Mexico Open Halfway Recap

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With the LIV Tour having stolen many of the PGA Tour’s best players, one trend that has emerged in recent years is the wave of players that we have seen win on the PGA Tour for the first time. 

Last year saw the emergence of the likes of Nick Dunlap, Jake Knapp, Mathieu Pavon, Stephan Jaegar and Maverick McNealy. Whilst the best players in the game rightly take up most of the golfing headlines on a week to week basis, the PGA Tour has an incredible amount of depth and tournaments like the Mexico Open offer up an opportunity for some of the game’s lesser lights to steal the headlines. 

Looking to make the most of their time in the limelight is little known South African Aldrich Potgieter, who during Friday’s second round produced one of the best rounds of the season to take a four shot lead into the weekend.

Tying the course record with his stunning round of 61, Potgieter will hope to follow in the steps of Gary Player, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Christiaan Bezuidenhout by becoming the latest South African to become a PGA Tour winner. 

The tournament is currently Potgieter’s to lose but whether he can handle the pressure and take the step to becoming a PGA Tour winner very much remains to be seen. 

Potgieter will hope to put previous experience to use as he aims for first PGA Tour success

Although Aldrich Potgieter might not be a household name to most, the South African has produced plenty of winning golf in the past and will hope to use those memories to edge him one step closer to winning the biggest title of his career. 

The winner of British Amateur Championship when aged just 17, he then backed that up further when becoming the youngest player in Korn Ferry Tour history to win on the PGA Tour’s feeder system.

Having always been highly regarded, Potgieter is everything that you would expect from today's modern player. An absolute huge hitter of the ball, the unheralded South African constantly put himself in positions to make birdies and he didn’t disappoint during his second round. 

Managing to keep his scorecard blemish free throughout his eighteen holes he posted six birdies on his front nine before following that up with another four on the back nine. 

Potgieter will hope to put previous experience to use as he aims for first PGA Tour success


Since the tournament moved to Vidanta Vallarta it has favoured the bigger hitters and with Potgieter simply crushing the ball off the tee, it’s safe to assume that much more could follow over the weekend and that’s a sentiment that Potgieter also believes in.

Reflecting on his course record he stated ‘I love the golf course. It definitely suits my game, I think, in a lot of aspects, if I can keep putting well, I think it could be a pretty good weekend.’

With his four stroke lead, Potgieter is very much the man to beat and the bookmaker’s have made him the clear favourite, but he is about to head out into uncharted territory and whether he can handle the occasion remains to be seen. Many in the field will hope that his lack of experience at this level could bring him back to the chasing pack. 

Stephan Jaegar remains in the hunt for a second PGA victory 

As we mentioned in our preview of the Mexico Open Stephan Jaeger headed into the week as one of our players to watch. One of the most improved players on the PGA Tour, the German made his breakthrough last season when winning the Texas Open and he has recorded numerous top five finishes since then. 

Today’s PGA Tour is designed for the bigger hitters and with Jaegar being one of the more diminutive players on Tour he has worked incredibly hard to add length to his game and the changes seem to have worked wonders.

The course this week doesn’t necessarily look like it would suit but Jaegar has made the most of his opportunities this week and will start the third round four shots behind Potgieter.

Ranked 50 in the world, Jaegar is one of the highest ranked players in the field and one of the only players to have won on the PGA Tour, he will hope his presence alongside Potgieter could unsettle him and bring him straight into contention. 

Jaegar will tee off in the final trio with Brian Campbell who will also be seeking a first PGA title and also finds himself four strokes off the lead. 

Aaron Rai will hope to cement Ryder Cup prospects with a strong weekend 

Aaron Rai is a unique figure on the PGA Tour. The wearer of two black gloves, he also has iron covers on each of his clubs, reminding him of the days where he had to look after and clean each of his clubs. 

A solid Tour professional, Rai’s career burst into life last season when he was able to capture his first PGA Tour title and qualified for the season ending Tour Championships for the very first time. 

Rai has made no secret of his desire to try and make his first ever Ryder Cup squad and he certainly is a live contender to make the twelve man team later this year. 

After a reasonable opening round 67, Rai produced one of the best rounds of his season when recording a bogey free 64 in his second round. The highlight of his round came on the seventh hole when he holed out from the fairway to record a crucial eagle that saw him fly up the leaderboard. 

The Englishman has so far recorded just one bogey through his first 36 holes and if he can keep that level of performance up through the next two days he could find himself right in contention.

Aaron Rai will hope to cement Ryder Cup prospects with a strong weekend


Akshay Bhatia aims to win a third PGA Tour title and will hope to make a big move on moving day 

Heading into the week it was Akshay Bhatia who started the week as the betting favourite and favourite backers will be pleased with how the young American has fared through the first two rounds.

He will start the third round six shots back, but as we have seen on countless times, if Bhatia can get hot on the greens he can turn into a birdie machine. 

Bhatia was another player who was able to make the most of the generous conditions and the world number 30 was able to keep his scorecard clean.

In order to win this week he will need to move quickly and build on the two 66’s that has been able to post so far. 

Although he has six shots to make up, backers of Bhatia will hope that he can produce his best round of the week today to apply the pressure to those who currently sit above him on the leaderboard.