Read The Line Betting Breakdown: World Wide Technology Championship

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2023 World Wide Technology Championship: The Diamante Experience

Take a trip down to the tip of Baja and you'll find paradise on Earth. Cabo San Lucas is a haven for resort traffic and beautiful weather. The first sixteen years of the World Wide Technology Championship were played in Riviera Maya on the east coast of Mexico. The tournament has moved to Mexico's west coast and the tip of the Baja California peninsula. The PGA TOUR is about to play the first course designed by Tiger Woods (2014).

Set along the Pacific Ocean, The Diamante resort community is built around 36 holes of tremendous golf landscape. Woods' El Cardonal course is a par-72 layout covering 7,452 yards from the tips. That's one of the longest courses on TOUR. Four par-3s, four par-5s and 10 par-4s make up the championship scorecard. A field of 132 players are set to compete for $8.2 million dollars. The top 65 and ties will play the weekend and try to win the coveted $1.476 first-place check.

The weather looks perfect this week in paradise. Temperatures are forecasted in the upper 80s with little to no breeze from the ocean. The wind will be in the single digits and there's no rain in the forecast. There's a simple reason why the PGA TOUR has been coming to Mexico in November for quite some time. Three events remain in the FedEx Cup Fall. Remember these seven events are all about precious points. Eighty percent of this field or more needs to ensure they stay inside the top 125. Only one player is ranked inside the top 20 in the OWGR and just five players in the top 50!

On a brand-new course with wide open fairways and resort greens, you better pack your birdie bag along with your passport. The average green size at El Cardonal is 8,300 sq/ft. Covered in Paspalum seaside grasses the course will play very reminiscent to Corales in Punta Cana and Vidanta Vallarta in Puerto Vallarta. Paspalum is a sticky grass that survives well in coastal settings. Players find it easy to chip and pitch from and generally get frustrated by the lack of speed on the greens.

Tiger's design boasts 60 yard wide fairways and no rough. More than just beautiful, this is a bomber's paradise. At 7,400+ yards and super wide landing areas, length will be an incredible advantage. The average par-5 is 581 yards long and six par-4s stretch over 460 yards. Much like the spring setting for the Mexico Open at Vidanta Vallarta, if you can bomb it and putt, I like your chances at El Cardonal. Only one hole has water in play and just 48 bunkers are spread throughout the 18 holes.

Since this is a first-time venue, I have done a deep dive into the other Paspalum courses on the PGA TOUR to find those players who are capable of more than just a nice vacation in Cabo this week. For many in this field, it has been at least two weeks since their last competition. Only 78 played in Japan and that was over a week ago. Even if you have been racking up the frequent flyer miles, these last three weeks will really count. Players will need to manage their angles off the tee. Woods gives the resort guests plenty of room, but don't be fooled. To attack these large greens in the correct corner you must be on the best approach side of the fairway.

Great players like Jack and Tiger know how to present a second shot golf course. They have 11 green jackets between them and ANGC is one of the best designed approach courses in the world. For those that can putt Paspalum the next step is scoring. Four par-5s will only add to the total along with wide fairways. It will be interesting to see how deep they can go, as operators have the over/under at 23.5. Does Woods' design have any tricks, or are we hoping for the wind to protect it? Because the breeze isn't coming, and no course is long enough for the game's best.

It's an amazing venue with plenty of scoring drama. The closing five holes look outrageously entertaining. Two par-5s, two long par-4s and a short par-3. Plan to play those holes three or four under on Sunday afternoon and you might just grab the trophy. Speaking of scoring, it's also time to start keeping an eye on the 125 guys. Doug Ghim, C.T. Pan, and Erik van Rooyen sit in the last three places. Cameron Champ and Patton Kizzire are two bombers just outside that number. Don't forget the race to be in the 51-60 range. Those players get in the first two signature events. Beau Hossler leads that list while Mark Hubbard is just outside looking to get in.

Plenty to play for in Mexico at a place where everyone is a rookie for this week.

2023 World Wide Technology Championship: Tiger Characteristics

I've always wondered what it would be like to watch the PGA TOUR play a Tiger-designed course. Woods only has a couple courses in his portfolio to this point, so it is tough to say what his tendencies are. Would he favor length, have small greens or large, and what would the putting surfaces be like? Some of those questions will be answered this week in Cabo San Lucas. At 7,400 yards the length question gets answered first. We are on the Pacific Ocean so flying the ball at sea level will favor the longer hitters. Not to mention, he has resort width fairways.

There have been some bombers playing well recently and a couple of them makes my card this week. The second trait Tiger would feature is long iron accuracy. Woods is the best long iron player of all-time. His highlight reel from long range would fill any top 10. Long par-4s and wide-open par-5s beg for guys to take dead aim from far away to score. Even more important than length, a player's ability to hit their mid and long irons close to the hole will be the biggest separating factor in the field. Three of the par-3s will play around 200 yards and six of the 10 par-4s are long.

I don't see a tremendous amount of short game skill needed for El Cardonal. These greens are some of the largest we have seen all season on TOUR. Substitute approach (lag) putting for chipping and that's a specific skill we are favoring. Getting the ball into the hole in two or less shots on these sticky greens will be a test. It just might be the second hardest challenge the field faces all week with no wind.

Since the course is new to the 132-man field, I'm also favoring those players who are most comfortable. The guys who have been playing well will be able to adjust and learn the course quickly. Recent form will really be a key I'm looking at for a large portion of the card. Talent off the tee is another key, but that's been covered completely. Many of the players in this field do not play the elite events. Therefore, they have course history on Paspalum at Mayakoba, or the secondary events in Punta Cana and Puerto Rico.

By looking through those results and the last two Mexico Opens, I have found a list of players I'm pointing toward. Scoring is another key to contending. I have measured par-4 and par-5 performance. The winner will need 24 or more birdies to get the job done. I do believe we will see a few bogeys due to unfamiliarity. Overall, it will be a birdie-fest with these wide-open fairways and large green complexes. Proximity plays a part and each guy's ability to create legitimate birdie chances on approach.

Slow Paspalum greens mitigate great putters to a certain extent. They will still make plenty of birdies, but the mediocre flat stick warriors will as well. The calm conditions and large targets should keep this contest very close. In the end, I like this betting card of bombers and birdie-makers.

2023 World Wide Technology Championship: Outright Winners

Cameron Young (+1200)

It has never been a question of IF as much as WHEN Young will win on the PGA TOUR. The gifted young star is an incredible driver of the golf ball. The secret for his success in Cabo will be the Paspalum greens. Those sticky surfaces will help him make more putts. That will relieve pressure from the approach game allowing Young to score at will. The fall has been full of elite winners (Theegala, Kim, Morikawa) and Young makes the most sense from a ball striking POV in this field. Missing the Ryder Cup team is just a little extra incentive to help push him over the hurdle of collecting that first win.

Beau Hossler (+3000)

In his last two starts, Hossler has finished seventh and second. In four starts this fall, he has not finished outside the top 30. The Texas star has been outshined by his teammate Scottie Sheffler and the ball striking of Ghim. Now Beau is gaining six strokes total against the field in his last five starts. He's first in the field in Par-4 Scoring and excellent around and on the green. Those skills will serve him well with two short par-4s and four par-5s. Back in April, Hossler finished tenth in Mexico gaining nearly nine shots on the field. I believe he gets comfortable again down south and contends late Sunday afternoon.

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