This week in golf: Vidanta Vallarta, East Lake and a card race in Mallorca

Golf Channel's week opens in Atlanta and ends in Mexico. The East Lake Cup starts Monday, October 26, and the PGA Tour's VidantaWorld Mexico Open runs Thursday through Sunday, October 29 to November 1, at Vidanta Vallarta, where 120 players chase a $6 million purse and 500 FedExCup points in the fifth of eight FedExCup Fall events.

The PGA Tour: VidantaWorld Mexico Open

• Where: Vidanta Vallarta, Vallarta, Mexico. Par 71, 7,337 yards, designed by Greg Norman.
• Defending champion: Brian Campbell, who beat Aldrich Potgieter in a two-hole playoff last year for his first Tour win.
• Purse: $6 million, $1.08 million to the winner.
• TV: Golf Channel, live 4-7 p.m. ET Thursday through Saturday and 3-6 p.m. ET Sunday.

Golf Channel's notables are Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Blades Brown, Wyndham Clark, Ben Griffin, Max Homa, Billy Horschel, Ben James and Tom Kim. Tony Finau, the 2023 champion, is the other past winner in the field. Sponsor exemptions went to John Daly II and Ryder Cowan, among others, and the Tour's designated sponsor spots went to Santiago de la Fuente, Alejandro Fierro, Mauricio Figueroa Ramirez and Gerardo Gomez.

The Tour's media page lists four withdrawals from Sunday, October 25. Austin Smotherman is out (Will Gordon in), and so is Seamus Power (Harry Higgs in), a day before the two finished their Bermuda playoff, which Smotherman won. Sami Valimaki (Tyler Duncan in) and Davis Thompson (Chan Kim in) also withdrew. The Tour stays in Mexico next week for the World Wide Technology Championship in Los Cabos, November 5-8.

Also on Golf Channel this week

• NCAA, East Lake Cup: East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, October 26-28, live 3-6 p.m. ET each day. Monday is stroke play for the individual titles, then two days of match play. The men's teams are Arizona, Auburn, Oklahoma State and UCLA. The women's teams are Arkansas, Eastern Michigan, Oklahoma State and USC.
• LPGA, Maybank Championship: Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club (West Course), Malaysia, October 29 to November 1, with a $3 million purse. Miyu Yamashita defends. Golf Channel goes live at 9:30 p.m. ET Wednesday through Saturday nights. Hannah Green, Charley Hull, Lydia Ko and Lottie Woad are among the notables.
• PGA Tour Champions, Simmons Bank Championship: Pleasant Valley Country Club, Little Rock, October 30 to November 1. It is the second Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs event, with 51 players and a $2.3 million purse. Steven Alker defends, and Rory Sabbatini arrives off his Stifel Charity Classic win. Golf Channel has Friday and Saturday live, 1-4 p.m. ET. For Sunday, the Tour's schedule shows the GOLF app live at 1 p.m. ET and a Golf Channel replay at 6:30 p.m., while Golf Channel's post lists 1:30-4:30 p.m., so check listings.
• Hotelplanner Tour, Grand Final: Club de Golf Alcanada, Mallorca, Spain, October 29 to November 1. Golf Channel says the top 15 in the season standings after this week earn full DP World Tour cards for 2027. Coverage runs 7 a.m. to noon ET Thursday through Saturday and 5:30-10:30 a.m. ET Sunday.

The Perfect Lie angle

Vidanta Vallarta is a Greg Norman design, and at 7,337 yards it plays more than 500 yards longer than Port Royal did last week. To find other Norman courses, start in our course and designer directory.

Indoor golf is two weeks out. WTGL opens Sunday, November 8, at SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, and TGL's third season starts December 27. Our WTGL broadcast team story has who is calling it.

We post a new preview every Monday when Golf Channel puts out its weekly schedule.