GOLF
What is the cut line at the Mexico Open Championship? What big names won’t be playing this weekend?
Some of golf’s less famous names have a chance of glory in Mexico, although not everyone will be playing on Saturday and Sunday.
Defending champion Tony Finau is the biggest draw at this week’s Mexico Open Championship at Vidanta Vallarta but European duo Matt Wallace and Sami Valimaki, as well as home favourite Álvaro Ortiz, have been the stars of the opening two rounds so far. The trio have played the opening 36 holes in 11-under par, with Ortiz carding the joint best round on Friday to join the Englishman and the Finn at the top of the leaderboard.
What are the cut line rules at the Mexico Open Championship?
The Mexico Open Championship at Vidanta uses standard PGA Tour cut rules, with the top 65 players and ties advancing through to the weekend following the conclusion of the second round.
That differs from last week’s Genesis Invitational, where the cut line rules there meant the top 50 players and ties made it through to Saturday and Sunday, or every player within 10 shots of the lead after two rounds. There were only 70 players in the field at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, compared to 132 in Mexico.
What’s the projected cut line at the Mexico Open Championship?
At the time of writing, the projected cut line stands at one-under par (-1), although that could change before the end of play on Friday.
Who is in danger of missing the cut at the Mexico Open Championship?
The following players are below the cut line as things stand (to be updated throughout Friday).
Tyson Alexander
Charley Hoffman
Davis Riley
J.B. Holmes
Zecheng Dou
Jacob Bridgeman
Matt Atkins
Blaine Hale, Jr.
Vince Whaley
K.H. Lee
Bronson Burgoon
Joe Highsmith
Patrick Fishburn
Michael Kim
S.H. Kim
David Lipsky
Scott Stallings
Chez Reavie
Harrison Endycott
Roger Sloan
Tom Whitney
Roberto Díaz
Ryan Fox
Sam Stevens
Josh Teater
Francesco Molinari
Raul Pereda
J.J. Spaun
Sebastián Vázquez
Kevin Chappell
Taylor Pendrith
Fred Biondi
Norman Xiong
Jose Antonio Safa
Scott Gutschewski
Callum Tarren
Ryan Brehm
Scott Piercy
Tyler Duncan
Mac Meissner
Matti Schmid
Thomas Detry
Rodolfo Cazaubòn
Austin Wylie
Mackenzie Hughes
Brandt Snedeker
Preston Stanley
Ben Sigel
Adrien Dumont de Chassart
Justin Suh
Renato Naula
Chris Gotterup
Max Greyserman
Pierceson Coody
Ben Kohles
What is Tony Finau’s record at the Mexico Open Championship at Vidanta Vallarta?
We can only assume Tony Finau is a fan of Vidanta Vallarta, where the tournament has been held in each of the last two years. In 2022, the 34 years old finished in a tie for second with Kurt Kitayama and Brandon Wu, one shot behind Jon Rahm.
12 months later, “Big Tone” went one better, beating Rahm by three strokes to clinch his sixth PGA Tour victory.
Finau started his 2024 challenge with a two-under 69 and has battled throughout his second round in an effort to claw his way up the leaderboard and get himself into contention for another win.