World Wide Technology Championship.
World Wide Technology Championship.
Nov 04, 2024World Wide Technology Championship
After the tough defeat of Keith Mitchell at the Sandersons we had our second near miss of the Fall series at the ZOZO Championship, to go with our win with Matt McCarty in Utah.
The man who came up just short for us on this occasion was Justin Thomas. JT will be the first to admit that this was an event that slipped through his fingers as his putter deserted him on Sunday. Putt after putt burnt the edges for Thomas particularly on the back nine and he cut a forlorn figure as he missed out by one. Still it was a full place for Thomas to go with a full place for Rickie Fowler so a profitable week in the end.
The event itself was won by Nico Echavarria who hung tough alongside JT and Max Greyserman to bag his second PGA Tour trophy and having also closed from the front in Puerto Rico last year it is clear when the Colombian gets a sniff he is not afraid to win.
So we move on and after a week off for the PGA Tour we head to Mexico for the World Wide Technology Championship.
The event, which first debuted on the tour as the Mayakoba Classic in 2007 was played at the El Cameleon Golf Club from inception until last year.
In 2023 though after the Mayakoba resort ‘defected’ to LIV golf it was all change for the event with a new course in play, the El Cardonal Course at Diamante at Los Cabos.
The field in all honesty is a weak one. The market is headed up by the inform Max Greyserman. Greyserman is then followed by Cameron Young who continues his quest for a maiden tour title. This duo are then followed by Doug Ghim and Beau Hossler.
COURSE
The El Cardonal course at Diamante is a par 72 measuring just over 7450yds.
The greens are Paspulum.
The course, which was opened in 2014 and was designed by Tiger Woods and as such represents Woods’ first design to be used on the PGA Tour.
When talking about the course Woods said “I set up the golf strategy to make golfers think and make choices. There are going to be different ways to play every hole. Angles of approach are going to be very important and will dictate the type of shots you should consider. I love this kind of golf.”
With 60 yard wide open fairway and larger than average greens this looked last year heading in to be one of those tracks where the key to success would be very much from second shot and in.
With the course sitting on the Pacific Ocean wind is potentially its main defence so I wouldn’t rule out players with good ‘links prowess’ allied to short game touch performing well here.
With four par fives to go at as well as two par fours, which could be reachable for the bigger hitters, rather like the Mexico Championship played on the same coast we could also see the bombers thrive here.
The course also features considerable elevation changes, while scrubby desert flora and cacti in the wide open spaces give an element of a desert feel to the track.
Finally, the word we will no doubt here plenty of this week is ‘arroyo’ of, which the course features many and, which the players will be very much looking to avoid. An arroyo for those wondering is a ‘dry stream bed with steep sides’.
HISTORY
With the event moving last year there really is little to be gleaned from looking at the historical winners pre 2023.
For what it’s worth though here are the last ten winners.
2023 – E Van Rooyen
2022 – R Henley
2021 – V Hovland
2020 – V Hovland
2019 – B Todd
2018 – M Kuchar
2017 – P Kizzire
2016 – P Perez
2015 – G McDowell
2014 – C Hoffman
Let’s take a look then at the top ten here last year.
1 E Van Rooyen
T2 M Kuchar & C Villegas
4 J Suh
T5 R Palmer, A Putnam
T7 C Hadley, M Hughes
9 Carson Young
T10 A Cook, N Lashley, A Bhatia, L Aberg, S Ryder.
So, what can we glean from this leaderboard? Well firstly I speculated last year that with the course sitting on the pacific ocean and the potential for wind to be in play that players with a links pedigree could relish the challenge. Well lo and behold the winner Van Rooyen is proven on the DP World Tour in links conditions while the second player home Matt Kuchar would now have an Open to his name but for the heroics of Jordan Spieth at Birkdale.
Obviously with only a one year sample it is dangerous to read too much in to last year’s leaderboard, however I also can’t help but notice that in Kuchar, Villegas, Suh and Palmer we have players who have renowned pedigree on the East Coast and particularly in Florida. Villegas is a former winner of the Cognizant Classic in years gone by. Palmer was beaten in a play off in the same event while he also landed his maiden tour title at the now defunct Walt Disney Classic in Florida.
Kuchar of course has a Players to his name and Suh has a top ten at Sawgrass. We also have two winners of the RSM played on the coast at Sea Island in Georgia on that list in Hughes and Aberg, while Hadley as a North Carolinian has also historically played his best golf out East. Finally last years champion here Van Rooyen cemented the link with PGA National further by finishing runner up in the Cognizant Classis this year.
