mauricio Figueroa and Alejandro Fierro came through Monday qualifying. John Daly II, the 2025 Southern Amateur champion, makes his first start as a professional; he finished tied 37th at the Puerto Rico Open as an amateur.

Thursday’s tee times (GMT)

Vallarta is six hours behind GMT. Selected groups:

GMT	Local	Tee	Players
13:27	07:27	10th	Emiliano Grillo, Aaron Baddeley, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
13:38	07:38	10th	Tony Finau, Corey Conners, Max Homa
13:49	07:49	1st	Aldrich Potgieter, Cam Davis, Davis Riley
13:49	07:49	10th	Ben Griffin, Andrew Novak, Joel Dahmen
14:11	08:11	10th	Peter Malnati, Lee Hodges, Rico Hoey
14:44	08:44	1st	Marco Penge, Ben James, John Daly II
18:18	12:18	1st	Wyndham Clark, Tom Kim, Brian Campbell
18:29	12:29	1st	Garrick Higgo, Billy Horschel, Alvaro Ortiz
18:40	12:40	1st	Matthieu Pavon, Max Greyserman, Rasmus Højgaard
19:02	13:02	10th	Luke Clanton, Blades Brown, Kihei Akina (a)

Golf Channel is live from 20:00 to 23:00 GMT on all four days, which is 15:00 to 18:00 Eastern on Sunday after US clocks go back. The winner takes US$1.08 million from the US$6 million purse, plus 500 FedExCup points. A report on each round goes on the tournament hub the next morning.

Sources

• PGA TOUR: The First Look, VidantaWorld Mexico Open
• PGA TOUR: Power Rankings, VidantaWorld Mexico Open
• PGA TOUR: Points and payouts, Butterfield Bermuda Championship
• VidantaWorld Mexico Open: 2026 field and highlights
• Golf Course Architecture: Greg Norman’s firm returns to renovate Vidanta Vallarta
• GOLF.com: Thursday tee times, 2026 VidantaWorld Mexico Open
• Golf Digest: Tee times, TV coverage and viewer’s guide
• GOLF.com: The Mexico Open playoff and a wild driving stat
• Korea Herald: Tom Kim returns to PGA Tour at Mexico Open after Asian Games gold
• The Golf News Net: 2026 VidantaWorld Mexico Open field and rankings
• Wikipedia: Brian Campbell (golfer)