World Wide Technology Championship:
After a week off, the PGA Tour is back to start its final three weeks of the 2024 calendar in Mexico for the World Wide Technology Championship.
Max Greyserman (16-1) finished runner-up last time out at the ZOZO Championship to Nico Echavarria (55-1). It was Greyserman’s third runner-up finish in 2024 (3M Open, Wyndham Championship) and his third in his last five starts.
Cameron Young (20-1) is the highest-ranked OWGR player in this week’s field.
Beau Hossler (22-1) finished runner-up five weeks ago at the Sanderson Farms, just as Doug Ghim (25-1) did three weeks ago at the Shriners.
Also priced at 25-1 are Lucas Glover, who posted back-to-back thirds at the Sanderson Farms and the Black Desert, Matti Schmid, J.J. Spaun and Harry Hall.
Following on the odds are board are Ben Griffin and Maverick McNealy, both at 28-1. Harris English, off consecutive top-10 finishes, Jhonattan Vegas and Matt Kuchar, who won this event in 2018 when it was held at Mayakoba and was runner-up here last year, are all at 30-1.
Defending event champion Erik van Rooyen is 35-1.
The Event
The World Wide Technology Championship debuted as the Mayakoba Golf Classic in February 2007 as an alternate event that was held opposite the WGC Match Play. In 2013, the event was moved to November as part of the PGA Tour’s Fall Series. With that move, the tournament became designated as a “full event” meaning that full FedEx Cup points are allocated along with a Masters invitation for the winner. In 2021, St. Louis-based technology services provider World Wide Technology signed on as the title sponsor through 2027.
The Field
120 players will comprise this week’s World Wide Technology Championship Field.
Many players are here this week to gain FedEx Cup points, and some are trying to stay in the Top 125 to maintain their exemption status for next season.
The Course
El Cardonal at Diamante, which opened in 2014, is the initial foray into golf course design for Tiger Woods. It is located in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, at the Diamante Cabo San Lucas Resort at the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula in the state of Baja California Sur. It is a par-72 of 7,452 yards.
The course is set in desert terrain. There is zero rough at El Cardonal and errant tee shots will find arroyos in a sandy or rocky location. Fairways are generous at 60 yards wide (widest on tour) in landing areas with only the Plantation Course at Kapalua featuring such wide landing areas.
That link to Kapalua fits as this layout is set on land that drops 240 feet along the mile-long stretch from the 17th tee to the third fairway. The undulations and this terrain will be demanding. Flat holes are few and far between with ascending (par-5 14th climbs the most at 80 feet) and descending (par-5 sixth falls the most at 70 feet) holes.
Furthermore, last year it played as the second-easiest course on tour (behind the Plantation Course at Kapalua) averaging -3.01 strokes per round.
Greens (rolling at 11-12 feet on the stimpmeter) are huge at 8,300 square feet and are the second largest on the PGA Tour. The course is Platinum Paspalum from tee to green.
Every hole basically has an open front to be able to run the ball up onto the green.
El Cardonal is similar to Vidanta Vallarta, which hosts the Mexico Open in the spring. Both courses have wide fairways and feature Paspalum from tee through green. It can be exposed to wind, but that is essentially the lone defense on this track.
Recent History
2023: Erik van Rooyen (-27/261); 100-1
2022: Russell Henley (-23/261); 55-1
2021: Viktor Hovland (-23/261); 18-1
2020: Viktor Hovland (-20/264); 22-1
2019: Brendon Todd (-20/264); 110-1
2018: Matt Kuchar (-22/262); 60-1
2017: Patton Kizzire (-19/265); 70-1
2016: Pat Perez (-21/263); 125-1
2015: Graeme McDowell (-18/266); 33-1 *
2014: Charley Hoffman (-17/267); 60-1
2013: Harris English (-21/263); 25-1
2012: John Huh (-13/271); 35-1**
2011: Johnson Wagner (-17/267); 150-1*
2010: Cameron Beckman (-15/269); 100-1
Playoff win over Jason Bohn and Russell Knox – *
Playoff win over Robert Allenby – **
Playoff win over Spencer Levin – ***
NOTE: Last year was the first year this event was played at El Cardonal at Diamante. All of the previous events were played at El Camaleon at Mayakoba.
Statistical Analysis
There was no ShotLink data from this event last year, but we can still ascertain what stats will be important based on the course layout. The wide fairways likely mitigate paying too much attention to any driving or off-the-tee stats except for distance.
Average Driving Distance (2024 PGA Tour season)
- Cameron Champ 323.4
- Kevin Dougherty 318.5
- Alejandro Tosti 316.6
- Jhonattan Vegas 314.3
- Paul Barjon 314.2
- Hayden Springer 313.4
- Wilson Furr 313.3
- Pierceson Coody 313.2
- Joseph Bramlett 313.0
- Keith Mitchell 312.7
- Carl Yuan 312.1
- Max Greyserman 311.1
- Rico Hoey 310.6
- Garrick Higgo 310.1
- Callum Tarren 310.0
- Patrick Fishburn 309.8
- Matti Schmid 309.6
- Ryan Brehm 309.5
- Kevin Tway 309.5
These large greens are easy to hit (81% last year), but players will still need to be sharp on approach.