I also speculated last year that with the wide open fairways and the four par fives to go at this could be something of a ‘bombers paradise’ however this couldn’t have been further from the truth. Granted Van Rooyen is no slouch off the tee but in Kuchar, Villegas, Suh and indeed the majority of the top ten and ties we have shorter than average hitters.
Away from this event and indeed the East Coast, form on paspalum greens should certainly be a pointer. From that point of view the Mexico Open is certainly an event to look at while the other events to consider where paspalum is in play are the Corales Puntacana and the Puerto Rico Open.
WEATHER FORECAST
We look set for a gorgeous week of wall to wall sunshine with temperatures sitting around 80 degrees all four days.
Wind, which allowing for the coastal location is a potential issue here, could be a factor with gusts of 15-20mph a possibility through the week although these look set to subside as we move through the weekend.
As I always say though…this could all change!
PICKS
I have gone with five players this week as follows;
TAYLOR MOORE – 33/1 – 1.5pts E/W – 1/5 odds 1st 8 - FINISHED MC
I’m going to start things off this week with Taylor Moore.
Moore did us a very nice favour last year when we were onboard at the Valspar when he bagged his maiden title.
Since then Taylor has ticked over steadily enough however I am sure he will be the first to admit that a season long finish of 64th in the Fedex Cup this year was disappointing particularly as he started the year in the top 50 and eligible for all the big signature events.
The main period of inconsistency for Moore this year came through the summer when he missed five cuts in seven starts with his approach play for, which he is ranked 142nd this season the main culprit. Of late though Taylor has been far more solid playing the weekend on five consecutive occasions while last time out he produced a strong 11th place finish at the ZOZO to back up a 25th in his previous start at the Shriners.
Moore arrives here still in 64th in the Fedex Fall so he has work to do to make the ‘next ten’ and bag himself a spot in the first two signature events of 2025.
From a positive point of view though in his time on tour Taylor has very much struck me as a ‘momentum’ player. A look at his early season form this year shows that he produced a similar run of results in the spring where he was steadily improving week on week before he followed a 12th place at the Valspar with a runner up finish in Houston. Meanwhile if we go back to last year we see that his win came after a strong run of results where he made five cuts in six starts and posted three top 20s.
The one slight concern is that Taylor doesn’t have any form to shown on the paspalum however he has the win in Florida to his name, which sits nicely when compared to last years leaderboard and he has a top ten finish at the RSM, as well as an 11th at Hilton Head, so we know he can perform by the coast on correlating tracks. Furthermore he has a top five at the Wyndham to his name, which links well with last years runner up here Camillo Villegas who is a former Sedgefield champion.
All in all in an event that won’t take too much winning Moore is a player who knows how to win and is trending nicely making him very much a man I want to have on side this week and he looks good value at the odds.
AUSTIN ECKROAT – 45/1 – 1.5pts E/W – 1/5 odds 1st 8 - FINISHED 1st!!!
Next up I really like the look of the obvious credentials this week of Austin Eckroat.
It’s been a breakout year for Eckroat with the highlight coming at PGA National of course where he landed his maiden Tour title in hugely impressive fashion at the Cognizant Classic. Immediately then based on last years leaderboard here that gives us a huge pointer to this week.
Since then it is fair to say that his form has been patchy and he was only able to post one further top ten in the campaign when sixth at the Wyndham Championship. Still, though Austin did enough through the year to finish inside the top 50 in the Fedex race to bag himself a spot in all the big events in 2025 so a hugely successful year for him.
As Eckroat landed that top 50 spot it means he has no real need to be in Mexico this week so the fact that he has pitched up is certainly interesting and leads us to our next point regarding how much I feel this course should suit him.
Firstly on this front we don’t have to look too far for clues as Austin produced a strong week here last year to finish 23rd. Not a brilliant finish but it was eye catching as it came on the back of a run four straight missed cuts and a 68th in the limited field ZOZO event. He then went on to finish eighth at the correlating RSM in the next start.
Casting the net wider and we see that the 25yr old finished fifth on the paspalum greens at the Corales earlier in 2023 on the back of six straight missed cuts, while back in 2020 prior to being a full tour member he finished 12th at the Mayakoba. Furthermore his best effort by far early in his rookie season was at another coastal track at the Sony when 12th.
To sum up then not unsurprisingly as a native of Oklahoma brought up playing in windy conditions, Austin seems to come to life when by the coast and there is a bit of breeze in play, while he is also more than comfortable on the paspalum.
After a steady mid division finish last time out in the desert then I’ll take Eckroat to spring back to life this week in far more favoured surroundings.
