The 2024 PGA Tour season is winding down towards its conclusion, but before we reach the RSM Classic there are still two more events to play - starting with this week's $7.2 million World Wide Technology Championship.
Each of the golfers in the FedEx Cup Fall tournament will be hoping to improve upon their positions in the standings, be it by either trying to jump into the top-70 on the season or simply securing their full-time playing rights for 2025.
In order to do that, they will likely need to generate an awful lot of birdies on this Tiger Woods-designed layout in Mexico. In its debut last season, Erik Van Rooyen walked away with the title on an eyebrow-raising 27-under.
As we approach the last-chance saloon for a number of recognizable names on the PGA Tour, the pressure to achieve their respective goals will be rising with each passing round.
Ahead of the 2024 World Wide Technology Championship, four of the Golf Monthly team have selected a handful of likely contenders...
WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY CHAMPIONSHIP 2024: THE COURSE
El Cardonal at Diamante is located in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and represents Tiger Woods' first design used by the PGA Tour.
The 7,363-yard, par-72 layout opened in 2014 and is well known for its extremely forgiving fairways and mammoth-size greens. As a result, finding the fairway and putting surface is not as much of a challenge as usual. This was highlighted by Adam Long's feat of hitting every fairway for the week in 2023.
With the area only receiving something like six inches of rain per year, the ground conditions in the desert area unsurprisingly play extremely firm and fast. This helps golf balls trickle into the rustic bunkers which are often placed in the middle of desired landing areas.
And the range of elevation - around 240 feet - from the 17th tee to the third fairway makes El Cardonal a pretty taxing walk for players and caddies alike. Nevertheless, the resort course is extremely scoreable, reflected by van Rooyen's winning 27-under total last season, and is expected to produce another birdie-fest in 2024.
WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIOUS WINNERS
WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY CHAMPIONSHIP BETTING ODDS
The odds to win outright are via FanDuel Sportsbook
- Max Greyserman (+1600)
- Cameron Young (+2000)
- Matti Schmid (+2200)
- Beau Hossler (+2200)
- Doug Ghim (+2200)
- Harris English (+2500)
- Maverick McNealy (+2800)
- Harry Hall (+2800)
- Lucas Glover (+2800)
- J.J. Spaun (+2800)
- Ben Griffin (+2800)
- Keith Mitchell (+2800)
- Jhonattan Vegas (+3000)
- Matt Kuchar (+3300)
- Sam Stevens (+3300)
- Erik van Rooyen (+3500)
- Taylor Moore (+3500)
- Tom Hoge (+3500)
- Patrick Fishburn (+4000)
- Patrick Rodgers (+4000)
- Rico Hoey (+4000)
- Austin Eckroat (+4000)
- Daniel Berger (+4000)
- Michael Kim (+4500)
- Adam Svensson (+5000)
WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY CHAMPIONSHIP BETTING PICKS
FAVORITE: Matti Schmid (+2200)
I backed Schmid last time out in Vegas and he finished T3rd after posting a fifth-place result at the Black Desert Championship the week prior.
The former Open silver medallist is yet to win as a pro but has two third-place finishes on the PGA Tour. He is gaining experience quickly and is a brilliant putter so should be able to make plenty of birdies in Mexico this week on what is a very low-scoring course.
OUTSIDER: Tom Hoge (+3500)
The scoring will be low at the WWT Championship and Tom Hoge leads the PGA Tour in birdies made courtesy of his superb iron play (fourth on tour) and solid putting stats.
It’s not necessarily a bomber’s paradise, looking at last year’s leaderboard, so the fairly short-hitting Hoge has the skills to challenge if he can get off to a quick start.
His form isn’t great, but the 2022 Pebble Beach Pro-Am champ was T7th three starts ago. Let’s hope he can go low.
FAVORITE: Harry Hall (+2800)
Hall has played some of the best golf of his career of late, getting his first PGA Tour win at the ISCO Championship just a few months ago. He has recorded two top-15 finishes in his last two starts and shot 65 or better in his five of his last 15 PGA Tour rounds.
