Riviera Maya Open 2025 Tips: Five big each-ways for Mexico

This week marks the beginning of a six-week stretch on the LPGA, over which time the next two major championships will be decided.

The first of those comes next week, as Erin Hills prepares to host the US Women’s Open, but first it’s to Mexico for a brand new event on the LPGA—the MEXICO Riviera Maya Open at El Camaleon Golf Course.

Star golf tipster Jamie Worsley is back with five more outright selections for glory ranging from 20/1 to 125/1! Here are his Riviera Maya Open 2025 Tips...

TOURNAMENT HISTORY 

The LPGA hasn't visited Mexico since the last renewal of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational/Match Play in 2017. It now returns for the inaugural edition of the Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba, which will be staged at the familiar El Camaleon Golf Course.

THE COURSE

The Greg Norman-designed El Camaleon Golf Course opened for play in 2004. It became famous as the host of the Mayakoba Classic (now the World Wide Technology Championship) on the PGA Tour from 2007 – 2022, and it has also hosted events on LIV in the previous two years.

The course will play as a par 72 and measures 6583yds. It possesses 4x par 3s (126-169yds), 10x par 4s (352-439yds) and 4x par 5s (499-532yds).

El Camaleon weaves its way through a dense mangrove forest on Mexico's east coast. It's a parkland course meets seaside links, with wind arriving from the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico an ever-present threat, and water comes into play on seven holes.

The fairways at this paspalum-covered course are reasonably narrow, with many doglegs. They're protected by some deep, cavernous bunkers, though the rough will be non-penal at just under two inches this week.

Its moderately-breaking greens are large and will run at a very slow 10.5 – 11 on the stimp. They continuously ranked among the easiest to putt during the venue's time on the PGA Tour, and the punishment for missing them also lacks severity.

When you combine a short course with large, slow greens and minimal punishment for wayward ball striking, it's no surprise that scoring is typically good at El Camaleon GC. Each of the par 5s will be reachable in two for most of this week's field and there are several par 4s that can be got at with a drive and a wedge.

THE WEATHER

Light rain is forecast in each day building up to the start of the event and is set to continue into the opening two rounds. However, it is predicted to be predominantly bright and warm, with a constant 9-11mph breeze sticking around throughout the week.

KEY STATS

• SG: Approach/Greens-in-Regulation
• SG: Putting (paspalum)
• Birdie or Better %

The blueprint for success at El Camaleon GC is well established and I don't see why it will be much different this week. I'd expect scoring to be reasonably good, which will require players to be at their best in approach and on the putting surfaces.

CORRELATING EVENTS

Although we're no stranger to this week's course, it is still tricky to correlate it with existing LPGA venues. Therefore, I'm going to keep it short and simple this week.

My first instinct is to focus on events that are also played on paspalum, and we do have several on the LPGA. The LOTTE Championship in Hawaii is always played on coastal courses that explicitly use paspalum; the Blue Bay LPGA at the Jian Lake Blue Bay Course is another; and although the greens at Siam Country Club's Old Course—host of the Honda LPGA Thailand—aren't paspalum, the rest of the course is.

Additionally, the CME Group Tour Championship—held at the Greg Norman-designed Gold Course at Tiburon Golf Club—could also offer us some clues this week.

THE FIELD

Most of the world's top players have decided to skip this week's event, opting to prepare for the US Women's Open elsewhere. World No. 15 Charley Hull is the top-ranked player in the field, joined by a further three from the top 25: Rio Takeda (#17), Akie Iwai (#23) and Ina Yoon (#24).

Three-time LPGA winner Gaby Lopez leads the home contingent, and Hye-Jin Choi will be hoping to replicate her victory in the individual part of the Espirito Santo Trophy amateur event here in 2016.

Riviera Maya Open Odds

SELECTIONS 

Market leaders: Rio Takeda 7/1, Hye-Jin Choi 11/1, Charley Hull 11/1, Akie Iwai 16/1, Chisato Iwai 16/1, Carlota Ciganda 16/1, Somi Lee 16/1

Due to so many of the top players being absent, this looks like a great opportunity for everyone in attendance this week. I'm going to tackle this field in two ways, with my five largely speculative selections consisting of two major winners who could use this event to get back into the winner's circle, and three players still very much in the infancy of their pro careers.

2 pts Sei Young Kim each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 20/1

Sei Young Kim has been solid enough in 2025 but hasn't fully found her stride as yet. However, she did look very strong from tee-to-green two starts ago in the Chevron Championship, and as a proven paspalum performer this former major winner can take advantage of this weak field.

Kim has only made six starts this season and it took until the latest of those—the Mizuho Americas Open—for her to miss her first cut. She's recorded three top-25 finishes, which includes losing to eventual runner-up Lauren Coughlin in the last-16 of the T-Mobile Match Play, and she also finished 24^th in the Chevron Championship.

