Tiger Woods, no matter the venue, is always the fan favorite, and the same can be expected this week in his debut at Chapultepec Golf Club. But one of Woods’ playing partners will see plenty of love from the galleries as well.
On Monday the WGC-Mexico Championship announced that Woods will be paired with Bryson DeChambeau and Abraham Ancer for the tournament’s opening rounds.
Though Ancer was born in the United States, he was raised in Reynosa, Mexico. He became the first Mexican player to win the Australian Open last fall, and finished T-52 in his WGC-Championship debut last winter. The 27-year-old is currently No. 61 in the world rankings.
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DeChambeau, who has won five times around the world in the last 10 months, is a frequent practice partner of Woods. The two developed a rapport after the 14-time major winner took notice of the fledgling star’s work ethic and immersion into the game.
“I feel a lot of the things that he says, but we articulate it completely differently,” Woods said about DeChambeau last year. “It’s a lot of fun to needle him and give him a hard time about it, but I definitely respect what he says because of the fact that he does a lot of research. I mean, he is very into what he’s doing.”
As for Woods, though he has won this event seven times in its various iterations since its inception in 1999, he has not played in the tournament since 2014. It was be Woods’ first time at the Mexican venue; the WGC-Championship moved from Trump Doral to Chapultepec in 2016 following controversial remarks made by Donald Trump during his presidential campaign. He is coming off a T-15 finish at Riviera, just his second start of the 2019 season.
Other featured groups include reigning champion Phil Mickelson with Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm joining Patrick Reed and Rickie Fowler, and Brooks Koepka playing alongside Rory McIlroy and Bubba Watson.
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