PGA TOUR Golf Odds: 2023 World Wide Technology Championship Preview
The PGA TOUR’s FedEx Fall Series continues on to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with El Cardonal next on tap to host the 2023 World Wide Technology Championship. Find PGA TOUR golf odds at the best betting sites to increase your potential World Wide Technology Championship payouts. Ludvig Aberg, Cameron Young, and Sahith Theegala project as the top favorites for this upcoming tournament.
I am BACK in the northern hemisphere after a two-week stint in New Zealand for my honeymoon, and with wedding planning finally in the rearview, I’m as locked in as ever to break down the task at hand: the 2023 World Wide Technology Championship at El Cardonal.
El Cardonal at Diamonte replaces El Camaleon Mayakoba as the first new course in the event’s 17-year history, given El Camaleon’s association with LIV Golf’s CEO, Greg Norman. With this change, the PGA TOUR will go to Cabo San Lucas on Mexico’s southwestern coast. While little is known about how El Cardonal will stand up to PGA TOUR professionals, this resort-style course is not expected to pose a stern test with its generous fairways and greens. Look for birdie-makers with above-average driving distance to have a leg up entering this week.
Now, let’s get into the key facts and info about El Cardonal at Diamonte before betting on World Wide Technology Championship odds.
BEST GOLF BETTING SPORTSBOOK BONUS CODES
PGA TOUR GOLF ODDS: WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY CHAMPIONSHIP FAVORITES
Here are the favorites for the World Wide Technology Championship. Scroll to the bottom of this post to compare odds for the entire field across sportsbooks in your state.
WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS: FIELD AT A GLANCE
Strong fields are not often expected in the new Fall Series, but the 2023 World Wide Technology Championship has done well to attract some star power for its inaugural stint at El Cardonal. Cabo San Lucas is better known as a beachy, spring break type of destination, but it’s attractive enough of a host city to lure in headlining names of Cameron Young, Ludvig Aberg, and Sahith Theegala.
The field of 132 will feature a total of eight OWGR top-60 players. That list also includes Lucas Glover, Emiliano Grillo, Chris Kirk, Adam Svensson, and Andrew Putnam.
Russell Henley is your defending champion at the World Wide Championship but will not be making the trip to Cabo for his defense at the new course. While not as pertinent for El Cardonal, past WWT Championship winners in this week’s field looking to notch another victory in Mexico include Matt Kuchar, Patton Kizzire, Charley Hoffman, and Brian Gay.
INTRODUCTION TO EL CARDONAL
A resort course designed for “Weekend Warriors,” in architect Tiger Woods’ words, El Cardonal was not built with the intent of challenging the best players in the world. And while this course was not initially envisioned as Tiger Woods’ debut PGA TOUR course, it’s likely not a coincidence that Woods’ brainchild was tapped to replace Greg Norman’s El Camaleon as the new host of this event.
Standing just over 7,400 yards as a par-72 with four par-5s, El Cardonal’s scorecard should not look too intimidating to the field regardless of length off the tee. With that said, it features the widest fairways of any regular PGA TOUR venue with negligible Paspalum rough surrounding, so there is little reward for driving accuracy, with a high fairway percentage expected for the field at large.
El Cardonal’s Paspalum greens are also oversized at 8,300 square feet on average. That would, in theory, place less of an emphasis on approach play; however, extremely large greens will also allow for dramatically tucked pin locations if the crew wants to toughen up the scoring conditions as the week goes on. With direct exposure to the Pacific coast, wind is expected to play a factor in scoring this week as well and will ultimately determine how low the field can go.
In short, there are many variables at hand to put to question exactly how El Cardonal will stand up to the PGA TOUR competition. On paper, however, it looks like a birdie-maker delight, rewarding streaky Paspalum putters with above-average driving distance and strong mid-to-long iron play.
EL CARDONAL AT DIAMONTE COURSE SPECS
- Yards: 7,452
- Par: 72 (4x 3’s / 10x 4’s / 4x 5’s)
- Grass: Paspalum
- Average Green Size: 8,300 sq. ft. (Very Large)
- Fairway Width: Very Wide
- Architect: Tiger Woods
- Comp Courses: Vidanta Vallarta, Coco Beach, Corales GC, TPC Craig Ranch, Port Royal GC, CC of Jackson, Caves Valley, The Old Course, Keene Trace, Silverado Resort
- Hole-by-hole Breakdown:
COURSE COMPS
With El Cardonal set to make its PGA TOUR debut this week, we’ll focus primarily on comp courses to approximate performance in lieu of actual past course history.
