World Wide Technology Championship First Round Leader Picks and Predictions: Back Kizzire to Start Fast

World Wide Technology Championship First Round Leader Picks and Predictions: Back Kizzire to Start Fast

The PGA Tour took a week off last week, as players traveled back from Japan, following the ZOZO Championship. The Tour is however ready to leave the United States again, heading to Mexico, for the World Wide Technology Championship.

After landing a +5000 winner in the ZOZO Championship, we will now look to make it back-to-back winning tickets.

The odds for the World Wide Technology Championship look wide open and that is certainly the case in the First Round Leader Market this week.

This event moved to El Cardonal at Diamante back in 2023, which means we only have one year of data to work with, but did we learn anything from last year, that could help us identify a winning First Round Leader bet? Let's dive into last year's results.

2024 World Wide Technology Championship First Round Leader Strategy, Trends

We only have one year of course form to go by, but let's look at the score that last year's first round leader shot to lead the way on Thursday.

• 2023 - Cameron Percy (12:10 pm #1) - 62

Cameron Percy shot a blistering round of 62 last year, two strokes better than anybody else in the field. Four players shot a 64 and here are more details on those players.

• Michael Kim (8:31 am #1)
• Camilo Villegas (8:42 am #10)
• Nate Lashley (12:21 pm #1)
• Tano Goya (1:38 pm #1)

We can see that two players from the afternoon wave joined Cameron Percy in shooting low rounds on Thursday, while Michael Kim and Camilo Villegas set the pace early in the morning.

It's also interesting to note that Will Gordon shot the lowest round of Round 2, firing a 63 in 1:27 pm from the 10th tee. Erik van Rooyen and Camilo Villegas shot 64s from the afternoon eave as well, with Carson Young the best of the morning wave on Friday, with his own 64.

It's worth taking into account, the ability to shoot the lowest scores from the afternoon wave at this course.

Weather Forecast at the 2024 World Wide Technology Championship

The weather forecast for Thursday's round (Wednesday Night in the US) looks rather pedestrian, and with a limited field there isn't a big draw bias, but here is the outlook for Round 1 regardless.

Who in the World Wide Technology Championship Field Has Started the Fastest on the PGA Tour in 2024?

Here are the five fastest starters in the field based on their Round 1 Scoring Average this calendar year.

• Beau Hossler (4th Overall in 2024 - Scoring Average 68.64 - Low Opening Round - 60 (Wyndham Championship)
• Henrik Norlander (6th Overall in 2024 - Scoring Average 68.69) - Low Opening Round - 62 (Black Desert Championship)
• Rico Hoey (7th Overall in 2024 - Scoring Average 68.71) - Low Opening Round - 63 (American Express)
• Jacob Bridgeman (9th Overall in 2024 - Scoring Average 68.91) - Low Opening Round - 63 (3M Open)
• Doug Ghim (12th Overall in 2024 - Scoring Average 69.00) - Low Opening Round - 64 (Shriners Open)

What Score is Required to Lead After Round 1 at the World Wide Technology Championship?

This isn't easy to answer with just one year of course form to peruse. 62 led after round 1 last year, and 63 was the lowest score on Friday. I would say the target score is 63, and if your chosen player shoots a 62 you should feel very confident about your chances.

The Favorites in the 2024 World Wide Technology Championship First Round Leader Market This Week

Here are the favorites in the First Round Leader market this week, ahead of the opening round of the World Wide Technology Championship.

• Cameron Young (+3500)
• Max Greyserman (+3500)
• Beau Hossler (+4000)
• Doug Ghim (+4000)
• Harry Hall (+4000)
• Matti Schmid (+4000)
• Maverick McNealy (+4000)

2024 World Wide Technology Championship First Round Leader Picks

Here are my three First Round Leader picks for the 2024 World Wide Technology Championship.

Harry Hall +4000 (bet365)

• Round 1 Scoring Average in 2024 - 70.09 (86th on the PGA Tour)
• Last Five Round 1 Scores - 73-69-65-64-68
• Last Five Round 1 Finishing Positions - 66th, 23rd, 6th, 2nd, 22nd
• Birdie or Better Percentage in 2024 - 25.32% (4th on the PGA Tour)

I have been really impressed with Harry Hall over the past few months after he broke through and won his first PGA Tour event at the ISCO Championship in July. To keep his foot down and play as well as he has after a career-changing win is encouraging, and I think that continues this week.

