Hello Mexico — Jordan Spieth is coming after all.
Ever since the PGA Tour tossed Cadillac in a Miami dumpster and handed the WGC event to a Mexican billionaire, there’s been a lot of controversy surrounding this week’s elite event down there in Mexico City.
You might recall that they let a guy from the Web.com Tour in the event simply because he was from Mexico. That broke all the WGC rules — no sponsor exemptions — otherwise Tiger Woods would still be playing in every one of them.
Roberto Diaz is not in the field this year and for a while it looked like world’s No. 4 Jordan Spieth wouldn’t be either.
World’s No. 1 Dustin Johnson chose not to play in last week’s Honda Classic, even though the course is about 10 minutes from his home on the nearby intercoastal waterway in Jupiter. No. D.J. elected for some sun, sand and time on the water. But he will head the field this week in Mexico City at the Club de Golf Chapultepec. Say that four times real fast.
D.J.’s in, so is No.2 Jon Rahm, No. 3 Justin Thomas, No. 4 Jordy and No. 5 Justin Rose.
The second half of the world’s top 10 will be missing four of its five players.
No. 7 Rickie Fowler’s in but Hideki Matsuyama ( No. 6) is nursing a left wrist injury that forced him to withdraw in Phoenix, No. 8 Jason Day is back home spending time with his mother and the rest of his young family. Brooks Koepka (No. 9) is out indefinitely with a torn wrist tendon and No. 10 Rory McIlroy is just saying “No” to Mexico. Rory’s holding a grudge thanks to the fact he contracted food poisoning there last year.
Food poisoning does have that effect.
Instead, Rory will skip this week and the $50,000 in guaranteed money and will show up at Innisbrook in two weeks for the Valspar.
Other than that, the field is packed with world class players who should be hitting it longer than ever given the altitude in Mexico City.
Just don’t drink the water.
