After a week-long break, the PGA TOUR is back for the World Wide Technology Championship. The FedExCup Fall leaves a lot to be desired in terms of the strength of these fields, but at least we have a golf tournament to sweat this week.
World Wide Technology Championship Preview
This event will be held at the El Cardonal at Diamante in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for the second straight year. Tiger Woods designed this course, which is one of the more unique courses golfers play on the PGA TOUR. The fairways are 65 yards wide on average, and the greens are massive. As a result, the field hit 91% of fairways and 83% of greens in regulation in 2023.
The course is a Par 72 that measures 7,452 yards. The course is fairly long, but doesn't have much bite to it. Erik van Rooyen won here at 27-under par. This played as the third-easiest course all year and one golfer, Adam Long, hit every single fairway for the week. Another, Justin Suh, hit 93% of greens in regulation.
Those numbers are almost unheard of at PGA TOUR courses.
This is a resort course, so it's not a major surprise that we had great scoring last year. When you give professional golfers huge targets with room to miss on either side, they're going to have a field day (or four). The name of the game this week is to make birdies in bunches. Golfers can do that by taking advantage of the par 5s, being precise with their irons and/or getting hot with the putter.
With very little trouble on the course, I'm focusing most of my attention on iron play, putting and the ability to make birdies. For the first time in a while, I'm completely ignoring around-the-green stats. There aren't many scrambling opportunities and if golfers are constantly missing greens, they aren't going to be in contention.
Here's who made my outright card for the World Wide Technology Championship:
World Wide Technology Championship Predictions
Max Greyserman +1800 (bet365)
I don't love betting the favorite in golf tournaments because the weekly variance is so high.
One good or bad bounce can be the difference between a good or bad week. However, it's hard to ignore the way Greyserman is playing right now.
He has three runner-up finishes in his past five starts on the PGA TOUR. On top of that, he hasn't finished worse than T33 in any of his past nine starts. He should be a perfect fit for the course as the only weakness in his young career has been around the green.
If he's hitting 85% of greens in regulation like the rest of the field, scrambling won't be an issue. He's solid off the tee, has gained at least 1.3 strokes on approach in five of his past seven events and is the best putter in this field.
Keith Mitchell +3300 (BetMGM)
I mentioned earlier that golfers can make birdies in bunches by feasting on the par 5s, hitting it close with approach shots and/or getting hot with the putter. Well, our visor-happy friend will likely need to rely on the first two.
He's the best in the field off the tee, which should come in handy on the four par 5s and the drivable par 4. He's also a top-five iron player in this field over the past 12 months.
Everyone was rushing to bet him at +2000 a few weeks ago, and now nobody wants to bet him at +3300 in a weaker field. I know he's missed back-to-back cuts, but this seems like a great bounce-back opportunity for one of the best ball strikers in the field.
Carson Young +7500 (FanDuel)
The easier the course, the more likely we are to have a surprise winner. When everyone is hitting fairways and greens, it often comes down to who can make the most putts. My favorite long shot of the week is Young, who is a great fit for this course.
He's top 30 in this field in both Strokes Gained Off-the-Tee and Approach. He's one of the worst around the green but, again, that's not a concern at this specific course. My favorite statistic is that he's sixth in three-putt avoidance, which could really come in handy on these large greens. He played here last year and finished in the top 10.
Thanks for reading and good luck this week!
