World Wide Technology Championship 2024 Tips: Five to go low in Mexico

There are just three official tournaments remaining on the PGA Tour calendar for 2024, as players scramble to secure their status for next year. This important trio of events kicks off in Mexico, with the World Wide Technology Championship at El Cardonal at Diamante this week.

As always, here are Jamie Worsley's World Wide Technology Championship 2024 Tips, as well as his usual comprehensive preview.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

Formerly the Mayakoba Classic, the World Wide Technology Championship was established in 2007. It has always taken place in Mexico, with the first 16 editions staged at El Camaleon Golf Course before moving to El Cardonal in 2023.

Fred Funk won the inaugural tournament, and we’ve also seen wins for recognisable names such as Harris English (2013), Graeme McDowell (2015) and Matt Kuchar (2018). However, Viktor Hovland is the only player to win multiple renewals, winning the event back-to-back in 2020 and 2021.

Last five winners:

• 2023 – Winner: Erik Van Rooyen (-27); runners-up: Matt Kuchar, Camilo Villegas (-25)
• 2022 – Winner: Russell Henley (-23); runner-up: Brian Harman (-19)
• 2021 – Winner: Viktor Hovland (-23); runner-up: Carlos Ortiz (-19)
• 2020 – Winner: Viktor Hovland (-20); runner-up: Aaron Wise (-19)
• 2019 – Winner: Brendon Todd (-20); runners-up: Adam Long, Carlos Ortiz, Vaughn Taylor (-19)

Erik Van Rooyen won his second PGA Tour title in a low scoring affair on our first visit to El Cardonal last year. The South African returns to defend this week.

THE COURSE

The El Cardonal course at Diamante opened in 2014 and is the first completed golf course designed by a certain Tiger Woods. In many ways, it pays homage to the type of course he grew up playing in Southern California.

A par 72 measuring 7452 yards, El Cardonal possesses 10x par 4s (344-489 yards), 4x par 5s (554-601 yards) and 4x par 3s (154-208 yards).

This hilly and exposed course has mild elevation changes throughout. The holes are framed by arroyos (a steep-sided gully formed by water), which provide the primary defence of the course.

The undulating fairways are extremely generous and ranked as the easiest to find on the PGA Tour last season. Though there is no rough, limited but penal and strategic bunkering offers some protection, along with the aforementioned arroyos.

The undulating paspalum greens are large and could play at a slow 11 on the stimp. Several are long and narrow in shape and have a variety of testing pin positions, whilst they are defended by many run-offs and false-fronts. That being said, they too ranked very easy to hit last year, possessing the second-highest greens-in-regulation percentage on the PGA Tour.

As we saw with Erik Van Rooyen’s -27 winning score, the players took this kind ball-striking course apart in 2023. Three of the four par 5s are reachable in two for most of the field; there are also two potentially drivable par 4s (the 351-yard 3^rd and 344-yard 10^th) and the par 3s aren’t the most intimidating. With weather appearing to play into the hands of the players once again, we should expect another low scoring edition at El Cardonal this week.

THE WEATHER

The forecast for this week is predicting pleasantly warm, dry and sunny conditions on each day. Accompanied by wind speeds of under 10mph, the players shouldn’t find this week’s weather too troublesome.

KEY STATS

• SG: Approach
• SG: Putting (paspalum)
• Driving Distance
• Birdie or Better %

We don’t have tournament-specific strokes-gained data for this event, though we can still draw some conclusions in relation to what is required here from the contenders. With that, it’s no surprise that those in good form in approach and putting shone in such a scoreable event.

Erik Van Rooyen has always been a player who excels with the long game. He entered last year’s event hitting it well and had recently found something on the greens. This is something that can also be said of runner-up, Camilo Villegas and 4^th-place finisher Justin Suh, whilst these are areas in which Matt Kuchar has often impressed.

In addition, the width of these fairways will be helpful and more forgiving for the less accurate drivers in the field. Something which should play into the hands of the bigger hitters in particular.

CORRELATING EVENTS (COURSES)

Mexico Open (Vidant Vallarta)

The obvious place to start is with our other event in Mexico, the Mexico Open at Vidanta Vallarta. Covered head-to-toe in paspalum, the exposed course has generous fairways and possesses a similarly difficult short game challenge around the large, undulating greens.

Notable correlating form:

Erik Van Rooyen:

El Cardonal (1^st) / Vidanta Vallarta (8^th)

Carson Young:

El Cardonal (9^th) / Vidanta Vallarta (8^th)

Akshay Bhatia:

El Cardonal (10^th) / Vidanta Vallarta (4^th)

Beau Hossler:

El Cardonal (15^th) / Vidanta Vallarta (10^th)

Corales Puntacana Championship (Corales Golf Course)

Corales Golf Course is another exposed venue with very wide fairways and large paspalum greens.