Its predecessor, El Camaleon, seems to be the antithesis of what El Cardanol offers, as this event had previously rewarded elite accuracy with its narrow fairways and dense forests looming for wayward shots. Here, Tiger Woods emphasized the importance of creating angles for approach shots, as the fairways themselves are too large to miss for PGA TOUR professionals. Referencing other easy-scoring venues with massive landing areas, Coco Beach, Corales, Vidanta Vallarta, Port Royal GC, TPC Craig Ranch, and The Old Course all stand out as worthwhile comp courses.
In addition, CC of Jackson, Caves Valley, Silverado Resort, and Keene Trace all stand out as easy-scoring venues with negligible penalties for wayward driving and a slight advantage for pure bombers.
Combine performance across this list and the top-10 players in Comp Course History here are Thomas Detry, Mark Hubbard, Akshay Bhatia, Matt Kuchar, CT Pan, Stephan Jaeger, Nate Lashley, Stewart Cink, Bran Gay, and Brandon Wu.
KEY STATS TO CONSIDER
- SG: APP
- Driving Distance
- Birdies or Better Gained
- SG: TOT (Easy Scoring Conditions)
- Prox: 175+
- Par-4 Scoring: 450-500
- Par-5 Scoring
- SG: P (L36, Paspalum)
- Comp Course History
Looking over the course details and fly-overs, it seems, at the very least, that El Cardonal’s oversized fairways and greens will deprioritize the importance of stats like SG: OTT, Fairways Gained, and SG: Around The Green. That, instead, should place an emphasis on approach, driving distance, and overall scoring in easy conditions. There are just five players who rank above-average in SG: APP, Driving Distance, Birdies or Better Gained, Par-5 Scoring, SG: P, and Comp Course History: Sahith Theegala, Chris Gotterup, Nick Hardy, Davis Thompson, and Adam Svensson.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: DAVIS THOMPSON
Don’t look now, but Davis Thompson has slowly become one of the most consistent ball-strikers on the PGA TOUR since the start of the new FedEx Cup Fall Series. Over the last two months, Thompson ranks top-5 in this field in terms of SG: Ball Striking. That consistency, both off-the-tee and on approach, has led to steady results as well, as Thompson has finished top-35 in six of his last seven starts.
In his first full season on the PGA TOUR in 2023, Thompson was at his best in easy scoring conditions, posting top-16 finishes at the Fortinet Championship, Shriners Open, The AmEx, and Sanderson Farms Championship. His stats back that up as well, as he ranks No. 5 in SG: TOT (Easy Scoring Conditions) and No. 1 in Par-5 Scoring.
No. 12 overall in my model, Thompson’s name will be one of the first I click in the mid-range of the odds board this week.
2023 WWT CHAMPIONSHIP: PLAYER POOL AND MODEL RESULTS
With all the course-fit profiles in mind, I’m leaning early toward the below player pool. Naturally, I’m also looking their way in the PGA TOUR golf odds. I’ve broken the list down by projected pricing/odds tier for DraftKings.
Model Breakdown
In my model, I’m emphasizing SG: APP, Comp Course History, and Birdies or Better Gained, followed by a more balanced mix of SG: P, SG: TOT (Easy Scoring Conditions), Par-5 Scoring, Driving Distance, Par-4: 450-500, and Prox: 175+.
Model Favorites
Recent PGA TOUR winner Sahith Theegala is the No. 1 man in my model this week, looking to carry over some momentum since his victory at the comparable Silverado Resort course. A top-tier ball striker with a streaky putter, he’ll continue to be a threat this week, a short trip from home in California.
After Theegala, the rest of my model’s top 10 features Stephan Jaeger, Nate Lashley, Luke List, Mark Hubbard, Ludvig Aberg, Thomas Detry, Chris Gotterup, Taylor Pendrith, and Nick Hardy.
When PGA TOUR golf odds open, I’ll begin my card with Davis Thompson and then look to have a more balanced exposure to players like Thomas Detry, Lucas Herbert, and Adam Svensson, depending on where the odds ultimately fall. Check back in later this week for more updates, and best of luck navigating the World Wide Technology Championship and PGA TOUR odds!
- Join TheLines.com’s free sports betting Discord with more than 4,000 community members and our staff sharing betting ideas every day. Go to the #roles server to get push notifications to the Discord app from TheLines.com staff when they lock in a bet.
WWT CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS COMPARISON TABLE
RELATED ARTICLES
