Paulie’s Picks: 2026 VidantaWorld Mexico Open

The PGA Tour continues its travel outside the U.S. with the VidantaWorld Mexico Open. This is a new spot on the schedule for this event as it was last contested in February of 2025. This will be the fifth iteration at the Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta course and there have been some minor changes due to a recent renovation and rerouting of the course. However, I still expect the overall handicap of skill sets required to be very similar to years past. 

Bombers off the tee who are elite with mid and long irons have the largest advantage here thanks to wide landing zones in the fairways and hole yardages. All five par 3s range from 170-235 yards, and all four of the par 5s play at least 548 yards. Only two of the 10 par 4s are under 445 yards, and one of those will play drivable around 300 yards this week. The greens are large and feature paspalum grass, which typically plays slower than the Tour average speed. This deemphasizes the short game as there will be fewer chips and pitches, and putting skill is typically diminished on the slower greens. 

I expect a similar leaderboard to year’s past, so let’s take a look at a few players to target

Marco Penge: Top 30, -104

Before some recent health issues, Marco Penge would have arguably been the third best player in this field behind Wyndham Clark and Ben Griffin. He’s fully healthy again, but is being priced as the 10th best player in this field, which I believe yields some value given his course fit. Penge absolutely bombs the ball, ranking second in the field in driving distance behind only Aldrich Potgieter, who was runner-up here in 2025. Marco is an above-average mid- to long-iron player, as well. This seems like an absolute great spot to buy low on Penge.

Isaiah Salinda: Top 40, +136

Isaiah Salinda, unknown to most aside from diehard golf fans, checks all the boxes this week. He ranks in the top 20 in driving distance and second in approach with longer irons in this field of 120 players. Salinda finished third in his sole appearance here in 2025 and comes into this event in good form after finishing 11th last week in Bermuda on a course that doesn’t really fit his game well. All signs point to Salinda this week.