Golf

Philip Reid’s World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba lowdown

Ryder Cup stars out in force for what is expected to be a low-scoring tournament

Justin Thomas is one of the Ryder Cup stars in action at the in Mexico this week. Photograph: Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Phlip Reid
Wed Nov 3 2021 - 16:33

Purse: €6.2 million (€1.11m to the winner)

Where: Riviera Maya, Mexico

The course: El Camaleón Golf Course at Mayakoba – 7,017 yards, par 71 – was designed by Greg Norman. Three distinctive Mayan landscapes – tropical jungle, coastal stretches along the Caribbean and mangroves – have been incorporated into the Great White Shark's clever design while the use of paspalum grass has ensured near perfect surfaces. As such, scoring in the tournament tends to be extremely good (the winning totals for the past two years has been 20-under-par, Viktor Hovland last year and Brendon Todd in 2019).

The field: Justin Thomas, Tony Finau, Brooks Koepka and Abraham Ancer from the world's top-15 are headline acts in what is a strong international field. Thomas, Finau, Koepka and Scottie Scheffler from the winning US Ryder Cup team are competing while a number of European team members – Matt Fitzpatrick, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton, Ian Poulter, Shane Lowry and defending champion Hovland – are also playing. This is the PGA Tour's third consecutive event played outside the USA, following on from the Zozo in Japan and last week's Bermuda Championship.

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Quote-Unquote: "This is my fourth time playing a PGA Tour event here and I also played the world amateur, so it's going to be my fifth time; it's kind of weird coming to a place where I almost feel like a veteran since I haven't been (on tour) very long," – Viktor Hovland on his familiarity with the Mayakoba course.

Irish in the field: Shane Lowry with Tyrrell Hatton and Martin Laird (off the first tee at 12.50pm Irish time); Séamus Power with Hudson Swafford and Tyler Duncan (off the first at 1.01pm Irish time); Graeme McDowell with Matt Kuchar and Charley Hoffman (off the 10th at 1.01pm Irish time).

Betting: Justin Thomas is installed as the market leader at 12-1 (despite not winning since The Players back in March) while defending champion Viktor Hovland is next in the market at 16-1 and, given his track record, would appear the stronger candidate . . . it is not a bombers' course (all three Par 5s are reachable in two) and strategy and good putting are key factors, so it might be worth an each way look at Patrick Rodgers, who is available at 66-1.

On TV: Live on Sky Sports (live coverage from 7pm).

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