FedEx Cup Fall betting guide: Our PGA professional previews the World Wide Technology Championship

World Wide Technology Championship: Tiger’s return

Tiger Woods is back on the PGA TOUR. Although he isn’t competing, save that for December at the HERO, Woods designed the venue for this week’s World Wide Technology Championship. After 16 years in Riviera Maya on the east coast of Mexico, the WWT has traveled across the country to the Baja peninsula and Cabo San Lucas. The southern edge is home to a private resort community called Diamante with 36-holes of championship golf.

Eighteen holes are designed by Tiger and the course is called el Cardonal. The par 72 resort style layout covers 7,452 yards for the championship. That is long by TOUR standards and the guys will be playing near sea level. Six par 4s measure over 460 yards and the four par 5s average 581 yards. Upon first inspection, observers will see wide open fairways and enormous green complexes. Some fairways are over sixty yards wide and the average green is 8,300 sq/ft.

Our best bet of the week won at the ZOZO Championship. Eric Cole continued his successful fall run and finished 8 under par and in SECOND place. That easily cashed a +105 top 20 bet.

A green over 8,000 square feet is about double the size of an average PGA TOUR venue. This course resembles Kapalua with such large landing areas. Players will be met with idyllic conditions in paradise. Temperatures will reach the high 80s each round and the breeze will barely blow (6-8 mph). With no wind there is little defense for this forgiving layout.

Operators have already set the win total over under at 23.5 under par. They expect a scoring fest and with these generous landing areas, no wind, one hole where water comes into play, and just 48 bunkers, they are most likely accurate. The fact Woods created such a straightforward golf setting means one of two things. First, this is his first course design project or second, he has a couple tricks up his sleeve the players will not encounter until they compete.

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Just five guys in the top 50 of the OWGR are playing this FedEx Cup Fall event. Including the WWT only three tournaments remain to earn your tour card for 2024. With epic purse money available next year, signature events, and plenty of major championship implications, every player has plenty of motivation to compete in Los Cabos. The field of 132 players will be cut to the top 65 and ties for the final 36-holes.

Those remaining will compete for $8.2 million dollars and a first-place check of $1.476 million. The 1.4 is nice, but 500 FedEx points and an invite to the Masters sounds even more promising. Fire up the birdie wagon and get prepared to go deep down in Mexico. This golf palace covered in Paspalum grass is ready to relinquish plenty of low scores. Keep an eye on that leaderboard as this venue is the opposite of Mayakoba. The traditional WWT venue was tight and target specific.

Tiger and the TOUR have taken the governor off scoring and as such, this week should be very entertaining. Watch the world’s best swing hard and attack these hole locations. After almost two weeks, I cannot wait to get back to the book and place the following bets.

For a complete list of my betting predictions covering the World Wide Technology Championship winners, placements, and H2H matchups, please go to Read The Line and subscribe.

World Wide Technology Championship: Outright Odds

World Wide Technology Championship: Bomber’s paradise

What traits would Tiger want to see the winner have on a course he designed? For starters, he may have wanted there to be more of a penalty for missing your target. Then again, maybe he has created a more complex course than we are giving him credit for. Tiger was the greatest iron player of all-time. In the approach game, his speciality was long iron shots. The farther the approach, the more it favored Woods.

El Cardonal has two reachable par 4s, six long par 4s and four par 5s. Each of those holes require a long approach. Throw in three par 3s around 200 yards and now 83% of the holes require a Tiger type shot. Power is another Tiger trait and those who can hit it farther will be rewarded. Extra length off the tee is going to be a big advantage. Hitting eight iron versus six on approach over four rounds makes a difference.

Don’t overlook those wide fairways. Woods loves Augusta National and that is a second shot golf course. Depending on which side of the fairway you find yourself at the Masters determines your ability to approach the green successfully. I’m in no way saying el Cardonal compares to ANGC, but hitting the correct side of the fairway will open up better looks at the hole locations. Pay attention to players as they pick landing areas off the tee. The smarter you select your game plan, the better chance(s) you have.

Massive greens will cause less concern for around the green acumen and place more pressure on approach putting. I’m diving deep into the best lag putters on TOUR. Combine long putts with sticky Paspalum grass surfaces and those slow speeds will take some getting used to. Certain players love this seaside strand of grass and others are here for vacation. Our best bets favor those players who benefit from slower greens and can lag putt successfully.

Anytime the PGA TOUR visits a venue for the first time, we try to find comparison courses to give us a better prediction outlook. At 7,400+ yards covered in Paspalum with little trouble off the tee, we can look to Mexico’s Vidanta Vallarta and Punta Cana’s Corales courses for guidance. The PGA TOUR’s Puerto Rico event also applies for this field. In fact, most of this weaker fall field has competed on at least two of those venues. An added plus just getting one player in the top 20 of the OWGR.

Those coastal comps really help shape the betting card. Each favors power as well and Paspalum proficiency. Both elements are needed at el Cardonal to keep up with the contenders. Averaging six under par per round is no easy task. Birdie or better percentage, par 4 and 5 scoring are all measurable factors and any player’s ability to go deep is influenced by their ability to convert birdie chances. Tiger was notorious for par 5 demolition. I believe our winner on el Cardonal will go low on the longest holes as well.

I bet Woods will be watching this week. I’m sure he’s curious to see how his first design will hold up against the world’s best. We all think they will go low and they probably will. The average PGA TOUR player is incredibly accurate. So what sets them apart on Sunday will be that driver and putter. Follow the bombers and Paspalum putters. Those few will lead the way and of course make up our best bet selections for the World Wide Technology Championship.

World Wide Technology Championship: Drive for show

Best bet to win: Cam Young (+1200 bet3675)

It has never been a question of if as much as when Cam Young will win on the PGA TOUR. The gifted young star is an incredible driver of the golf ball. The secret for his success will be the Paspalum greens. Those sticky surfaces will help him make more putts. That will relieve pressure from the approach game allowing Young to score at will. The fall has been full of elite winners (Theegala, Kim, Morikawa) and Young makes the most sense from a ball striking POV in this field. Missing the Ryder Cup team is just a little extra incentive to help push him over the hurdle of collecting that first win.

World Wide Technology Championship: Put a Beau on it

To finish in the top 20: Beau Hossler (+120 bet365)

In his last two starts, Beau Hossler has finished seventh and second. In four starts this fall, he has not finished outside the top 30. He's first in the field in par 4 scoring and excellent around and on the green. Those skills will serve him well with two short par 4s and four par 5s. Back in April, Hossler finished tenth in Mexico gaining nearly nine shots on the field. I believe he gets comfortable again down south and contends late Sunday afternoon.

World Wide Technology Championship: Best Bet of the Week!

To finish in the top 40: Brandon Wu (+110 BetMGM)

In two visits to the Mexico Open, Brandon Wu has finished second and third. The guy just loves Paspalum grass. Wu was playing mediocre prior to playing Vidanta Vallarta and both times he popped with the putter and contended. In Puerto Rico (same grass), he has two top 7 finishes. All of these courses favor his style of ball striking off the tee and on approach. Wu scores on the coastal courses and will again this week in Cabo.

Read The Line is the leading golf betting insights service led by five-time award-winning PGA Professional Keith Stewart. Read The Line has 26 outright wins and covers the LPGA and PGA TOUR, raising your golf betting acumen week after week. Subscribe to Read The Line’s weekly newsletter and follow us on social media: TikTok, Instagram, Twitter