After bringing home an 11/1 winner and a 9/1 top-five boost last week, we're back with our picks to win and place at the first WGC event of the year.
Back to win: Jon Rahm – {ODDS:245057786:11/1}
All of the top four at last year’s WGC Mexico Championship took last week off, which shows just how important it is to be well-rested heading into this event.
World No. 2 Rahm fits the bill, given that he hasn’t played since he finished 26th at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am two weeks ago.
That was a disappointing result, but it came at the end of a run of five starts in six weeks, which included his win at the CareerBuilder Challenge in January and a second place at the Tournament of Champions.
Rahm finished third at Chapultepec last year and this course really suits his game. He ranks second in shots gained off the tee this season and is an excellent putter on Poa Annua greens.
{ODDSBANNER:245057786:11/1:Back Rahm to win}
Each-way shout: Justin Rose – {ODDS:245057813:20/1}
Rose is another player who will benefit from missing last week’s Honda Classic, having not played since last month’s Farmers Insurance Open.
The Englishman hasn’t played much recently but always seems to be in contention, having made 12 consecutive cuts and finished inside the top 10 in 10 successive events between August and December.
That run included wins at the WGC Champions, Turkish Airlines Open and Indonesian Masters, all three of which proved Rose is still capable of winning big events and against strong fields.
The World No. 5 will now be eager to build momentum ahead of the Masters in April, and this event – at which he ranked first off the tee last year – is a good place to start.
Rose is available at our boosted price of {ODDS:245697407:5/1} to finish in the top five.
{ODDSBANNER:245057813:20/1:Back Rose to win (e/w)}
Outside shot: Dylan Frittelli – {ODDS:245057890:66/1}
Frittelli – a rising star on the European Tour – finished 11th at last week’s Honda Classic in what was his PGA Tour debut.
The South African has now placed inside the top 20 in each of his last six starts – a run that includes a T6 at the Dubai Desert Classic in January and a T5 at the Maybank Championship a week later.
Frittelli won twice on the European Tour last year, and proved last week that he can hold his own even at events with strong fields.
He probably won’t be available at big prices like this for long, and is worth a punt in Mexico this week.
{ODDSBANNER:245057890:66/1:Back Frittelli to win (e/w)}