Notable correlating form:

Andrew Putnam:

El Cardonal (5^th) / Corales (5^th)

Mackenzie Hughes:

El Cardonal (7^th) / Corales (2^nd, 3^rd)

Sam Ryder:

El Cardonal (10^th) / Corales (2^nd)

Nate Lashley:

El Cardonal (10^th) / Corales (4^th)

Shriners Open (TPC Summerlin)

With wide fairways and large greens that rank among the easiest to hit on tour, but possessing one of the more demanding scrambling tests, TPC Summerlin’s tee-to-green challenge mirrors that of El Cardonal. It’s also generally home to very low scoring and can prove a valuable comp.

Notable correlating form:

Matt Kuchar:

El Cardonal (2^nd) / Shriners (2^nd)

Justin Suh:

El Cardonal (4^th) / Shriners (8^th)

Ryan Palmer:

El Cardonal (5^th) / Shriners (7^th, 8^th)

Chesson Hadley:

El Cardonal (7^th) / Shriners (4^th, 5^th)

Austin Cook:

El Cardonal (10^th) / Shriners (2^nd)

Sam Ryder:

El Cardonal (10^th) / Shriners (3^rd)

Beau Hossler:

El Cardonal (15^th) / Shriners (7^th, 7^th)

CJ CUP Byron Nelson (TPC Craig Ranch)

The CJ CUP Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch is another birdie-fest played on a wide open course with generous fairways and large greens.

Notable correlating form:

Ryan Palmer:

El Cardonal (5^th) / Byron Nelson (5^th, 8^th)

Black Desert Championship (Black Desert Resort)

Lastly, I think it could be worth checking out the Black Desert Championship, which recently debuted on the PGA Tour. The Black Desert Resort course is exposed, with wide fairways, large greens and moderate elevation changes.

Notable correlating form:

Carson Young:

El Cardonal (9^th) / Black Desert (11^th)

Beau Hossler:

El Cardonal (15^th) / Black Desert (11^th)

THE FIELD

Cameron Young returns from an absence of over two months and is the top-ranked player in the field at #32. Max Greyserman (#42) and Lucas Glover (#47) are the only other players from inside the world’s top 50.

There are another 16 players from the top 100, which includes the defending champion, Erik Van Rooyen. We have a further four former winners in attendance: Matt Kuchar (2018), Patton Kizzire (2017), Charley Hoffman (2014) and Harris English (2013).

Former #12 amateur, Mexico’s Santiago de la Fuente is an exciting addition to the field and this year’s impressive 26^th-place finisher in the US Open, Neal Shipley gets another stab at the PGA Tour.

World Wide Technology Championship Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main World Wid Technology Championship market on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this tournament.

SELECTIONS

Market leaders (1/4 5 places): Max Greyserman 16/1, Cameron Young 20/1, Beau Hossler 22/1, Matti Schmid 22/1

There doesn’t appear to be a whole lot of value among those at the very top of the betting to my eye. However, we can find a couple of players just behind these who make much more appeal and with a great deal in his favour this week, I’m taking last year’s runner-up, Matt Kuchar to end his five-year PGA Tour drought in Mexico.

1.75 pts Matt Kuchar each-way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 28/1

Kuchar had a very tough start to the year, missing eight of his first 10 cuts but it’s been a different story in the second part of 2024. He’s made the weekend in 11 of his last 13 starts, over which time he’s recorded six top 25s and produced a best result of the year six starts ago in the 3M Open, finishing 3^rd.

He’s putted typically well, ranking 32^nd on the greens, although, it’s improvements with his ball-striking, specifically his iron play, that has engineered these better results. He’s gained strokes in approach in eight of his previous 10 appearances and enters this week ranking 35^th in this area over the last three months. Something I’m hoping he can continue into this week.

Kuchar sat inside the top 10 after each round here last year, with rounds of 65, 65, 67 and 66 taking him to a 2^nd-place finish, two behind winner Erik Van Rooyen. Having taken home the trophy in the 2018 edition of this event at El Camaleon, he’s no stranger to winning in Mexico and can put those experiences to positive use to record his first victory in four years.

1.25 pts Austin Eckroat each way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 40/1 

Austin Eckroat returned from an almost two-month absence in the Shriners Open three weeks ago, finishing 46^th. There was plenty of promise on show there, with his tee-to-green game looking in decent shape and having performed well here on debut last year, this strong iron player looks an attractive price in a field lacking star quality.