Over the past three months (4 events) Hall ranks 4th in Round 1 Scoring Average, averaging a score of 66.75 and he also ranks 5th in Birdie Average in that same span.

Prior to him winning the ISCO Championship, there was a feeling that Hall could either breakthrough at the Shriners, as he was a UNLV graduate, or at a coastal event like this one. The latter was based on his consistent play in these types of events, finishing 7th at the Puerto Rico Open, 10th at the Mexico Open, and 13th at the Corales Puntacana Championship in 2023.

A second win of the year isn't off the cards for Hall here, who may have made my outright betting card were he bigger than +3000. Instead, I will take a shot on him at 10 points bigger to lead after round 1, rather than piecing it together for all four days.

Three times in his career, Hall led after round 1 on the Korn Ferry Tour, and in 2023 he claimed his first opening-day lead on the PGA Tour, at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Three times since, Hall has been inside the top 5 after day one, and he's getting more and more comfortable on Thursday.

Hall will tee off at 11:38 am from the 1st tee on Thursday.

Jacob Bridgeman +6000 (DraftKings)

• Round 1 Scoring Average in 2024 - 68.91 (9th on the PGA Tour)
• Last Five Round 1 Scores - 68-69-65-68-65
• Last Five Round 1 Finishing Positions - 42nd, 22nd, 5th, 44th, 12th
• Birdie or Better Percentage in 2024 - 24.85% (8th on the PGA Tour)

Jacob Bridgeman has been far from consistent since making it to the PGA Tour, but one thing he has certainly been capable of is shooting low scores, particularly in round 1. He is averaging 68.91 in Round 1 in 2024, and that means he's inside the top 10 for Round 1 Scoring Average. Couple that with the fact he's 8th for Birdie or Better Percentage, and you have the perfect profile for a first round leader.

Things have been even better for Bridgeman over the past three months, as he ranks 7th in Round 1 Scoring Average, with an average score of 67.00. He also ranks 10th in Birdie Average, making 4.89 birdies per round.

Bridgeman finished 23rd at both the Corales Puntacana Championship and the Puerto Rico Open, and those are two good correlating events for this one.

What's really eye-catching is his current form though. Since finishing 19th at the 3M Open, Bridgeman has played five times, making four cuts, with 11th, 12th, and 29th place finishes the best results among them. These aren't the sort of results that suggest a win is on the horizon, but there's enough to show he can go low for a single round, and that's all we need him to do here.

Bridgeman will tee off at 11:05 am from the 10th tee and will play with Nate Lashley and Patrick Fishburn for the first two rounds. The last time Bridgeman played with Fisburn he opened with rounds of 68 and 64 at the Wyndham Championship.

Patton Kizzire +7000 (FanDuel)

• Round 1 Scoring Average in 2024 - 70.05 (79th on the PGA Tour)
• Last Five Round 1 Scores - 69-66-65-66-70
• Last Five Round 1 Finishing Positions - 75th, 2nd, 5th, 16th, 84th
• Birdie or Better Percentage in 2024 - 25.05% (5th on the PGA Tour)

I found myself drawn to Patton Kizzire in the outright market for a number of weeks, and while that hasn't panned out, as he wasn't able to win in any of the three events he's played following his win at the Procore Championship, he has shown promise.

Opening with rounds of 66 or better in three of his past five starts, Kizzire has twice found himself inside the top 5 by end of play on Thursday, and he was also 16th after round one two starts ago, showing a level of consistency when it comes to starting fast.

It's no surprise then that Kizzire ranks inside the top 10 for Round 1 Scoring Average over the past three months, averaging rounds of 67.20 and he also ranks 11th in Birdie Average in that span.

Kizzire has won in Mexico on the PGA Tour, finished 2nd in Mexico on the Korn Ferry Tour, and he also finished T12 in the WGC in Mexico back in 2018. A further top 10 at the Mayakoba event held in America suggests he loves playing in this part of the world, and he's certainly capable of posting the lowest round of the day on Thursday.

The 2024 Procore Championship winner finished 15th here a year ago, despite being in poor form, and that was charged by a Saturday 63. In better form now, I am confident Kizzire can find a similarly low round here and put himself in contention for the first round lead.

Kizzire will kick off his round early, teeing off from the 10th tee at 7:14 am, alongside Lucas Glover and Max Greyserman.