WGC-Mexico: Top 10 power rankings at Chapultepec
Dustin Johnson’s had more success at the WGC-Mexico in three starts than most players will end up having over a decade-plus. Ten percent of his PGA Tour wins have come at Chapultepec as he triumphed in 2017 and 2019.
In the maiden WGC-Mexico in 2017, DJ fired 70-66-66-68 to finish one ahead of Tommy Fleetwood. He put on a ball striking clinic, averaging 321.8 yards off the tee and hitting 72.22% greens in regulation.
His title defense resulted in a T-7. Scores of 69-66-68-69 left him just four off Phil Mickelson’s winning pace.
Johnson won again in Mexico City in 2019 thanks to 64-67-66-66. That was one of his more dominating performances to win by five over Rory McIlroy and by 10 on the rest of the field.
He had it all going this week. Johnson gained 2.116 strokes per round on the greens, averaged 330.5 off the tee and hit 80.56% GIR.
This is clearly a course where the free hitting Johnson can bash away. Weaving in and out of the trees is no problem, as we saw with Phil’s win here, too.
"“Yeah, I like this golf course. I think it sets up well for me,” Johnson said after his win in 2019 in a transcription from Tee Scripts. “It’s a golf course where you have to be on your game if you want to play well. I felt like I had control of my golf ball all week, rolled the putter really nicely. I made some key putts on the front nine and kept it going the rest of the day. I do like this golf course, but I only like it if I’m hitting it really well.”"
Surprisingly, that was the 35-year-old’s last win. He’s come close since, picking up solo seconds at the 2019 PGA Championship and 2020 Saudi International on the European Tour. He was also T-2 at the 2019 Masters.
More recently, DJ was in contention last week at the Genesis Invitational where he posted 72-66-67-72 for a T-10.
Next. USGA, R&A acknowledge distance is an issue for golf courses. dark
The only downside I see with going with Johnson this week is possible fatigue. This is his fourth start in a row in three countries. However, he did this same stretch last year going to Mexico, and we all know how that turned out.