Eckroat made his PGA Tour breakthrough at the Cognizant Classic back in March and though not able to replicate that level of performance since, he’s had many other noteworthy performances. These include an 18^th-place finish in the PGA Championship and four starts ago he finished 6^th in the Wyndham Championship. Such results meant he finished the regular season in the top 50 and has already earned his spot in those opening Signature Events next season.

His game is all about ball-striking. He’s an accurate driver yet doesn’t lack for power and especially excels with his iron play, ranking 27^th in approach on the tour this season. The putter is somewhat streaky, though that isn’t necessarily a bad thing in a low scoring event such as this, providing he’s on a going week.

Eckroat shot four rounds in the 60s to finish 23^rd at El Cardonal last year and has never missed a cut in the event, recording finishes of 12^th and 38^th at the previous host. A 2^nd in the CJ CUP Byron Nelson and 5^th in the Corales Puntacana strengthen his case and hopefully feeling sharper for that spin around TPC Summerlin, he looks a likely contender.

1 pt Patton Kizzire each way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 60/1

Patton Kizzire had been offering plenty of positivity prior to winning the Procore Championship four starts ago and has continued to look good in approach since. Having previously demonstrated an ability to record multiple wins in relatively quick succession, the 2017 winner of this event has every chance of adding another trophy to his cabinet at El Cardonal.

Before winning the Procore, Kizzire had recorded five top-25 finishes in his previous 10 starts, including top 10s in the Barracuda Championship and Myrtle Beach Classic. He followed that win with another strong performance in the Sanderson Farms Championship next time out, finishing 11^th and though he’s finished 43^rd and missed the cut on his last two starts, it’s been encouraging to see him retain form with his approach play.

He’s hitting his irons better than in any of the previous five years, ranking 15^th on the PGA Tour and is an admirable 4^th in greens-in-regulation. He also looks to have the driver under control at current and with the putter – a club with which he’s excelled in the past – returning to form, he’s been able to make buckets of birdies, ranking 5^th in birdie or better %.

Kizzire finished 15^th here in 2023 despite going into that week in no kind of form. This shouldn’t come as a major surprise, as he recorded his first win on the PGA Tour in this event in 2017. Also possessing two top 4s in the Shriners Open and a 3^rd-place finish in the CJ CUP Byron Nelson, his comp form provides me with some added confidence and having recorded his second PGA Tour win just two months after that 2017 breakthrough in Mexico, he can repeat a similar feat this week.

1 pt Pierceson Coody each way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 70/1

Those first three selections are almost certain of their places on tour next season, however there are many players in this week’s field who will have their eye on finishing inside that top 125 on the FedExCup. I’m going to finish with two players who sit just outside, for who this week looks an ideal chance to move inside the cutline, with former #1 amateur Pierceson Coody the first up.

Coody has enjoyed a couple of very bright moments on tour this season, finishing 2^nd in the ISCO Championship and 5^th at Colonial in the Charles Schwab Challenge. However, with his only other top 25 coming courtesy of an 18^th-place finish in the Corales Puntacana, he currently sits at #130 in the FedExCup and needs to find a performance over these final three events.

This does look like a perfect place to do so for the Texan. He’s a player who makes a lot of birdies, ranking 28^th in birdie or better %, which is largely due to his excellence on the greens, ranking 8^th in putting this season. He’s driven it well in recent months and as the 14^th-longest driver on tour, he should appreciate these generous fairways.

Recording one of his three victories on the Korn Ferry Tour in Panama, Coody has winning experience in Central America. With that 18^th in the Dominican Republic in the Corales Puntacana also boding well, this huge talent can go a long way towards securing his tour status this week.

1 pt Alejandro Tosti each way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 80/1

Alejandro Tosti sits two spots above Coody at #128. The Argentinian arrives here after his second-best finish of the year in the Shriners Open on his latest start and with a game suited for this challenge, he can back that up with another strong effort in Mexico.

Much like Coody, Tosti has occasionally shown flashes of his potential this year, but we just haven’t seen enough of it. His best result came when runner-up in the Houston Open and he’s recorded three further top 20s, including an 18^th-place finish in the Olympics and a 9^th in Vegas on his last start.

He’s driven the ball excellently all year, ranking 11^th and sitting 5^th in driving distance, he should relish taking the big stick into these fairways. The putter and irons have been largely inconsistent, though he did gain strokes in each of those areas in the Shriners, with his approach display rating as his second-best of 2024.

Growing up in South America and playing on the PGA Tour Americas, Tosti should be more than comfortable on paspalum. Indeed, he looked at home on the surface when 10^th in the Mexico Open last year and alongside that result in the Shriners, he has two pieces of attractive comp form for this challenge.