Out of the Rough: World Wide Technology Championship (2026)

There are few names, if any, more notable than that of Tiger Woods when it comes to the world of golf.

With that, the PGA Tour continues on with the FedEx Cup Fall with the fifth-of-eight stops for this week’s World Wide Technology Championship at the Woods’ designed El Cardonal at Diamante Cabo San Lucas.

This year marks the fourth consecutive season that this event has been held at El Cardonal, first being played in 2023.

This event was previously staged at El Camaleon in Mayakoba but due to the venue being added to the LIV roster for 2023, the PGA Tour made the move to the Woods’ designed El Cardonal at Diamante Cabo San Lucas.

As previously mentioned, this event is the fifth-of-eight events in the FedEx Cup Fall Series and time is running out for some Tour hopefuls to secure exemption for the 2027 season and additionally, plant themselves within the rankings for invitations to Signature Events and majors.

There are 500 FedEx Cup points up for grabs for the winner.

The Field

Defending champion Ben Griffin and World No. 23 Ryan Gerard come together to headline this week’s field in Mexico.

Griffin (No. 25) and Gerard are the only two golfers ranked within the top-25 of the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) to be playing this week.

Marco Penge (No. 54,) Jackson Koivun (No. 59,) Keith Mitchell (No. 60,) Steven Fisk (No. 65,) Jordan Smith (No. 67,) Johnny Keefer (No. 68,) Michael Kim (No. 71) and Pierceson Coody (No. 72) round out the list of those ranked within the top-75 of the OWGR to be playing this week.

As previously mentioned, Griffin comes in as the defending champion of this event, having topped both Chad Ramey and Sami Valimaki by two strokes a season ago.

Other former winners of this event at El Cardonal playing this week include Austin Eckroat (2024) and Erik van Rooyen (2023.)

The Course

El Cardonal at Diamante Cabo San Lucas in Mexico plays as a par-72 at 7,452 yards on the scorecard.

As previously mentioned, this was the first golf course designed by Woods and in turn, is the first course designed by Woods to make an appearance on the PGA Tour schedule.

This course was opened in 2014 and was designed by Woods in hopes to mirror some of the courses he played in Southern California as a child.

It sits on a stunning piece of property as it is positioned atop a hill overlooking the deep-blue Pacific Ocean.

The course plays linear to the Pacific Ocean as almost every hole plays downhill towards the ocean or uphill away from it.

The land the course sits on is naturally uneven and undulating. Due to this, there won’t be many flat lies to be found on this course. The ball too can go either direction once it hits the ground.

The course is wall-to-wall Paspalum and is described to play firm and fast. However, with the course being Paspalum, which is arguably the most grippy grass golfers will see, there won’t be many opportunities for rollouts and additional distance from shots, even on downhill lies.

El Cardonal does come in at 7,452 yards on the scorecard as previously mentioned but due to the up-and-down hilly nature of the course, the distance on the scorecard is far from what it’ll actually play at.

There is a 228 foot difference in elevation from the highest point of the golf course to the lowest.

The fairways are very wide on this course as Tiger kept the typical resort guest in mind. These fairways average about 60-feet in width.

Although wide, the fairways do feature many in-play bunkers, including centerline ones, that are in the landing zones for long-bombers off the tee.

It is also important for golfers to find the correct area of the fairways to allow them to go pin hunting. If golfers find themselves on the wrong side of the fairway, they'll be forced to aim towards the fat parts of the green, well away from the pin.

Additionally, trouble can be found if a golfer is to miss the fairways. There is no rough featured here this week but instead, the fairways are flanked by the desert arroyo. Some areas, mostly on the front nine, are mostly sandy waste areas without much desert vegetation. Other areas, mainly on the back nine, are full of thick cactus bushes and other desert vegetation that could very well cause unplayable lies.

Along with the wide fairways, the greens are also very large as they average 8,300-square-feet in area.

The greens are also Pasplaum and are both very undulating and contoured which makes them very difficult to putt on.

The greenside surroundings may be the strongest line of defense this course has to offer. They are very difficult to get up-and-down from.

