Horses for Courses: Grillo goes low on Paspalum

Heading south of the border to Mexico has been part of the schedule on the PGA TOUR since 2007. The second visit of 2023 will be the first time in history the TOUR will tee it up on a Tiger Woods designed course. El Cardonal at Diamante in Los Cabos, Mexico, was designed by Woods and his group, and was opened for business in 2014.

The World Wide Technology Championship at El Cardonal plays 7,452 yards and is a stock par 72. The routing and design created by Woods is brand new to the PGA TOUR but the Paspalum playing surface, used from tee to green, will provide the familiarity that provides the clues this week.

Paspalum grass is predominantly used on seaside courses outside of the continental United States and is familiar to many in the field this week. The results from the Puerto Rico Open, Corales Puntacana Championship, Mexico Open at Vidanta and the previous host of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba will provide a road map for the field of 132 players.

Horses for “Surface”

Emiliano Grillo (+2500): The Argentine provides plenty of Paspalum ammunition this week. Across 14 events at Mayakoba, Puerto Rico, Malaysia and Vidanta since 2015, Grillo has produced eight paydays of solo 15th or better, including six in the top 10. Most recently on his last visit to Vidanta in May, he closed 67-65 for T5.

Akshay Bhatia (+3500): The three previous events on Paspalum in 2023 provided a personal ATM for the young left-hander. Finishing 19 under in Puerto Rico in the first week of March, he opened with 66 and closed with 65 to take second, three shots clear of third place. Later that month he signed for 63 in Round 2 before cashing T24 at Corales Puntacana. Closing in April at Vidanta, he posted rounds of 65-63 to secure solo fourth. Also, he opened the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay with a win on Paspalum.

Brandon Wu (+8000): In two visits to Vidanta, he’s hit the podium (3rd, T2) and posted 35 under. In two visits to Puerto Rico, he’s posted all eight rounds in the red for 27 under and cashed T3 and T7.

Cameron Champ (+5500): In six career starts on Paspalum, he’s posted top 10 results three times, including the last two events at Vidanta. Posting T8 and T6, the bomber has produced an aggregate of 28 under over his last 144 holes.

Brice Garnett (+30000): Stick with me. The winner at Corales in 2018 has cashed T9 and T8 in two of his last three in the Dominican Republic. In eight visits to Mayakoba, he racked up four top 11 paydays. The Paspalum of Puerto Rico produced T7 and T5 in two of his last three starts from seven starts (zero missed cuts). He’s also never missed (T33 twice) in both visits to Vidanta.

Oddsmaker's Extras

Mackenzie Hughes (+9000) has played Corales twice, cashing third and T2.

Nate Lashley (+10000) owns three top 10 performances from three trips to Puerto Rico and five of his six visits to Corales are T28 or better.

Adam Long (+12500) racked up T2, T3, and T22 his first three trips to Mayakoba. Others include T18-T15 (Vidanta) and solo fifth (Corales).

-Odds courtesy of BETMGM.COM-

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