Dustin Johnson defends the first of back-to-back World Golf Championships titles as the event, formerly based in Miami, makes its second visit to the Mexico City suburbs. Justin Rose, who chased down Johnson to win the WGC HSBC Champions last fall, ends a four-week break with an eye on becoming the third man in history to claim back-to-back WGCs. Jon Rahm, third a year ago, and reigning FedExCup champ Justin Thomas also highlight a small-but-solid WGC lineup. FIELD NOTES: The roster currently stands at 64, though that will grow with any late qualifiers. … Current FedExCup leader Patton Kizzire is assured of being added off the current points list, along with anyone who cracks the top 10 following the Honda Classic. … Adam Scott, now outside the world’s top 50 for the first time since 2001, has an outside chance of sliding back in with a good weekend at Honda. … India’s Shubhankar Sharma, twice a European Tour winner in its new season, is among eight entrants teeing it up in their WGC debuts. … Brett Rumford, the 2017 Australasian Tour money leader, makes his first WGC start since 2014. … Abraham Ancer gains a berth as the top Mexican in the world rankings. He’s in his second PGA TOUR season. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 550 points. STORYLINES: Johnson, who also prevailed three years ago in Miami, seeks a Mexican repeat and a third victory in a four-year span. He was a runaway winner at Kapalua, but found his quest for a third Pebble Beach crown derailed by Ted Potter Jr. … Tiger Woods, you’ll recall, owns a trio of three-peats at WGC stops. … A Rose triumph would allow him to join Woods and Johnson as the only men to win consecutive WGC starts. His victory in China was the first of three in the final two months of 2017, but he hasn’t teed it up since a tie for eighth at the Farmers Insurance Open. … Rahm has a pair of top-3 finishes in four WGC starts, including a loss to Johnson in last year’s WGC Dell Match Play final. … Contributing to the small roster is the absence of five names among the top 13 in the rankings, including Farmers winner Jason Day and Rory McIlroy. COURSE: Club de Golf Chapultepec, 7,330 yards, par 71. A debutant on the WGC scene last year, the club on Mexico City’s affluent outskirts celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2018. Construction was interrupted by the Mexican Revolution and led to architect Willie Smith – the 1899 U.S. Open winner – passing away in 1916 without seeing the course finished. Smith’s brother Alex took over the project and saw it to completion. The Mexican Open got its start at Chapultepec in 1944, remaining as host until 1960 when the tournament began rotating sites. A Percy Clifford redesign in 1972 made significant changes, with more upgrades were made ahead of its WGC introduction. 72-HOLE RECORD: 261, Tiger Woods (2006 at The Grove). Chapultepec record: 270, Dustin Johnson (2017). 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Sergio Garcia and Retief Goosen (both 4th round, 2002 at Mount Juliet), Bubba Watson (2nd round, 2012 at Trump Doral), J.B. Holmes (1st round, 2015 at Trump Doral). Chapultepec record: 63, Jordan Spieth (3rd round, 2017). LAST YEAR: Johnson captured his fourth WGC title in his first start since ascending to No.1 in the rankings, holding steady down the stretch after a four-shot lead turned to a one-shot deficit. Jon Rahm used an eagle and two birdies after the turn to move in front, but Johnson pulled even with a birdie at No.15 and parred his way home for a closing 68. Rahm bogeyed twice in his last three holes, bumped out of second when Tommy Fleetwood (66) drained a 40-foot birdie at No.18. Johnson notched his 14th PGA TOUR victory and second in a row, following a Genesis Open triumph to ascend to No.1. A few weeks later, he’d make it three straight by taking the WGC Dell Match Play. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 2-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, noon-3 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, noon-2 p.m. (GC), 2-6 p.m. (NBC). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 11:15 a.m.-2 p.m. (featured groups), 2-7 p.m. (featured holes). RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).
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