There is clear separation at the top of the field at the 2024 Mexico Open with five golfers at 10 under or better and all three others better than 6 under. Even though the field is bunched up in the middle of the pack, it is looking increasingly likely like one of the five who are out in front of everyone at the halfway point is going to walk away with this week’s event.
Let’s jump into the second round and see what to expect this weekend.
The leaders
T1. Matt Wallace, Sami Valimaki, Alvaro Ortiz, Jake Knapp (-11)
Wallace is such a character. He shot 66 on Thursday in the first round and followed with a 65 on Friday in the second round. He’s hitting the ball beautifully, but he said his scoring can be attributed to a new system he’s employed with his caddie.
“Basically we started tournaments pretty poorly this year, and it’s kind of been like, ‘OK, we’ll see how it goes to start the tournament on Thursday,'” Wallace said. “We find ourselves behind the eight ball, and then we’ve played really well on Fridays because we’ve been determined to get the score back. So we kind of came up with a system of like starting over par so we’ve already played one round, right?
“To make the cut, you’ve got to get yourself into it. So (Thursday) was 4 over and we managed to shoot 1 under, which is 5 under, and today it was 3 over. It’s not nice standing on that 10th tee 3 over already. Then I bogeyed it, so I was 4 over so I had to get it back. That sort of determination and focus really helped.”
Whatever works!
Other contenders
5. Erik van Rooyen (-10)
T6. Andrew Novak, Mark Hubbard (-8)
8. Chan Kim (-7)
Van Rooyen was the first-round leader, and while he was decent in Round 2, he couldn’t quite stay at the top of the board after shooting a 2-under 69 on Friday. His take on why it was difficult to follow a 63 with another low one.
“Golf’s hard, man,” he said. “A few shots I got away with and all of a sudden you hit a couple good shots in between, you shoot 8 under. And today again I felt like I didn’t hit it that great and shot 2 under. I think today was more a reflection of where I feel my ball-striking is at. Again, in a great spot for the weekend.”
One thing to watch
Of the current leaders, three (Wallace, Ortiz and Valimaki) are in the top five in the field in putting. Is that sustainable? I don’t know that it is. But the players around them (Knapp, van Rooyen and Novak) are all in the top three from tee to green. Knapp is first, van Rooyen is second and Novak is third. That’s a pretty fascinating subplot going into the next two days.
Big names miss the cut
Though Tony Finau and Nicolai Hojgaard comfortably got inside the cut line late in the day, several other big names missed the cut. Here’s a short look at them.
T78. Charley Hoffman (E)
T86. Michael Kim (+1)
T86. David Lipsky (+1)
T122. Mackenzie Hughes (+8)
T125. Adrien Dumont de Chassart (+9)
Why is Lipsky notable here? Well, he was among the leaders after shooting 65 in the first round before closing with a 7-over 78 to fall all the way to 1 over and miss the cut. The old 65-78 is never a fun week, especially when you find yourself going home on Friday evening.
2024 Mexico Open updated odds, picks
Odds via SportsLine consensus
- Jake Knapp: 18/5
- Matt Wallace: 9/2
- Erik van Rooyen: 5-1
- Sami Valimaki: 5-1
- Jake Knapp: 6-1
- Alvaro Ortiz: 12-1
- Tony Finau: 14-1
- Mark Hubbard: 18-1
I actually love van Rooyen here. He’s striking the ball well and just fell off the pace a bit in Round 2. Everyone ahead of him is making putts, but his tee-to-green play should rise to the top over the weekend. I don’t know if he’ll win, but I like him at 5-1 better than anyone else on this list.
Rick Gehman and Kyle Porter recap Round 2 of the Mexico Open at Vidanta. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
