It’s another tropical trip for the PGA Tour‘s finest this week at the circuit heads to Mexico for the 2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. Viktor Hovland will be hoping to make it an unprecedented three-peat after claiming victory in 2020 and 2021. Looking to stop him at El Cameleon Golf Club are the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Jason Day, Seamus Power.
Scroll down to see who I think will win the 2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, but first…
2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba details
Venue: El Cameleon Golf Club, Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Dates: November 3-6, 2022
Course stats: Par 71; 6,987 yards
Course summary: Designed by Greg Norman, this quirky course takes in different landscapes as it switches from jungle to oceanfront to create a picturesque paradise for players. This track is heavily impacted by the wind, and with smaller than average greens players will need to be extremely accurate with their approach play. Tree-lined fairways and moderate rough will give players plenty to think about in what is the last regular PGA Tour event of the calendar year.
Purse: $8.2 million
Defending champion: Viktor Hovland (-23)
2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba times
Thursday: Sky Sports Golf and Main Event from 7pm
Friday: Sky Sports Golf from 7pm
Saturday: Sky Sports Golf from 12pm
Sunday: Sky Sports Golf from 7pm
2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba betting tips
The Banker: Tony Finau @ 18/1 with Bet365
Course form and history could prove important here this week, and with two top-8s and a 16th among his five starts at Mayakoba, Tony Finau has that in abundance.
Finau also has a win at the Puerto Rico to his name, which further solidifies his liking for paspalum greens. Now he has found a way to win more often, he is deserving of the odds that are attributed to him.
Par-4 Performance has been important here over the years, with three of the four winners leading that category at week’s end and none ranking outside the top-7 since the event began. Finau is a ridiculous -57 on those holes over the past six months, and that is better than anyone with 40+ rounds during that span.
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The American may be rusty, given it is his first start of the new season, but that is the only potential downside, and we often see these elite talents can succeed without much of a warmup.
The Each-Way Play: Brendon Todd @ 50/1 with Bet365
Brendon Todd is one of those picks you tend to avoid, because you think he is so obvious, that it won’t work out, but I don’t want to fall in the trap of falling for what is potentially nonsense. As such I think Todd is a perfect fit this week.
With two top-9 finishes already this season – at the Fortinet Championship and the CJ Cup – Todd is clearly in form, as his strokes gained approach numbers suggest. He’s ranked 4th and 2nd in strokes gained approach in those two starts, suggesting his irons are in a good place. Overall he has been 10th and 11th in those same two starts in stokes gained tee-to-green suggesting his whole game is in good shape.
Todd ranks 11th in both par-4 performance and driving accuracy over the past six months, and those that rank above him have generally played less rounds, so what he is doing in those departments is incredibly impressive.
After going MC-49-MC in his first three starts here, Todd has since gone 1st-8th-11th, starting with his win here in 2019, and it is clear then that he loves this golf course now. He has also broken 70 in each of his past 12 rounds here, seven of which have seen him shoot a 67 or better, and there is every reason to think another week, akin to what he’s shown over the past renewals, will follow this week.
In 2020 he was defending champion and had to cope with all the hoopla that comes with that, and when 11th last year, he had started his season with finishes of T22, MC, T62 (in a 78-man field). This time around he is bang in form and free of any defending champion obligations, clearing the pathway for another excellent week in Mexico.
The Long Shot: Garrick Higgo @ 125/1 with Bet365
I had my eye on Garrick Higgo last week, and only played him the first round leader market, and while he didn’t oblige in round one, he shot the lowest round on Sunday, shooting a 64 with a double bogey on the card. He carded 10 birdies on Sunday, and other than a third round 74 played really well for the week, which is a good sign.
Last week he was top-21 in terms of driving accuracy which is promising as it shows a level of maturity when it comes to playing short courses, given his infinite distance off the tee, and now he returns to a course he actually showed some promise on last year.
Despite the records showing he finished 64th here last year, he shot a second-round 63, to move into a tie for 15th despite a slow start, and a third-round 69 kept him inside the top-20 going into Sunday. A final-round 75 ruined any chances of a top-10 finish, but it was a solid first go, nonetheless.
Now he is seeing the course for a second time and is in better form than he was coming into the event 12 months ago, Higgo looks to be a great longshot for this event. He will be overlooked as he’s a long hitter, who finished 64th here last year, but I suspect he might surprise.
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