As mentioned, her tee-to-green game was sharp there, ranking 16^th. This represents an upgrade on how she's performed for the most part this season, and with both the putter and irons looking in good shape, she's been able to make plenty of birdies, ranking 18^th in birdie or better %.

Kim does have winning form in Mexico, having won the last edition of the Lorena Ochoa Match Play in 2017. Her comfort on paspalum has been evident throughout her career, recording wins in the Blue Bay LPGA and LOTTE Championship—indeed, her first ever LPGA win came on the surface in 2015, at the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic. In addition, she's also a past winner of the CME Group Tour Championship at the Greg Norman-designed Tiburon Golf Club.

1 pt In Gee Chun each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 80/1

Three-time major winner In Gee Chun has started to show some more positive signs after suffering a loss of form and injury troubles in 2024. She has some good form on paspalum and firing in each of the key areas this season, her price looks very appealing in this field.

Chun recorded her first top-20 finish since May last year three starts ago, finishing 18^th in the Chevron Championship. She missed the cut the following week but bounced back two weeks ago to finish a solid 38^th in Mizuho Americas Open.

She’s started to find her groove in approach over those recent starts, ranking 12^th in the Chevron and 21^st last time out. In addition, she’s been putting well for most of the season, ranking 38^th.

Chun has twice finished 2^nd in the LOTTE Championship and has also finished runner-up in the Honda LPGA Thailand. With two top-10 finishes to her name in the CME Group Tour Championship, this classy player has much in her favour at El Camaleon.

0.75 pts Ashley Lau each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 110/1

Malaysia’s Ashley Lau narrowly missed out on claiming her LPGA card at Q-Series last year. She has impressed at other levels of the game since turning pro in 2023 and can make an impact here, as she gets a rare chance to shine on the LPGA.

Lau enjoyed a successful amateur career, reaching a high of No. 26 in the amateur rankings. She went straight onto the Epson Tour in 2023 and initially found the going tough but started to improve towards the end of that season, recording two top-five finishes in her last five starts.

Her biggest achievement as yet in the pro ranks came at the beginning of 2024, as she beat star players such as Jiyai Shin and Ina Yoon to win the Women’s Victorian Open in Australia. She was much more consistent on the whole last year, but still ultimately failed to gain her tour card via the Epson Tour and missed out by two shots at Q-Series.

Lau has again performed well in Australia at the starts of this year, finishing 4^th in the Vic Open and has been in good form on the Epson Tour, entering this week after finishes of 3^rd, 10^th and 18^th. She’s a player with bags of talent and having proven she can mix it among some quality players in that Vic Open win, I’m happy to roll the dice on her in Mexico.

0.75 pts Jenny Bae each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 125/1

The talented Jenny Bae has shown promise at the start of her rookie season. Having made winning look easy on the Epson Tour since turning pro in 2023, she can contend for a first title at this level in Mexico.

Bae turned pro in 2023 after a stellar amateur that took her to No. 16 in the world. She announced herself to a wider audience earlier that year, losing out in a playoff to Rose Zhang at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

She immediately took to pro golf, winning her first two starts on the Epson Tour in 2023 but having joined late that season, she just failed to gain her LPGA card. The American put that right last year, as she claimed a third Epson Tour title and ranking 7^th on the season-long standings, she earned an automatic promotion to the LPGA.

After missing her first two cuts this season, she’s only missed one of her next four and recorded a best finish of 11^th in the JM Eagle LA Championship. Her approach play has been particularly impressive over those recent starts and gaining strokes on the greens, she has the game to perform here.

Bae doesn’t have any comp form as a newcomer to the tour, but she did perform well in Mexico in the amateur ranks, finishing 2^nd in the 2023 Collegiate Invitational—a high-class event in which current No.1 amateur Lottie Woad finished behind her.

0.75 pts Liqi Zeng each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 125/1

I’m going to finish with prodigiously talented 18-year-old Liqi Zeng. She started to look more at home on the LPGA at the end of 2024 and although it still wasn’t enough to retain full playing privileges, her experiences last season can serve her well this week.

Zeng made limited starts in the amateur ranks, instead choosing to mix it in pro events in China. This proved out to be a great decision, as she won two titles on the China LPGA in 2022 and 2023—as a 16 and 17-year-old—and then earned her LPGA card via Q-Series in 2023, finishing 14^th.

She missed seven of her first 10 cuts last season and recorded zero finishes inside the top 50. However, she settled down towards the end, missing just two in her final seven starts and recorded her first top-25s on the tour—finishing 17^th in Arkansas and 22^nd in Portland. Her time has been spent between the China LPGA and Epson Tour this season and she’s performing well, recording finishes of 3^rd, 4^th and 8^th in five starts.

Zeng is an exceptional driver, displaying power and accuracy to rank 23^rd off-the-tee on the LPGA in 2024. That might enable her to attack this course more aggressively than most in the field, and with improved approach performances driving many of her better displays, she’s an interesting contender at El Camaleon.

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