DANIEL BERGER – 45/1 – 1pt e/w – 1/5 odds 1st 8. - FINISHED 20th
Next up I at the odds on offer I a more than happy to give another chance to a player we were on in Las Vegas recently, Daniel Berger.
It must be said that in Las Vegas Daniel struggled to get out of third gear over the weekend before finishing 39th, with his approach the culprit on Saturday and Sunday. Still though it was another solid effort from Berger as he continues his comeback from injury.
Finally healthy again after an 18 month absence Daniel notched his first top ten at the Sandersons recently since the Memorial in 2022.
Undoubtedly positive signs then for a player who at his peak is a class above most of this field.
A Florida native who is comfortable in the wind and who has finished runner up to go with two further top fives at PGA National Berger certainly fits the profile of last years leaderboard.
Furthermore a scroll through Berger’s wider CV on tour shows us he has a runner up finish on the paspalum in Puerto Rico, a win to his name by the coast at Pebble Beach and a third place finish at Hilton Head. Some strong form at the type of tracks we are looking at then.
At 129th in the Fedex Fall standings Daniel needs a big finish to his year and on a layout, which I would expect to be to his liking I am happy to stick with him again here.
ALEX SMALLEY – 70/1 - 1pt E/W – 1/5 odds 1st 8 - FINISHED 39th
Another player who fits the profile strongly for me this week is Alex Smalley.
It’s been a disappointing 2024 for Smalley as a whole and he entered the Fedex Fall series at 130th in the standings and battling to keep his card.
Over the past month though things have picked up for Alex as he posted a seasons best fifth place at the Sandersons, he then followed that up with a 25th in Utah before finishing down the field at the Shriners.
As a result Smalley has crept up in to 119th in the standings and he will know that one more decent week will be enough to secure his privileges for 2025.
No doubt then Alex with be licking his chops coming in to this week as he is both something of a specialist on the paspalum and also by the coast. Firstly the 28yr old has a second place and a six place to his name on the paspalum at the Corales, the latter finish coming this year when he arrived at the event on the back of seven straight missed cuts. Furthermore Alex was sixth at the 2022 Mexico Open, while other strong coastal performances include a fifth at the correlating RSM in 2022, an 11th that same year in Bermuda and a 10th in 2023 at the Genesis Scottish Open.
Smalley is making his debut on this track this week as he didn’t play here last year, however with his strong record on similar tracks and with his form picking up nicely this Fall, there is every reason to think he can have a big week here and I am keen to have him on side.
WILL GORDON – 200/1 – 1pt E/W – 1/5 odds 1st 8 - FINISHED MC
Finally this week at big odds I shall roll the dice on Will Gordon.
Since joining the ranks of the big league over the disjointed covid period Gordon has failed to live up to expectations and after struggling throughout 20/21 to 159th in the Fedex standings he found himself plying his trade on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Showing his class though Will regained his PGA Tour status after a solid 2022 Korn Ferry campaign, which was highlighted with a win at the Albertsons Boise event.
Back on the PGA Tour then Will fared much better second time around finishing a solid 98th over 22/23. I am sure then Will would have started 2024 with high hopes to push on and make the play offs and to perhaps bag a maiden win, however his season was derailed in February with unspecified medical issues, which saw him have to sit things out for nearly five months before retuning at the John Deere Classic in July.
Understandably it has taken Gordon a while to back in to the swing of things, missing five of his first six cuts after returning. At the Sanderson Farms however there were some positive signs as Friday and Saturday saw him post back to back rounds of 65 and 66 before he struggled on Sunday. Meanwhile the following week he posted four sub par rounds in Utah on his way to 35th place leading the field for Driving Accuracy for the week and with his approach play firing nicely over the weekend.
On to this week then and despite a missed cut at the Shriners Will should arrive in Mexico in a positive frame of mind at a track which we have to believe suits his game. To expand further and firstly the 28yr old played nicely here last year to notch a 15th place finish despite being in no form whatsoever coming in. Furthermore he posted a round of 63 that week on Friday before stalling slightly over the weekend. In addition and while of course on a different track Will finished third in this event the previous year showing that he enjoys his time in Mexico.
If we then cast the net wider we will see that two of Will’s other strongest efforts in his limited time on tour have come in the correlating RSM Classic event where he has finished 10th and 15th. In fact add in the fact that Will has a third place as well to his name at the Travelers and it would seem that despite being one of the bigger hitters on tour he is best suited to layouts which can be picked apart.
A native of North Carolina Will certainly fits the East Coast based player who seemed to perform well here last year and I am happy to chance him to spring to life in Mexico once more this week.