Niall Lyons has five tips for the World Wide Technology Championship in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
World Wide Technology Championship - Winner
The wonderful Mayakoba track is the casualty as the WWT Championship heads to a new venue, the Tiger Woods-designed El Cardonal at Diamante. If Mayakoba was cheese, this is chalk as the par 72 heads towards 7500 yards. Narrow fairways for previous renewals of this event have been replaced with some of the widest ever seen on the PGA Tour.
The average fairway width is 60 yards which is akin to the Old Course at St Andrews. There is no rough here and instead 'arroyos' hazards which are native areas to avid golf fans. It's certainly an intriguing venue and it appears to me it will favour the longer hitters.
The Norman-designed Vidanta course that has held the Mexico Open the last couple of years pops out as one course to look at. At a par 71 and a similar yardage to this that has been dominated by the sluggers these past few years and with Paspalum featuring throughout both courses a nod to form there may well be beneficial.
The Albany course in the Bahamas is another with very little rough that has been dominated by the bombers down the years but that event mostly been played by the elite and only a small number of this weeks field have taken part there. There is a lot of undulation on the golf course with most holes playing uphill or downhill and together with the wide fairways it would certainly remind you of Kapalua. TPC San Antonio is another hilly golf course similar to this.
WWT Championship Tips | Niall Lyons Golf Betting Tips
Ludvig Aberg has already earned full status for 2024 but it would be a boost should he manage to earn his way into the 51-60 mark come the end of the season in a few weeks time. The week after the Ryder Cup at the Sanderson I mentioned any double figure prices about him in a field of that quality was very interesting but the previous weeks exertions put me off a little. He almost made me pay the ultimate price being beaten in a playoff there despite a poor week on the greens.
Similar to the way Rahm came onto the scene I expect Aberg to follow in his footsteps and a PGA tour win will surely be captured sooner rather than later. Following his last 24 rounds of tournament golf he has only been outside the top 15 at the end of those rounds six times. Three of those were last time out at the Shriners where he was 30th, 48th and 42nd after the first three rounds only to fire a final round of 62 to finish 13th.
It is a breathtaking run of form and it is no surprise he slots in as solid favourite this week in Mexico. This is another venue that should easily play to his strengths but I'd suggest he is vulnerable to a handful of others finding this track relatively simple to tame and thus renders the 9/1 unbackable. Bombing the ball and a putting contest doesn't often lend itself to backing single-figure-priced golfers and for that reason I'll opt for a few better options further down the card.
Taylor Montgomery at 50/1 (Eight Places)
Taylor Montgomery had a great start to the season and spirits were well and truly in the sky as he bolted onto the scene seemingly one of the best putters on the planet. As that trend continued for most of the year his long game fell off a cliff however and he failed to capitalise on what was a very promising start to his pga tour career.
Things have been slightly better of late making three of his last four cuts and most recently finishing 16th at the Zozo where we have no strokes gained stats collected. We do have accuracy stats from the tee and he was 55th from 77 in the field which suggests his iron play almost certainly improved from the Shriners in order to finish 16th.
"It should suit the bombers, but I'm conscious of it turning into a putting contest."
— oddschecker (@oddschecker) October 31, 2023
@BetGolfWorld fancies Taylor Montgomery to go well at El Cardonal in Diamante pic.twitter.com/FfKDH8JDrJ
These undulating surfaces should play right into his hands and given this looks like a course where bombs away and putt well is the ammunition needed then Montgomery must have a huge chance of landing his maiden victory. Sitting 52nd in the Fedex standings he has plenty to protect given he qualifies for Pebble and the Genesis if he stays in the top 60, and this should be considered a huge success given how he performed for a large part of the season.
2.5pts each-way T.Montgomery 50/1 (1/5 8) Bet365 8 place market, Paddy Power
Akshay Bhatia at 40/1 (Eight Places)
Akshay Bhatia is another with a significant long game to tame this course and he could land his second tour victory in his rookie season. As a whole, I'd be slightly worried about his putting in what could turn out to be a putting contest but the counterargument against that is that he finished 4th at Vidanta in April ranking 6th on those Paspalum greens.
Pound for pound that 4th placed finish there behind Finau and Rahm is his best performance on the PGA tour to date. Likewise, his runner-up finish in Puerto Rico is his second-best effort this season and that is hugely significant considering we have a venue with the same type of grass. He hits the ball a mile and is fairly straight into the bargain so anything of 33/1 or better is worth taking.
Lucas Herbert at 50/1 (Eight Places)
If the scenario of bombing and putting your way to glory plays out here it is very difficult to leave Lucas Herbert off the staking plan. The Aussie has managed three DPWT wins and one PGA Tour victory in the last four years and is dangerous when it comes to this type of venue.
He won in Bermuda, exactly two years ago to the day on Halloween this week. That coastal course is very significant when looking to this weeks venue and a further win in the Dubai Desert suggests the native areas presented this week should be of no bother to him either.
30th at the Fortinet and 28th at the Sanderson have been fair efforts whilst a missed cut at the Shriners was largely down to a misfiring iron game. 3rd earlier in the year in Saudi on Paspalum is another positive spin to his chances this week and with fairways opening up as wide as the Clyde it represents a fair opportunity to land his second tour victory. He sits 146th in the Fedex rankings and needs a big week to get into that top 125.
Cameron Champ at 70/1 (Eight Places)
When it comes to a course such as this where bombers prevail one name will always crop up and that is Cameron Champ. Champ makes his living on courses such as this where wide-open fairways are presented and hitting the ball a long way helps.
9th at the Sanderson Farms was followed by 18th at the Shriners and I'm prepared to overlook the below-par display at Narashino as that claustrophobic layout isn't quite what Champ needs. Instead, I'd rather look to his two finishes in Vidanta - 6th and 8th there the last two years both of those finishes representing his best finishes in that calendar year.
Two top 15 finishes at Kapalua is a fair return from three trips there also and he must be licking his lips heading to El Cardonal this week. A lot will depend upon how he putts this week but 26th at the Sanderson and 21st at the Shriners on the greens suggests he has hit a bit of form with the flat stick. He can bully this track with his long game and any similar performance to those two efforts with the putter will give him a big chance.
Patton Kizzire at 150/1 (Eight Places)
We saw last week on the DPWT what some players are capable of when their backs are against the wall, especially with Scott Jamieson who nearly managed to win the event whilst attempting to secure his playing privileges. There are a handful in the same boat this week in Mexico and one who could rise to the occasion is Patton Kizzire. The 2017 champion at Mayakoba sits 130th in the Fedex rankings meaning he needs to rise five spots in order to retain his card for next year.
Obviously this isn't the last chance saloon but it's not far off and this probably represents the best chance for Kizzire. His 46th place finish at the Shriners was his best effort from a strokes gained perspective since early June and together with another top 10 at Mayakoba, a runner up in Mexico on the Korn Ferry Tour and an 8th placed finish at Kapalua the 150/1 on offer looks worth chancing.
