Power Rankings: See who leads the way at World Wide Technology Championship

Contrary to popular belief, Tiger Woods hasn’t done it all. However, with this week’s World Wide Technology Championship, he’ll get one step closer.

El Cardonal at Diamante in Los Cabos, Mexico, will go into the history books as the first-ever Tiger Woods design to host a PGA TOUR event. For analysis of the course and more, continue reading beneath the ranking of projected contenders.

Justin Suh, Chris Kirk and Maverick McNealy will be among the notables reviewed in Golfbet Insider.

The connective component of Woods’ early creations as an architect and designer has been fun. It’s evident that it’s been his conscious decision for his tests to be as enjoyable as possible. Given the challenge of the pursuit in general, he all but guarantees a pleasurable experience. El Cardonal at Diamonte is no exception.

The stock par 72 can stretch to 7,452 yards for PGA TOUR-caliber talent. Of course, it won’t play that long as tees and hole locations vary, but even if it did, that’s the toughest variable and it’s fine. Expansive fairways and greens that average 8,300 square feet already are among the most welcoming landing areas that membership sees. Oh, and there’s no rough, which is not an uncommon omission on resort courses.

One of Woods’ pillars as a champion has been dominating fields on par 5s, so injecting them as often as possible is a default design consideration for the 82-time TOUR winner. But not only does El Cardonal have four, it opens with a scorable par 5 tipping at 582 yards. Furthermore, for half the field that starts on No. 10, they’re treated with a 344-yard par 4, so both sides present a soft open to ease into the round. See, fun!

Paspalum blanketing the property promises favorable lies in fairways and approaches areas, as well as consistent rolls across putting surfaces dialed to 11½ feet on the Stimpmeter. Crisp form upon arrival plugs and plays despite the only weakness because it’s shared by all – inexperience. That’s a constant at zero. Fittingly, this elevates full-swinging ball-strikers as targets while unexpectedly hot putters will pepper the leaderboard pre-cut.

When it concerns the setup beside the sea, wind influences hole locations. In the context of El Cardonal’s debut, it’s the absence of it that could lead to some tough pins to increase the challenge, at least on the weekend. Calm breezes amid sunny skies are forecast throughout. Daytime highs will settle in the low 80s.

NOTE: ShotLink to measure distances of every shot is not utilized for this tournament.

ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE

MONDAY: Power Rankings
TUESDAY*: Sleepers
WEDNESDAY: Golfbet Insider
FRIDAY: Medical Extensions
SUNDAY: Payouts and Points, Qualifiers, Reshuffle

* - Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.