Out of the Rough: Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba (2026)

Fresh off Nelly Korda dominating the first major of the season, the LPGA continues on with this week’s Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba.

Last season saw the inaugural hosting of this event, as this year marks the second installment.

The Tiger Wood’s designed El Camaleon Golf Course at Mayakoba will play host this week. It hosted this event a season ago.

El Camaleon Golf Course also hosts the World Wide Technology Championship on the PGA Tour. 

The Field

Despite claiming last week’s Chevron Championship in dominating fashion, Korda is back this week to headline the field in Mexico.

Beyond Korda, twin sisters Akie Iwai (World No. 18) and Chizzy Iwai (No. 19) join a list of Linn Grant (No. 28,) Minami Katsu (No. 29,) Jin Hee Im (No. 32) and Gaby Lopez (No. 33) as those ranked within the top 35 of the Rolex Women’s World Rankings playing this week.

Lopez comes in as the home favorite. She’ll be joined by Isabella Fierro, Maria Fassi and others who hope to claim victory on home soil.

Chizzy Iwai is the defending champion, having lapped the field a season ago. She won at -12 as her nearest competitor, Jenny Bae, finished at -6.

The Course

El Cardonal at Diamante Cabo San Lucas in Mexico plays as a par-72 at 6,583 yards on the scorecard.

As previously mentioned, this was the first golf course designed by Woods and in turn, is the first course designed by Woods to make an appearance on the LPGA Tour schedule.

This course was opened in 2014 and was designed by Woods in hopes to mirror some of the courses he played in Southern California as a child.

It sits on a stunning piece of property as it is positioned atop a hill overlooking the deep-blue Pacific Ocean.

The course plays linear to the Pacific Ocean as almost every hole plays downhill towards the ocean or uphill away from it.

The land the course sits on is naturally uneven and undulating. Due to this, there won’t be many flat lies to be found on this course. The ball too can go either direction once it hits the ground.

The course is wall-to-wall Paspalum and is described to play firm and fast. However, with the course being Paspalum, which is arguably the most grippy grass golfers will see, there won’t be many opportunities for rollouts and additional distance from shots, even on downhill lies.

El Cardonal does come in at 6,583 yards on the scorecard as previously mentioned but due to the up-and-down hilly nature of the course, the distance on the scorecard is far from what it’ll actually play at.

There is a 228 foot difference in elevation from the highest point of the golf course to the lowest.

The fairways are very wide on this course as Tiger kept the typical resort guest in mind. These fairways average about 60-feet in width.

Although wide, the fairways do feature many in-play bunkers, including centerline ones, that are in the landing zones for long-bombers off-the-tee.

It is also important for golfers to find the correct area of the fairways to allow them to go pin hunting. If golfers find themselves on the wrong side of the fairway, they'll be forced to aim towards the fat parts of the green, well away from the pin.

Additionally, trouble can be found if a golfer is to miss the fairways. There is no rough featured here this week but instead, the fairways are flanked by the desert arroyo. Some areas, mostly on the front nine, are mostly sandy waste areas without much desert vegetation. Other areas, mainly on the back nine, are full of thick cactus bushes and other desert vegetation that could very well cause unplayable lies.

Along with the wide fairways, the greens are also very large as they average 8,300-square-feet in area.

The greens are also Pasplaum and are both very undulating and contoured which makes them very difficult to putt on.

The greenside surroundings may be the strongest line of defense this course has to offer. They are very difficult to get up-and-down from.

The greenside bunkers are boldly edged and sit well below the putting surface as well. Additionally, these greens are surrounded by short grass with mounds, hallows and collection areas.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, there is just a five-percent chance of precipitation for both Thursday and Friday. That chance increases to just ten-percent on Saturday. However, Sunday is calling for a 50-percent chance of afternoon thunderstorms. Temperatures are set for 90-degrees for each day except Sunday, which calls for 89-degrees. Winds will begin the week at ten miles-per-hour before jumping to 12 miles-per-hour on Friday and peak at 13 miles-per-hour on Saturday. Winds will settle to ten miles-per-hour on Sunday.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Strokes Gained: Around the Green (SG: ATG)

• Sand Saves Percentage

• Scrambling Percentage

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

• Average Driving Distance

• Ball Striking

• Bogey Avoidance

• Par-Five Scoring Average

Betting Card

Minami Katsu (+1650)

Across the last two events, Katsu has been in great form. She placed 12th last week at The Chevron Championship and placed seventh at the JM Eagle LA Championship. Prior to that she did miss the cut at the Aramco Championship but was third at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass. Her elite short game combined with plus-distance off-the-tee should suit her well here. She is currently sixth on Tour in bogey avoidance, seventh in scrambling, eighth in sand saves percentage, 18th in SG: PUTT, 20th in SG: ATG, 46th in average driving distance, 50th in ball striking and 51st in par-five average scoring. Now, the approach does scare me, ranking 137th, so she’ll need to get hot with the irons this week but the rest of her game is elite. She also placed T9th at this event a season ago. 

Erika Hara (+5000)

With a depleted field, finding value in the mid-to-late ranges of the odds board was tough but Hara has found success across the season. She placed 38th last week at The Chevron Championship. Prior to that she missed the cut at the JM Eagle LA Championship but was 23rd at the Aramco Championship. She also missed the cut at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass but was also 19th at the Fortinet Founders Cup and tenth at the Blue Bay LPGA. Hara has the combination of length off-the-tee and can putt rather well. She is also capable with her irons and is an elite ball striker. Hara is currently tenth on Tour in ball striking, 18th in scrambling, 30th in par-five average scoring, 32nd in average driving distance, 34th in SG: PUTT, 49th in SG: APP and 52nd in bogey avoidance. The around-the-green play is where her weakness is, ranking 118th in SG: ATG and 125th in sand saves percentage. Despite being weak around-the-green, she is great with scrambling. 

Jing Yan (+5500)

This was my first click this week and I love how Yan matches up to this golf course. She is currently 12th on Tour in both SG: APP and sand saves percentage, 15th in SG: ATG, 30th in par-five average scoring, 39th in scrambling, 42nd in bogey avoidance, 72nd in average driving distance, 82nd in SG: PUTT and 103rd in ball striking. There isn’t a glaring weakness to her game to go along with elite approach play and around-the-green play, a great combination for this golf course. She too is in great form coming into this week. She placed 38th last week at The Chevron Championship. She also placed ninth at the JM Eagle LA Championship, 17th at the Aramco Championship and 15th at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass. Great value for someone in this great of form in this field. 

Yuna Nishimura (+15000)

Now I know Nishimura has missed the cut in her last three appearances (The Chevron Championship, JM Eagle LA Championship and Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass) but the stats tell me a different story. She’s actually a well rounded golfer with plus distance off-the-tee who can putt with the best of them. She is currently 17th on Tour in average driving distance, 23rd in SG: PUTT, 38th in scrambling, 41st in SG: APP, 48th in bogey avoidance, 75th in SG: ATG, 90th in par-five average scoring, 95th in ball striking and 107th in sand saves percentage. She placed 27th at the Fortinet Founders Cup and 33rd at the Blue Bay LPGA.