The First Look: Puerto Rico Open

This week is a valuable opportunity to earn precious, early season FedExCup points as the PGA Tour heads to Rio Grande for the Puerto Rico Open – the 18th playing of the event.

The Puerto Rico Open features a field of proven winners, up-and-coming players looking for success, and plenty of international flavor. Here’s everything you need to know when the Tour returns to Rio Grande for the first additional event of the 2026 season.

Field Notes: Michael BrennanJoe is ranked in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking, heading to Puerto Rico as the highest-ranked golfer in the region. Brennan, who claimed his first win at the Bank of Utah Championship in his third start on Tour, has made 3 of 5 cuts this season. …two-time Tour winner nick dunlop Will make his debut at Grand Reserve Golf Club. After withdrawing from The American Express in January, Dunlap returned to the Tour after missing the cut at the Cognizant Classic. …European Ryder Cup Star rasmus hojgaard Will be making his second start in Puerto Rico. His brother Nikolai earned a spot at the Arnold Palmer Invitational thanks to a strong performance at PGA National, which moved him up to the Aon Swing 5. …three PGA Tour University alumni, luke clanton, gordon sergeant And david fordAll will travel to the Caribbean as they continue their journey in professional golf.

Sponsor Discount: Former Oklahoma State standout eugenio chacarra I will make it

Return to PGA Tour next week After accepting sponsor exemption at the Puerto Rico Open. Chakarra, 25, has made seven career starts on the Tour, with his best finish being a tie for 45th at the 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship while still an amateur. … blade brown Makes back-to-back starts on Tour and looks to bounce back from missed cut at Cognizant Classic. Brown has made three cuts on the Korn Ferry Tour so far this season, with his best result – a T17 – coming at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club. … John Daly IIThe son of major champion John Daly will make his PGA Tour debut in Puerto Rico on a sponsor exemption. … AJGA stand-outs miles russell Making his fifth start on Tour, trying to make the weekend for the first time. The 17-year-old holds the record as the youngest player to make it to the Korn Ferry Tour. … Other sponsor exemptions include college golf stars including BYU’s kihei akinaof unc carson bertgnol and arizona Filip Jakubsik. puerto ricans chris nido, Renaldo Simoni and 17 years old ivan pena Are in the field. fred biondi, Chase Sienkiewicz, Kieron Van Wyk And yanhan zhou Meet sponsor discounts.

Signature Event Story: The Puerto Rico Open is played opposite the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. …The next signature event on the PGA Tour schedule is the RBC Heritage in April (April 13-19). The Aon Next 10 for the RBC Heritage consists of the top 10 players on the current year’s FedExCup standings through the Masters Tournament (Monday, April 13), unless otherwise exempt. The Aon Swing 5 standings for the RBC Heritage include the top five FedExCup players at the Puerto Rico Open, Valspar Championship, Texas Children’s Houston Open and the Valero Texas Open, unless otherwise exempt.

FedExcup: The winner receives 300 FedExCup points.

Duration: Grand Reserve Golf Club (Championship Course), par 72, 7,506 yards. Tom Kite’s design spans the Grand Reserve Beach peninsula and is a tall beast. They swapped the nines for 2025 and will do so again in 2026, with the front nine featuring two par 5s that are 600 yards or longer.

72-hole record: 262, Carl Williams (2025)

18-hole record: 62, Kevin Roy (Round 1, 2025), Jhonatton Vegas (Round 4, 2020)

Last time: Australia’s Carl Williams made three consecutive birdies to pull out an unexpected duel with Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, and the Australian played his best golf on Sunday with an 8-under 64 to earn his first PGA Tour win in his fourth career start and third start as a Tour member. Neergaard-Petersen launched a spirited attack, opening the back nine by making birdies on six straight holes and closing with a 63. The Dane briefly took the lead when Williams made bogey with a wedge from the fairway on the 12th, but Williams quickly recovered. He birdied the next three holes, held position the rest of the way and made a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a three-shot victory.

HOW TO FOLLOW (ALL TIMES ET)

• Thursday Friday: 10am to 1pm (Golf Channel)
• Saturday-Sunday: 2:30-5:30 pm (Golf Channel)