The greenside bunkers are boldly edged and sit well below the putting surface as well. Additionally, these greens are surrounded by short grass with mounds, hallows and collection areas.

In terms of approach shots, it is expected that 22-percent will come from 125-150 yards, 28-percent from 175-200 and 17-percent from 225-plus yards.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, each day calls for at most, a five-percent chance of precipitation. Temperatures will begin with hughes of 84-degrees for both Thursday and Friday before settling to highs of 83-degrees across the weekend. Winds will begin the week at 10 miles-per-hour on Thursday before peaking at 11 miles-per-hour on Friday. Winds will return to 10 miles-per-hour on Saturday before finishing the week at nine miles-per-hour on Sunday.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG: OTT)

• Total Driving

• Sand Saves Percentage

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

• Strokes Gained: Around the Green (SG: ATG)

• Scrambling

• Proximity to the Hole from 125-150 Yards

• Proximity to the Hole from 175+ Yards

• Birdie or Better Percentage

Betting Card

Kristoffer Ventura (+4000)

I was on Ventura a week ago at the VidantaWorld Mexico Open where he was one of the runner-ups. Looking back to a stretch of events between the ISCO Championship and Rocket Classic, it shows that once Ventura finds good form, he maintains it for a bit. He placed fifth at the ISCO Championship, 15th at the Corales Puntacana Championship, 51st at the 3M Open and fifth at the Rocket Classic during that stretch. As he was the runner-up last week with three straight made cuts at the Bank of Utah Championship, Baycurrent Classic and Butterfield Bermuda Championship, I believe we may see a repeat of what Ventura did earlier this season. Ventura is currently third on Tour in total driving, fifth in SG: OTT, ninth in proximity to the hole from 175-plus yards, 21st in scrambling, 51st in sand saves percentage, 76th in birdie-or-better percentage, 81st in SG: PUTT, 107th in SG: APP, 127th in SG: ATG and 145th in proximity to the hole from 125-150 yards. He also played this event a season ago where he placed 27th. 

Seamus Power (+4500)

Of golfers with at least three starts across the FedEx Cup Fall, only Austin Smotherman, who has two victories, has a better average finishing placement than Power. He last played the Butterfield Bermuda Championship where he placed second. He also placed 21st at the Bank of Utah Championship and seventh at the Biltmore Championship Asheville. Like Ventura, Power also played 27th here at this event a season ago. On Tour, Power is currently seventh in SG: PUTT, 14th in scrambling, 19th in birdie-or-better percentage, 23rd in proximity to the hole from 125-150 yards, 29th in SG: ATG, 36th in sand saves percentage, 56th in total driving, 62nd in proximity to the hole from 175-plus yards and 119th in both SG: APP and SG: OTT. If the approach number scares you, Power has been in form with his irons across the FedEx Cup Fall. In his latest outing at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship he gained 1.625 strokes-per-round on approach. He lost on approach at the Bank of Utah Championship but gained 1.175 strokes-per-round at the Biltmore Championship Asheville. 

Steven Fisk (+4500)

This was my first click this week. Fisk is currently sixth on Tour in total driving, 11th in sand saves percentage, 13th in scrambling, 36th in proximity to the hole from 175-plus yards, 43rd in SG: PUTT, 50th in SG: OTT, 64th in proximity to the hole from 125-150 yards, 85th in SG: ATG, 94th in birdie-or-better percentage and 124th in SG: APP. Again, like Power, the approach number is not what we would like to see but Fisk too has been in form with his irons across the FedEx Cup Fall. He gained 0.920 strokes-per-round on approach last week at the VidantaWorld Mexico Open. He also gained 0.496 strokes-per-round on approach at the Bank of Utah Championship and 0.117 strokes-per-round at the Biltmore Championship Asheville. Like Ventura, he was one of the runner-ups last week at the VidantaWorld Mexico Open. Fisk also placed 66th at the Baycurrent Classic, seventh at the Bank of Utah Championship and 22nd at the Biltmore Championship Asheville. He also has a victory earlier this season at the ISCO Championship. He placed 53rd here a season ago. 

