Worldwide Technology Championship
Overview
Dates: November 2, 2023 to November 5, 2023
Location: Los Cabos, Mexico
Course: El Cardonal at Diamante
Course Par: 72
Course Length: 7452
Prize Purse: $8200000
The fall swing continues with the World Wide Technology Championship, where the latest in a series of fairly weak fields tees it up at a new venue – El Cardonal Golf Course at Diamante, which just happens to be Tiger Woods’ PGA Tour debut from a course design perspective. Previous host El Cameleon has now defected to the LIV Tour, so we have no course form to contribute to our analysis, but that’s not stopped us from finding some value.
Preview
To some extent we are flying blind this week, having never seen El Cardonal taken on by tour players. As such we’ll be keeping to a fairly modest staking plan. Tiger has claimed it to be a strategic golf course, but from what we’ve seen and heard this appears to be a strange claim. It’s fairly long and open with little in the way of punishing rough, while the greens are large. It looks to be an ideal set up for those who bomb it off the tee and have an assured touch on the greens.
We’ll start by briefly addressing the clear favourite, Ludvig Aberg, who now appears to have the kind of reputation that suggests it’s only a matter of time before he’s a top 10 player or even challenging for world number 1. Make no mistake, he’s a big talent and who knows where the ceiling of his ability will lie. But he’s by no means there yet, it’s not as if he’s been cleaning up in these minor events, his stats don’t indicate any clear separation on this field, and to our thinking he’s now very much over-valued and under-priced in the market. So, while he may (just about) be the likeliest winner here, we can’t see any upside in getting involved in him now.
Outrights
| Player | Points | Type | UK Odds | Places | Outright US Odds |
| Luke List | 3 | Each Way | 35/1 | 8 | +3500 |
| Callum Tarren | 2 | Each Way | 60/1 | 8 | +6000 |
| Peter Kuest | 2 | Each Way | 80/1 | 8 | +8000 |
| Erik Van Rooyen | 2 | Each Way | 66/1 | 8 | +7000 |
Top of our list is Luke List (3pts each way, 35/1, 8 places), who has made a return to the kind of form that saw him take out the Farmers not so long ago, much to the delight of FormGolfer followers. Key to his renaissance has been a switch to a new putting coach and the claw grip, which has seen him improve his putting stats markedly in the last few months. His driving has always been imperious and should help him to set up many birdie opportunities – if he can continue his improvement on the greens then he looks a very likely contender this week. He sits fourth in the field and only fractionally behind Ludvig Aberg in total strokes gained in the last three months yet is available at four times the price. What more needs to be said?!
Callum Tarren (2pts each way, 60/1, 8 places) is another bomber from the tee who has been steadily rediscovering his best form, in particular improving his putting, and also appears to be undervalued in the market. Four made cuts in a row including a top 10 and top 25 finish highlight the progress he’s been making and this appears to be a venue that should suit and a field he can be competitive against. He’s another who is very easy to include in the staking plan.
We’re putting all our eggs in the ‘bomb it and putt’ category, which makes Peter Kuest (2pts each way, 80/1, 8 places) a very appealing proposition. Having made a big impression towards the back end of last season, a couple of missed cuts more recently tempers enthusiasm somewhat. But as a consequence we’re getting a huge price about someone who’s shown he has the game to contend in these weaker events. Just about the longest driver in this field, he also has deft touch on the greens so this ought to be a fine opportunity to put in another strong showing.
Our final play is someone I didn’t expect us to be backing at all this season, but Erik van Rooyen (2pts each way, 66/1, 8 places), having endured a truly terrible time of it for most of 2023, has appeared to be turning the corner in a big way in his last few tournaments and his game is seemingly well-suited to this test. Five cuts made in a row across the DP World and PGA Tours, all of which resulted in top 30 finishes is form that stacks up against anyone else in the field. Of course it’s possible that he’ll revert to type and start missing cuts left, right and centre again, but the recent evidence is compelling enough to suggest that we’re being offered a big enough price to get involved.
We’ll leave it at four big-priced picks this week, with a staking plan that secures us a profit if even one of them secures a top-8 finish.