Mexico Open: Bet the dudes who smash it.

Good Afternoon. Welcome to Shanks. We write a 3x weekly newsletter about golf, but we drink while we do it. Even if it's 9:32am on a weekday.

In today's Shanks:

• Doin Lines: Mexico Open

• Home At Last

• Can LIV Sustain the Hype?

• Golf Data

• Golf History

• Golf Thing We'd Buy If We Weren't Broke

Dear Dimple Heads, we've reached the doldrums of spring as far as the PGA Tour schedule goes. Many big names are taking vacations or otherwise chillin because there's NINE designated events coming up over the next 17 weeks. There are only two players inside the top 50 OWGR competing in the Mexico Open: Jon Rahm & Tony Finau.

🚩 Location: Vidanta Vallarta.

💰 Purse: $7.7M - Winner gets $1.38M

👑 Previous Winner: Jon Rahm

⛳️ Field: 144

👀 Watch On: Golf Channel, CBS, ESPN+

Let's Gamble

Since this weeks field isn't quite as loaded as we're used to seeing, it gives us the opportunity to focus on a long shot or two. Maybe we can win back our three consecutive months of gambling losses in one go. It pays to dream big, folks.

The Course

Coming in at a lengthy 7456 yds, Vidanta Vallarta is a bombers course.

The only elements players really have to contend against on the Greg Norman designed course are wind and length. The Par 3's average about 195yds.

Vidanta Vallarta is one of only a handful of courses on tour that use Paspalum grass, which is known for being slow.

So, bet the long hitters, right?

Honestly, yeah! This is only the second edition of this event, so we don't have a ton of history to work with. All we really have is the knowledge that longer hitters performed well last year.

Length combined with "who's been playing well recently" has lead us to the following conclusions...

💰Shanks Picks💰

Outright Winner: Gary Woodland +2500

The 2019 US Open winner has been playing strong golf this year, he's got the length and ball striking required to perform well here, and the one place he's lost strokes to the field this year has been around the greens, which should be slower this week.

Top Ten or OR: Nicolai Hajgaard +250 / + 2800

Nicolai is currently first on tour in driving distance.

Long Shot: Akshay Bhatia +10000 This young man is going to break through soon.

Home At Last

First, shout out to Monday Q and the work Ryan French does covering all the guys who are grinding to make it on tour. No one does a better job of covering the heart of golf.

Now, the story of the week:

"Mike Sweeney doesn’t have a place to call home. He doesn't have a car either, although he has spent more than his fair share in one. For months he slept in his 2014 Hyundai Elantra, the front seat fully reclined, parked outside a WalMart. All to chase his dream of playing pro golf. On Monday he qualified for the Korn Ferry event in Alabama in spectacular fashion, holing a 35-yard bunker shot on the 18th hole just to sneak into a five-for-two playoff."

Read More on Monday Q

Can LIV Sustain the Hype?

Many skeptical eyes are on LIV this week as they take to… actually a ridiculously sick looking golf course for their 5th tournament of the season. Phil Mickelson is already posting vids on Instagram hitting bombs (318 yards of carry to be exact) so vibes are immaculate I guess?

The Serapong is currenly ranked 55th in Golf Digest’s World’s 100 Greatest Courses. 17 current LIV golfers have played here in the past, but that may prove to be a USELESS fact considering this course is home to “The Dragon’s Tail.” This stretch of holes, from Nos. 3-7, hosts a 495-yard (No. 3) par 4 the longest on the course and is considered the Serapong’s most difficult hole. The signature hole is the 486-yard par-4 (No. 5), situated in the belly of the Dragon. The 444-yard par-4 (No. 6) includes a large rock formation known as the Dragon’s Tooth, as well as a false front known as the Dragon’s Tongue. This sounds like a course out of a freakin’ video game. Love that.

DJ and Brooks Koepka both currently sit at +1100 to sit atop the pylon. Last week’s winner, Talor Gooch, and last week’s hometown hero, Cameron Smith, both sit just behind them at +1200 odds to win. As for “The Bomber” himself, Phil Mickelson’s odds at a win are currently +5000. Check out DraftKings for more on bets!

You can catch the sweaty Singapore slingers live on The CW App or LIV Golf Plus starting Thursday April 27th at 10:15pm ET.

Golf Data

Data Golf took the down week as an opportunity to check in on how well the best players are actually playing this year. Somehow, Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm are better than they were last year, which is crazy because they are both already dominant.

Check out Data Golf here. 

Golf History

Golf Thing We'd Buy If We Weren't Broke

You don’t exactly see Adidas on much golf gear these days, but I think that’s because they are doing it right. Cue Ultraboost, but golf. Yea I know right?

Adidas' ultra-popular Ultraboost shoes can finally be on your feeties while ripping up the course with the broskis.

At a mere $200 for the spikeless golf shoes, you can look athletic as hell, all the while, playing an ultra-low stakes and ultra-low impact sport like golf! I’m personally starting to come around on the olive/silver colorway.

That's all folks! See you Friday!