Mayakoba Golf Classic betting tips and preview
Venue: El Camaleon Golf Club, Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Date: November 8-11, 2018
Course stats: Par 71, 6,987 yards
Purse: $7.2 million (£5.5m)
Defending champion: Patton Kizzire (-19)
TV coverage
Thursday: Sky Sports Golf – from 6pm
Friday: Sky Sports Golf – from 6pm
Saturday: Sky Sports Golf – from 6pm
Sunday: Sky Sports Golf – from 6pm
Mayakoba Golf Classic preview
Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau and Jordan Spieth headline this week’s PGA Tour stop in Mexico where Patton Kizzire defends his title from a year ago.
El Camaleon Golf Club is the host and it’s a course where the younger generation have often struggled. A look back at the recent winners and you’ll find the names of Pat Perez, Graeme McDowell and Johnson Wagner, and if you go back even further you’ll see that Fred Funk won the inaugural edition in 2007 when 51-years-old – at the time he became the fifth oldest champion in the tour’s history.
This par-71 at just shy of 7,000 yards yields plenty of birdies, but the emphasis is very much placed on accuracy and keeping the ball out of trouble, namely the dense forest which surrounds the property.
Mayakoba Golf Classic betting tips
The headline selection goes to Scott Piercy (45/1, 7 places) who ticks a lot of boxes as he goes in search of a fifth PGA Tour title.
The Vegas resident has found some recent form, finishing 10th last week on home-soil after a top-five in Korea at the CJ Cup.
Piercy ranked fifth in driving accuracy last week and he returns to a course that he’s played nicely in his previous two attempts when fourth in 2016 and 16th in 2014.
And a win this week would be the perfect way to celebrate his 40th birthday.
Sungjae Im (60/1, 7 places) wouldn’t fit the trend of veteran winners here in Mexico, but he’s often been described as an incredibly mature golfer for someone so young.
The Korean star started his PGA Tour career with a superb top-five at the Safeway Open last month, and despite failing to impress at both the Sanderson Farms Championship and the CJ Cup in his home country, he returned to form last week in Vegas when he fired a Sunday 65 to claim a top-15.
The 20-year-old seems to have a complete game that will suit this venue, and he’ll enter the week full of confidence after hitting the third most greens in the field last week while he ranked sixth in strokes gained: tee-to-green.
Those are my top tips from the Mayakoba Golf Classic betting markets. But there are two outsiders at 150/1 and 175/1 who are catching my eye. Find out who they are on the next page…
Tom Irwin
Tom is a lifetime golfer, now over 30 years playing the game. 2023 marks 10 years in golf publishing and he is still holding down a + handicap at Alwoodley in Leeds. He has played over 600 golf courses, and has been a member of at least four including his first love Louth, in Lincolnshire. Tom likes unbranded clothing, natural fibres, and pencil bags. Seacroft in Lincolnshire is where it starts and ends.
