Week 22 Approach Shots: Mexico Open

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Sep. 2, 2009
By PGATOUR.COM Staff

This week's Mexico Open, originally scheduled for May 18-24, was postponed due to the outbreak of the H1N1 flu that was first identified in Mexico in March and April.

Quick Facts

WHAT: 22nd of 29 Nationwide Tour events

WHEN: Sept. 3-6

WHERE: Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico

COURSE: El Bosque Golf Club

WHAT'S AT STAKE: $650,000 purse ($117,000 for winner)

KEY LINKS: Tee times | Leaderboard Tournament page | "THE 25"

Last year, Jarrod Lyle posted an 8-under 63 in the final round and cruised to a five-stroke win over Matt Every. Lyle went on to finish No. 4 on the Tour money list and earn his 2009 PGA TOUR card.

The last time a Nationwide Tour event was postponed and rescheduled was 2003 when the Henrico County Open was moved because of heavy rains in the Richmond, Va., area.

ALTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: This week's tournament will be played at the El Bosque Golf Club in Leon, located approximately 250 miles northeast of Mexico City. The course is a par-71 layout that stretches to 7,568 yards. Part of the adjustment for the players will be the altitude. The course sits approximately 7,200 feet above sea level.

BIG WIN FOR LYLE: Only three 2008 tournaments had wider victory margins than the Mexico Open. Jarrod Lyle's five-stroke victory over Matt Every in 2008 was only outdone by Marc Leishman's 11-stroke win at the WNB Golf Classic, Ewan Porter's seven-stroke victory at the Moonah Classic and Brendon Todd's six-stroke triumph at the Utah Championship.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVELS: This week's field will consist of 144 total players, including 118 Nationwide Tour members, 22 players from the Mexican Golf Federation and four open qualifiers. The Mexico Open marks the sixth and final venture for the Tour outside the United States. The first four events on the schedule took the Tour to Panama, Australia and New Zealand (two events) in February and March. In July, the Tour ventured in Canada for the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic, about two hours north of Toronto.

OVER 50 YEARS: This week's event will be the 51st playing of the Mexico Open, which began in 1944. The tournament was not held in 2007 but has a long history of golf's most-prominent players and major champions among its participants. Some of the past champions include Bobby Locke, Roberto De Vincenzo, Tony Lema, Art Wall, Lee Trevino, Billy Casper, David Graham, Ben Crenshaw, Jay Haas, John Cook and Stewart Cink.

Weather forecast for the Mexico Open

THURSDAY, Rd. 1	FRIDAY, Rd. 2	SATURDAY, Rd. 3	SUNDAY, Rd. 4
Scattered t-storms Temp: 82 high/62 low	Scattered t-storms Temp: 75 high/63 low	Scattered t-storms Temp: 73 high/60 low	Scattered t-storms Temp: 74 high/59 low

DTN/Meteorlogix is the official weather provider of the PGA TOUR. For more information, click here

Mexico Open presented by Corona Light snippets

	ALL ABOUT THE '9'S Last week's Northeast Pennsylvania Classic was the ninth playoff of 2009. It ended on the ninth extra hole. And it allowed Gary Christian to become the Tour's ninth first-time winner this year. With eight events remaining, the nine playoffs is only four shy of the all-time Nationwide Tour record of 13 set in 1995.
	GOOD GILLIS Michigan native Tom Gillis continued his stellar play last week in Pennsylvania. A T5 finish was his fifth top 10 in his last six events (win, T31, 2nd, T3, T9 and T5). After getting a late start due to his conditionally-exempt status at the beginning of the year, he is 10 of 10 in cuts made since his first start in May.
	PLAYOFFS CONTENDERS With one event complete (The Barclays) in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, 60 Nationwide Tour alumni are among the 100 heading to the Boston area for this week's Deutsche Bank Championship. Alums Steve Stricker, Heath Slocum and Zach Johnson hold down positions two, three and four.