The ability to go low is going to be important here, especially on a simple-enough resort style course, and Hall has certainly proven he can do that. The Englishman ranks third for Birdie Average on the PGA Tour this season, and has previously scored well at similar style courses (Vidanta - Mexico Open), so at this price he certainly ticks a lot of boxes.
OUTSIDER: Patton Kizzire (+6500)
Kizzire is another player with a recent win and the ability to go low when necessary, so I can't really work out why his price is so huge. A missed cut last time out will have been disappointing, but he didn't play terribly and can be forgiven when you consider he was 11th at the Sanderson Farms Championship just three starts back.
Kizzire has shot 66 or better in five of his last 17 rounds, ranks fifth for Birdie Average on the PGA Tour, and finished T10th at this event last year after posting back-to-back 65s to start the week. At this price, he is a very interesting contender in the each-way betting market.
FAVORITE: Doug Ghim (+2200)
The American just missed out on a first PGA Tour title at the Shriners Children's Open and, coming into this week, he has four top-25 finishes in his last seven starts, with three of those coming in his last three.
He's in good form and, with a week's break to rest and recover, I fancy Ghim to finally get over the line at a course where he finished in a share of 15th last year.
What's more, if you looked at his form during that period, he had missed two cuts coming into the World Wide Technology Championship whereas, this time around, he's playing a lot better. Arriving at a course that you know you can play well, will be a big confidence booster.
OUTSIDER: Jacob Bridgeman (+5500)
I backed Bridgeman at the Sanderson Farms Championship and he finished in a share of 11th. Since then, he has registered a modest tie for 46th and 29th.
Why I have gone for him again this week is purely down to his stats in relation to approach play and on the greens. Last year, Adam Long hit every fairway off the tee, so the wide layout isn't going to be much trouble for the world's best.
Also, the greens at El Cardonal are enormous, so it'll be the approach play and on the greens that will likely decide the winner of this tournament. Looking at the stats, Bridgeman ranks well in this area, which is why I have opted for him again.
FAVORITE: Matti Schmid (+2200)
The winner this week will need to be an explosive and prolific scorer, and Schmid fits the bill perfectly. He is a long and accurate driver (not necessarily that important this week, granted), he has definitely found something with his approach play as he gained strokes on the field in that category in four of the past five weeks, and it's a similar story in terms of his putting - arguably the strongest part of Schmid's game right now.
Coming off the back of two top-fives and a T16th before that, I have a good feeling that Schmid may pick up his first PGA Tour success if it all comes together.
OUTSIDER: Rico Hoey (+4000)
Mr Consistent on the PGA Tour over the second half of the season, Hoey has been inside the top-25 in seven of his past 11 starts, going on to bag four top-10s as well since the US Open.
Per Data Golf, Hoey has made marginal gains in all seven categories in each of the past two weeks. With potential chaos ensuing at this week's birdie fest, I like someone who can quietly post four rounds of 66 and 67 to make the top-10.
HOW TO WATCH WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY CHAMPIONSHIP
USA (ET)
- Thursday, November 7 - Round One: 2:00pm - 5:00pm (Golf Channel/NBC Sports app)
- Friday, November 8 - Round Two: 2:00pm - 5:00pm (Golf Channel/NBC Sports app)
- Saturday, November 9 - Round Three: 2:00pm - 5:00pm (Golf Channel/NBC Sports app)
- Sunday, November 10 - Round Four: 2:00pm - 5:00pm (Golf Channel/NBC Sports app)
UK (GMT)
- Thursday, November 7 - Round One: 7:00pm - 10:00pm (Sky Sports Golf)
- Friday, November 8 - Round Two: 7:00pm - 10:00pm (Sky Sports Golf)
- Saturday, November 9 - Round Three: 7:00pm - 10:00pm (Sky Sports Golf)
- Sunday, November 10 - Round Four: 7:00pm - 10:00pm (Sky Sports Golf)
