Daily Fantasy Golf Course Primer: WGC-Mexico
Last year, we saw a brand new course debut on the PGA Tour for the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship.
That course was Club de Golf Chapultepec.
Finding information on the new course last year was difficult, but now we have at least one event of data on the par 71 located just outside Mexico City.
The WGC-Mexico heads back there again this weekend, so how can we take advantage on FanDuel?
Course and Tournament Info
At 7,330 yards, Chapultepec played as one of the 20 longest courses on tour last season and as the fourth-longest par 71. However, much to do with the course's difficulty is the change in elevation rather than the distance alone. The comparison you'll see a lot this week is to Riviera CC.
In terms of difficulty, Chapultepec was about average for the PGA Tour relative to par.
| Year | Difficulty Rank | Course | Par | Yds | Avg Score | Avg O/U Par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 22 | Club de Golf Chapultepec | 71 | 7,330 | 71.049 | 0.049 |
Dustin Johnson won last year's WGC-Mexico, a no-cut event with 77 golfers, with a score of 14 under par. How did he do it?
Key Stats
Always give weight to strokes gained: tee to green, but tee-to-green play includes off-the-tee, approach, and around the green, so digging a little deeper will be our goal here -- per usual.
| Key Stats for the WGC-Mexico at Club de Golf Chapultepec |
|---|
| Strokes Gained: Approach |
| Par 5 Scoring |
| Birdie or Better Rate |
| Strokes Gained: Putting (on Bentgrass/Poa) |
Dustin Johnson led the field last year in strokes gained: tee to green. Despite ranking fourth in driving distance (321.8 yards), he ranked just 27th out of 76 golfers in strokes gained: off the tee. He really made up the ground with his second shots: Johnson finished first in strokes gained: approach.
Johnson also birdied 10 of the 12 par 5s. Per FantasyGolfMetrics, golfers who finished inside the top 10 birdied (or bettered) 27.8% of their holes. That rate for the full field was just 20.4%.
Putting is always difficult to target because it comes and goes, but the top golfers by strokes gained: putting last year were Soren Kjeldsen (T32), Phil Mickelson (T7), Matt Kuchar (T20), Ross Fisher (T3), Justin Thomas (T5).
Alternatively, the top 10 all graded out pretty well on the greens: DJ (winner) was 21st in strokes gained: putting, followed by Tommy Fleetwood (27th), Fisher (4th), Jon Rahm (8th), Thomas Pieters (14th), Justin Thomas (5th), Phil Mickelson (2nd), Brandt Snedeker (11th), and Rory McIlroy (24th).
It's pretty obvious, sure, but if you can't sink your putts on these greens, you're going to lag behind the field over your 72 holes.
Course History Studs
With just one go-around on this course, nobody can stand out with extended course history, but 36 golfers with course history from last year will be competing this weekend.
Only three of them ranked inside the top 12 (out of the 36 returning golfers) in both strokes gained: tee to green and putting. Thomas Pieters was 4th tee to green and 10th putting, Jon Rahm was 5th and 6th, respectively, and Ross Fisher was 8th and 3rd, respectively.
If we open that up to the top half (18th or better among those 36 returning golfers), the list expands to Dustin Johnson (1st and 15th), Tommy Fleetwood (2nd and 16th), Sergio Garcia (7th and 18th), Daniel Berger (11th and 17th), Jordan Spieth (12th and 14th), Justin Thomas (14th and 4th), Tyrrell Hatton (16th and 7th), and Matthew Fitzpatrick (18th and 12th).
