The course
The course rewards putting above all, a CRITICAL weight, then driving accuracy, approach play and the short game around the green, each weighted HIGH. It separates players least on driving distance. Based on few stagings, Course Fit finds it has separated players on skill only a little, about typical for the tour. The event scores close to the tour average for difficulty.
| Key metric | Priority | Its leader's record, last 10 stagings |
|---|---|---|
| Putting | CRITICAL | n/a |
| Driving accuracy | HIGH | 4 top 10s, 1 win |
| Approach | HIGH | n/a |
| Around the green | HIGH | n/a |
| Putts per GIR | MEDIUM | 5 top 10s |
Key metrics: what Course Fit says this course rewards beyond the tour norm, largest weight first. Priority: the weight against every venue's (CRITICAL for the top tenth). Its leader's record: how the player who led the field for the metric at each staging went on to finish.
History
Winning scores at this week's course have ranged from 24 under par to 29 under par. The field's leader for putting on greens hit in regulation has the strongest record, finishing in the top 10 in five of 10 stagings. In round 1 the morning wave has scored better in eight of the last 10 stagings, and the first-round leader came from the morning wave more often than from the afternoon wave.
| Year | Champion | To par |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Ben Griffin | -29 |
| 2024 | Austin Eckroat | -24 |
| 2023 | Erik Van Rooyen | -27 |
| 2022 | Russell Henley | -23 |
| 2021 | Viktor Hovland | -23 |
Played at El Camaleon: 2022, 2021.
| Round 1 | 2025 | Last 10 stagings |
|---|---|---|
| Scoring average, morning v afternoon | 68.77 v 70.37 | 69.78 v 70.35 on average |
| Better wave | Morning, by 1.60 | Morning 8, afternoon 2 |
| First-round leader from | Morning | Morning 5, afternoon 3, both 2 |
Previous stagings with round 1 played in two waves, split as the In-Running page splits them.
Last year
Ben Griffin is in this week's field. He won by two shots at 29 under par. On the HIGH metric in his table, driving accuracy, he was neutral. He was a perfect match for putting on greens hit in regulation, a perfect match for par-3 scoring, and matched on par-5 scoring and greens in regulation.
| Key metric | Champion's rank | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Driving accuracy | T31 | neutral |
| Putts per GIR | 2 | perfect match |
| Par-5 scoring | T12 | match |
| Greens in regulation | T13 | match |
| Par-3 scoring | T1 | perfect match |
Verdict: perfect match (top 5), match (top quarter), neutral (top half), anomaly (bottom half), as in the review.
Course Fit: this week's field
Course Fit ranks this week's field by how closely each player's game over the last 12 months matches what Diamante Cabo San Lucas (El Cardonal) rewards beyond the tour norm, above all putting, driving accuracy and approach play. These are the five who fit best, with each one's rank in this week's field for those skills over the same 12 months. 108 of the 116 players have played enough on the PGA Tour to be ranked. Course Fit leaves out form, class and the draw: it describes fit, not a forecast.
| Fit | Player | Putting | Driving accuracy | Approach |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | 9 | 38 | 12 |
| 2 | Zac Blair | 17 | 8 | 4 |
| 3 | Andrew Putnam | 31 | 13 | 30 |
| 4 | Ben James | 22 | 1 | 8 |
| 5 | Jackson Koivun | 50 | 4 | 7 |
Fit: his Course Fit rank in this week's field, as on the Event Profile page. Each other column is his rank in this week's field for that skill over the last 12 months, as the CC: SG and CC: Stats tables rank it.