Niall Lyons shares his betting tips and preview for the World Wide Technology Championship in Mayakoba.
World Wide Technology Championship - Winner
It's that time of year again where we head down Mexico way as the golfing year slowly grinds to a halt over the next few weeks. El Cameleon is the destination in Playa Del Carmen in what is usually an intriguing betting affair. A handful of years ago we saw Patton Kizzire and Matt Kuchar win here before heading to the Sony in Hawaii a few months later and obliging there also.
Waialae as always remains a fair starting point for some form that may land here in Mayakoba also. Paspalum greens is another aspect worth looking to and another Norman design, Vidanta, which held the Mexico Open earlier in the year holds a lot of the same characteristics as El Cameleon. The Puerto Rico and Punta Cana events are others which can also be referenced. The course is short at under 7000 yards and demands a degree of accuracy from tee to green to avoid the hazards.
Collin Morikawa at 18/1
Scheffler, Hovland, Finau and Morikawa are the four marquee names at the top of the leaderboard and question marks surround all four. Scheffler landed back after the Presidents Cup with a 45th spot in the CJ Cup, whilst Finau has yet to make a competitive strokeplay outing since the Tour Championship.
Hovland arrives with slightly better form having been 5th at the Zozo and having won the last two renewals of this event he almost looks worthy of the favourite tag. A top price of 18/1 has been dangled about Morikawa and I'm happy to take the chance on him. His tee to green game at the CJ Cup was exceptional, finishing 6th in the field in that category and would have been better only for an average final round.
That was his second best effort on approach since Colonial in May, and the best effort off the tee since the Memorial in June. The shape his long game is in certainly has not translated to results in his last number of appearances and that is solely down to a misbehaving putter.
The Paspalum greens may just level the playing field between the best and worst of the putters and Morikawa benefit. It's his first appearance here but his long game is perfect for a track like this and he'll be eager to land a victory in a currently winless 2022.
3pts WIN C.Morikawa 18/1
Chez Reavie at 200/1 (Eight Places)
Chez Reavie has been chalked up at a top price of 200/1 and looks worth chancing. He has made eight from nine cuts here in Cancun and has a 4th place finish to his name back in 2017. Reavie can only really compete on the venues that grant him some grace off the tee as he is one of the shortest out there.
What he lacks in length he makes up for with accuracy and that always translates well to El Cameleon. His approach play towards the end of last season was absolutely on fire but has tailed off a little since. We did see a fair improvement in that department last time out at the CJ Cup though and should that be a sign that his iron play is getting back towards his best then he looks huge value around this price.
His second best putting performance of last season came in Mexico at the Vidanta course where he finished 13th. He has of course since landed the win at the Barracuda and has surely been overlooked by the bookmakers here.
1pt each-way C.Reavie 200/1 (1/5 8)
Davis Riley at 90/1 (Eight Places)
Davis Riley impressed on his maiden season on the pga tour with six top 10 finishes and looked more than equipped to be able to land a prize such as this. In particular he impressed at the PGA Championship where he went well for a long way eventually finishing 13th. Last time out he finished 52nd in the CJ Cup but finished with the third best score of the final round where he shot a 5 under par round of 66 and ranked 3rd on approach for the day.
His game off the tee will need to improve a little if he is to win this but a runner at the Valspar and 4th at Colonial suggests this is the type of test off the tee that should suit. What is really significant is the putting performance here in Mexico at Vidanta earlier in the year where he produced his best effort on tour on the greens when finishing 5th. Another challenge looks likely here this week under similar conditions.
1pt each-way D.Riley 90/1 (1/5 8)
David Lipsky at 200/1 (Eight Places)
Winners here have featured Todd, Kuchar, McDowell, English, Gay and Funk so it would be foolish to ignore that plodding type of golfer and one who fits the bill this week and worth playing at a big price is David Lipsky. Looking back to last season Lipsky topped the putting stats at Pebble Beach then top seven finishes arrived at Corales and Mexico. We don't have the putting stats from Corales but we can safely assume he did reasonably well there as well as going better than field average at Vidanta.
Growing up in California he will be used to Poa Annua greens but clearly doesn't mind putting on surfaces other than Bermuda or Bent. A previous top 10 in the WGC Mexico is also worthy of note from back in 2019. Lipsky should enjoy these conditions and looks overpriced between 150-200/1.
1pt each-way D.Lipsky 200/1 (1/5 8)
Francesco Molinari at 90/1 (Eight Places)
JT Poston hasn't put his best foot forward so far this season but certainly looks to be one capable of giving the front of the market a scare but I'd look for evidence of his irons improving a little before investing.
Francesco Molinari missed the cut here on his only appearance last year but there looks to be a fair amount of hope in recent months and it'd be no surprise should the Italian soon burst into life with the Ryder Cup in his home country next year. If Molinari hit any sort of form it'd be difficult to leave him out of the team and El Cameleon looks a perfect place for Molinari to stamp some authority on this mini comeback.
15th at St Andrews in July was backed up with a top 10 finish at Wentworth in September where he has played well before. Since then in Italy and Dunhill he has performed well from tee to green and if he arrives with his long game in good shape he could comfortably score well around here.
He is one of those from further down the betting who could go head to head with any of the top four in the betting and still fancy themselves to come out on top. This venue suits and a similar performance to what we seen at Wentworth should see him go pretty close.
1pt each-way F.Molinari 90/1 (1/5 8)
Chris Kirk at 100/1 (Eight Places)
Finally Chris Kirk has a top price of 100/1 this week and is worth watching on a track that he is five from five on made cuts. Kirk has been shade unfortunate this season to date in that only one part of his game has let him down each week so far and that is chopping and changing. At the Fortinet a better long game could have seen him improve upon the 43rd finish there.
At the Sanderson he was 21st on approach with only minor short game mistakes costing him there. At the Shriners his approach game failed whilst he failed to hit the mark on the greens in South Carolina. There are plenty of positives though and Kirk will be looking to kick on from his four top seven finishes last term.
His length off the tee isn't much of an issue here which should see him improve in the OTT department and if he brings elements of his game that have been evident in recent weeks then he could go well here and hopefully beat his previous best of 7th place back in 2017.
1pt each-way C.Kirk 100/1 (1/5 8)