Strokes Gained: Approach — Average Per Round (2024 PGA Tour season)
- Tom Hoge 0.754
- Lucas Glover 0.722
- Doug Ghim 0.704
- Keith Mitchell 0.560
- Patton Kizzire 0.498
- Henrik Norlander 0.493
- J.J. Spaun 0.493
- Joel Dahmen 0.467
- Jhonattan Vegas 0.433
- Chez Reavie 0.424
- Ryan Moore 0.409
- Austin Eckroat 0.401
- Adam Svensson 0.374
- Ben Griffin 0.328
The winning score here last year was 27 under, and 21 under was required just to get on the first page of the leaderboard.
Birdie Or Better Percentage (2024 PGA Tour season)
- Keith Mitchell 25.99%
- Harry Hall 25.32
- Patton Kizzire 25.05
- Michael Kim 24.96
- Jacob Bridgeman 24.85
- Trace Crowe 24.64
- Joe Highsmith 24.49
- Max Greyserman 24.39
- Hayden Springer 24.34
- Jhonattan Vegas 24.24
- Matti Schmid 24.22
- Rico Hoey 24.19
- Tom Hoge 23.93
- Charley Hoffman 23.91
- Pierceson Coody 23.90
- Chandler Phillips 23.84
- Sam Stevens 23.83
There were more three-putts than tour average last year simply because the large greens lead to more lag putts.
Three-Putt Avoidance (2024 PGA Tour season)
- Taylor Montgomery 1.81%
- Aaron Baddeley 1.85
- Ben Taylor 1.85
- Tyler Duncan 1.88
- Maverick McNealy 1.88
- Pierceson Coody 1.90
- Austin Eckroat 1.90
- Matt Kuchar 1.91
- Vince Whaley 1.94
- Garrick Higgo 1.99
Strokes Gained: Putting Paspalum (Last 36 rounds)
- Brandon Wu 17.7
- Cameron Champ 14.1 (26 rounds)
- Aaron Baddeley 12
- Martin Trainer 11.5
- Ben Taylor 10.6 (20 rounds)
- Patrick Rodgers 9.4
- Maverick McNealy 8.1 (22 rounds)
- Kelly Kraft 7
- Chez Reavie 7
- Henrik Norlander 6.4
- Nate Lashley 6.1
- Justin Lower 5.7 (26 rounds)
- David Lipsky 5.7 (30 rounds)
Scrambling also proved to be a bit tougher than average here last year.
Scrambling (2024 PGA Tour season)
- Henrik Norlander 67.27%
- Aaron Baddeley 65.97
- Bud Cauley 64.93
- Maverick McNealy 64.85
- Ben Griffin 64.46
- Nate Lashley 64.05
- Roger Sloan 63.87
- Harris English 63.72
- Zac Blair 63.70
- Sam Stevens 63.60
- Ryan Moore 63.20
- Chandler Phillips 63.13
- Doug Ghim 62.96
The Par-5s are must-birdies on a course that is as scoreable as El Cardonal.
Strokes Gained Par-5s (Last 36 rounds)
- Jhonattan Vegas 20
- J.J. Spaun 17.2
- Patrick Fishburn 15.9
- Hayden Springer 15.3
- Neal Shipley 14.6 (30 rounds)
- Alex Smalley 14.2
- Justin Suh 13.5
- SH Kim 13.3
- Paul Barjon 12.8
- Callum Tarren 12.6
- Kevin Chappell 12.3
- Matti Schmid 12.1
- Joseph Bramlett 11.8
- Beau Hossler 11.3
- Max Greyserman 11.3
- Patrick Rodgers 11.2
Stats courtesy of PGATOUR.com
Selections
Harris English (33-1, Circa Sports)
English is 53rd in the FedEx Cup standings, just outside the top 50 to get into the first two Signature Events next season.
He has won in Mexico before (2013 Mayakoba).
English comes into this week with two consecutive top-10 finishes and could be peaking at the right time.
Matt Kuchar (35-1, Caesars Sportsbook)
Kuchar is another former winner in Mexico (2018 Mayakoba) and finished runner-up here at El Cardonal last year.
After struggling to start 2024, he has made the weekend in 11 of his last 13 starts and was third at the 3M Open six starts ago.
Austin Eckroat (45-1, BetMGM)
Eckroat was the Cognizant Classic winner earlier this season.
Unlike English, Eckroat finished inside the top 50 and has no reason to be here this week, but he is here, which hits my radar detector.
He finished 23rd here last year after having missed five of six cuts and then finishing 68th in a 70-player field in the ZOZO Championship. This time he is on much better form having made four straight cuts, including a sixth at the Wyndham and a top-20 at the FedEx St. Jude.
Daniel Berger (50-1, BetMGM)
Berger is finally healthy again and has shown some signs of a comeback this fall with a top-10 at the Sanderson Farms.
He has a runner-up finish on the Paspalum in Puerto Rico.
At 129th in the FedEx Cup Fall standings, it is go time for him to keep his full playing privileges for 2025.
Henrik Norlander (80-1, BetMGM)
At 121st in the FedExCup Fall standings, Norlander needs one more good finish to stay in the Top 125.
The Swede has three top-11 finishes in his last nine starts.
He is also solid on Paspalum with a 15th (2023) and 15th (2024) at the Puerto Rico Open (Grand Reserve Country Club), 15th (2022) at El Camaleon and was also 13th at this year’s Mexico Open played at Vidanta.
Pierceson Coody (110-1, Circa Sports)
Coody is 130th in the FedEx Cup Fall standings.
He won last year in Panama on the Korn Ferry Tour, so he has won on a similar course.
Matchups and/or placement market wagers will be posted Wednesday at VSiN.com/picks