Ben Kohles (+5000)

I have a Ben Kohles problem, I know. But the stats continue to tell me he’s one of the best values in the field anytime he tees it up. I know this is a course historically where we’d look at average driving distance as a key stat. However, the previous three winners (Griffin, Eckroat and van Rooyen) are not notably long drivers of the golf ball. If we look into the accuracy numbers of these three winners during their victorious season, Griffin ranked 26th within the field in driving accuracy percentage opposed to 60th in average driving distance. Eckroat was 29th in accuracy and 60th in distance in 2024. Van Rooyen was 25th in accuracy and 43rd in distance in 2023. What I’m getting at here is that each of the previous three winners of this event were above average in driving accuracy and below average in driving distance among the field during their winning season. So, all of this to support my Kohles play this week who leads the Tour in driving accuracy percentage but is 151st in average driving distance. Kohles is also first on Tour in SG: APP, fourth in birdie-or-better percentage, fifth in proximity to the hole from 175-plus yards, tenth in scrambling, 16th in proximity to the hole from 125-150 yards, 41st in SG: OTT, 49th in sand saves percentage, 58th in SG: PUTT, 62nd in total driving and 66th in SG: ATG. He last played the Butterfield Bermuda Championship where he placed 17th. Prior to that he placed 17th at the Baycurrent Classic, 13th at the Bank of Utah Championship and 15th at the Biltmore Championship Asheville. He placed 63rd here a season ago. 

Adrien Dumont de Chassart (+12500)

My long shot this week is Chassart who currently ranks 11th on Tour in SG: ATG, 24th in SG: PUTT, 39th in scrambling, 44th in proximity to the hole from 175-plus yards, 50th in sand saves percentage, 61st in birdie-or-better percentage, 63rd in proximity to the hole from 125-150 yards, 110th in SG: APP, 130th in total driving and 154th in SG: OTT. The off-the-tee and total driving numbers are squashed because he’s been widely inaccurate off-the-tee this season. However, he’s been extremely close to getting to even off-the-tee across his last two starts (VidantaWorld Mexico Open and Butterfield Bermuda Championship.) He also gained on approach in two-of-his-last-three starts as well. Chassart placed 34th last week at the VidantaWorld Mexico Open, 17th at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship and 53rd at the Bank of Utah Championship across his last three starts. He last played this event in 2024 where he missed the cut. 

2025 Betting Card

• Kevin Yu (+2800) - MC

• Matti Schmid (+6000) - T8th

• Stephan Jaeger (+7000) - MC

• Sam Ryder (+9000) - MC

• Kris Ventura (+12500) - T27th

2024 Betting Card

• Harry Hall (+2500) - T14th

• Matti Schmid (+2500) - MC

• Michael Kim (+5000) - T30th

• Carson Young (+8000) - T2nd

2023 Betting Card

• Sahith Theegala (+1600) - MC

• Stephan Jaeger (+2500) - T45th

• J.J. Spaun (+3300) - T67th

• Akshay Bhatia (+3500) - T10th

• Chesson Hadley (+8000) - T7th

• Sam Ryder (+8000) - T10th

Gambling Disclaimer

All content in this article, including but not limited to outright betting selections, daily fantasy sports recommendations, odds references, and any related commentary, is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing contained herein constitutes financial, investment, legal, or gambling advice of any kind, and should not be relied upon as such.

All picks, opinions, and analysis reflect the personal views of the author at the time of writing and are subject to change. There is no guarantee of results. Past performance is not indicative of future outcomes, and the author accepts no liability for any losses, financial or otherwise, incurred as a result of acting on any information contained in this article.

By reading this content, you acknowledge that sports betting and daily fantasy sports involve substantial financial risk. You should never wager or contest money that you cannot afford to lose. It is your sole responsibility to ensure that any participation in sports betting or daily fantasy sports is legal in your jurisdiction before doing so.

Out of the Rough and its contributors are not licensed gambling operators, financial advisors, or legal professionals. This content is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any sportsbook, daily fantasy sports platform, or gambling organization.

If you or someone you know is struggling with a gambling problem, help is available. Please contact the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700 or visit ncpgambling.org. Support is available 24/7, free, and confidential.