Tournament field is set for the 2026 New Mexico Open
This year’s event has a record tournament purse of $100,000. Former NMSU golf standout Aidan Thomas is the defending champion. This year’s event features two former PGA Tour winners.
ELEPHANT BUTTE, N.M. —
The field is set and the excitement is building for the 2026 New Mexico Open, which begins Monday at Turtleback Mountain Golf and Resort in Elephant Butte. This year’s event is one of the top five paying state open championship tournaments in the country.
This year’s event will be broadcast on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. New Mexico native and four-time PGA Tour winner Notah Begay is part of the tournament field.
Begay is also part of the broadcast team. His partners will be acclaimed sports commentator Ryan Burr and the first AI-generated personality, Duff Foreman.
“I can’t wait for the back and forth because I’ve actually played the game,” Begay said. “I know the game, and now Duff’s going to be chiming in as to what he thinks about it.”
“It’s going to be a ‘ball striker’s paradise’ with those firm greens,” Foreman says. “Between the proven Tour winners and the hungry next generation, the energy in the field is electric.”
Two other PGA Tour winners, Sean O’Hair and Matt Every, are part of this year’s tournament field. Former NMSU standout Aidan Thomas is the defending champion. He won this event last year in his professional debut.
This year’s tournament will have a record purse of $137,000. The winner will take home a first-place check for $30,000 – a 50 percent increase from last year.
