World Wide Technology Championship Predictions: Conservative/Aggressive Plays for Every Type of Bettor

If fall events are the dart throws of the PGA Tour schedule, then this week’s World Wide Technology Championship is like nailing three in a bed.

(Hey, don’t shoot the messenger: I asked the Internet what three successful dart throws in a single turn is called and this is what it spit out.)

Not only do fall fields consist mostly of players trying to make their way into PGA Tour signature events or keep their cards or simply just make a name for themselves – as you’ll recall, Michael Brennan won the most recent one in just his third career PGA Tour start – this one in particular offers more blindside due to the fact that Shotlink analytics aren’t available.

As a result, we can’t determine whether Strokes Gained for the contenders in recent years was a greater factor off the tee or with approach shots. We can’t assess which players figured out these greens and which ones didn’t.

That doesn’t mean we don’t have any data, though.

According to Data Golf, the 7,452-yard El Cardonal at Diamante yields a driving distance of 298.2 (5.9 yards longer than the average at PGA Tour venues), a whopping driving accuracy of 88.9 percent (30.2 percent greater) and a greens in regulation percentage of 76.2 (10.3 above the norm).

What that means is that players can essentially bomb it wherever they’d like on this resort course without worry about getting into too much trouble.

This is just the third edition of the WWT in Los Cabos and previous winners Erik van Rooyen and Austin Eckroat are only slightly above average and average in length off the tee, respectively, which doesn’t quite correlate to what the limited data shows.

Even so, I’m going to target some bigger hitters with this week’s selections, starting with a player who seems massively undervalued.

World Wide Technology Championship Outright Winner Picks

Conservative: Wyndham Clark (+4000)

Two weeks ago, prior to the Bank of Utah Championship, I offered up Jason Day and Sahith Theegala as my favorite pre-tournament picks, while telling the story of Sergio Garcia at the 2020 Sanderson Farms Championship, when he looked like the best player in the field and wound up winning. Not only did the Occam’s Razor idea fail miserably in Utah, essentially the opposite came true, as Brennan won without any credentials above the Double-A minor-league level. Well, I’m about to double-down on that initial notion.

If you were to show this entry list to a very casual golf fan, sure, they could know that Ben Griffin and J.J. Spaun have enjoyed solid campaigns, but the name that might stand out is Clark, who was trending toward superstar status before this season. I’ll get into a quick discussion about reputations when I write about Spaun below and while I don’t want to sound contradictory to the point I’m going to make there, I do think there’s something to simply placing our hand-earned money on a very good player whose odds feel too high for a tourney such as this one.

It was an admittedly weird year for Clark, who started it at No. 7 in the OWGR and is currently 33rd. He played poorly, notably throwing temper tantrums in public at the PGA Championship and in private at the U.S. Open. Things came around toward the end of the regular season, but haven’t progressed in his few starts since. That said, seeing a major champion and proven winner at a 40/1 price on a course which suits his game should be enough to get us interested.

I also love the fact that while many of the players in this field are competing to improve their status – feeling some weight on their shoulders – Clark is only here to prove to himself that he can play better golf and perhaps grab a W for some momentum going into 2026. We can understand why his odds are greater than Kevin Yu or Pierceson Coody, while also understanding how to use that to our benefit. For a guy who started the year at this exact price in a signature event, getting him at 40/1 in a fall event screams value. 

Aggressive: Trey Mullinax (+17500)

Look, I could’ve posted any of a dozen names in the triple-digit tier and felt alright with the play – and I’ll list a few more below – but it came down to high-end upside and Mullinax still has it. As I often say, if you’re playing outrights, then second place and below doesn’t matter; there’s only one result which will cash these tickets. In seeking that ceiling, I liked Mullinax’s driving distance of 316.7 (ninth on the PGA Tour this season) and the fact that he’s gained strokes with his irons in each of his three previous fall starts.

The results haven’t been all that impressive this year, but quite frankly, you’re not going to find anyone at 150/1 about whom we can say they have. If you’re playing a triple-digit longshot to win a fall event, you’re not going to find one who’s been trending in the right direction and has metrics that are popping. Instead, you’re taking a bit of a blind leap of faith and that’s what I’m doing here. Among others from the triple-digit section who make some sense here (some of whom you’ll also read about below): Taylor Moore (+10000), David Ford (+10000), Adam Schenk (+15000), Henrik Norlander (+17500), Nick Dunlap (+22500), Hayden Buckley (+25000) and Frankie Capan III (+40000). 

World Wide Technology Championship Top-5 Picks

Conservative: J.J. Spaun (+250)

During the downtime in between golf tournaments — and OK, I’ll admit it; even during some of these fall events — I’ve been watching A LOT of football, in equal parts college and pro. I’ve got plenty of takes and you probably don’t want to hear any of ‘em, but here’s one: I’m a firm believer that if Fernando Mendoza and the rest of his Indiana Hoosiers were wearing Ohio State helmets, he’d be the Heisman Trophy runaway and they’d be the top-ranked team in the country. Point is, reputation means something — even if it’s often incorrect. Believe it or not, this take is relevant for this week’s PGA Tour event.

If Spaun was, say, Justin Thomas or Collin Morikawa and came into this tournament with a U.S. Open win and playoff losses at The Players and FedEx St. Jude this year, either of them would probably be trading at 5/1 and certainly would be the solo favorite in this field. Instead, there’s some indignity – not that he cares, of course – in the fact that Spaun is “merely” co-favorite at 12/1 alongside Ben Griffin. We don’t often discuss value at the top of the board – we usually have to search for it – but an argument can at least be made that there’s value in Spaun being bigger than 12/1 in the outright market. I’ll play him here for the top-five, however it should shock absolutely nobody if he continues his massive year with another win. 

Aggressive: Matti Schmid (+1100)

Much like Clark, Schmid is a player who does a lot of his damage with the driver and putter, which should be a nice combo once again this week. I thought Black Desert Resort suited his game perfectly and was surprised he didn’t tee it up two weeks ago, but this should be a good one, as well, for a player who seems ready to take the next step in his career progression.

World Wide Technology Championship Top-10 Picks

Conservative: Rico Hoey (+225) and Michael Thorbjornsen (+225)

If you’d asked me at the beginning of the fall schedule to name two players who might win before the year was over, I probably would’ve chosen these two. There are still three events to make it happen – and this one certainly could be it for one of ‘em, as they’ve each played at a high level for the past few months. The outright prices (+2200 for each) are palatable, but I couldn’t list either in that category with Clark at nearly twice the price. Even so, it would hardly be a surprise to see either one break through here and plus-money for a top-10 floor feels like a savvy play on each.

Aggressive: Justin Lower (+600)

Whether you’re a recent form truther or a course history loyalist, we can all admit that having some of each is the best recipe for success. It wasn’t the type of season that many of us suspected Lower would have – I was bullish on him at the beginning of the year – but it might be coming together at the 11th hour. He finished T-3 in Utah and was T-2 in Los Cabos last year, giving us an uncanny intersection of form and history. A top-20 play might prove to be overly conservative; if you want to play him for a top-10, top-five or even an outright, I won’t be mad.

World Wide Technology Championship Top-20 Picks

Conservative: Michael Brennan (+130)

Sure, I can be accused of simply going with the hot hand here, but… there’s reason to believe El Cardonal will actually suit Brennan’s game much better than Black Desert, where he won in his third career PGA Tour start just two weeks ago. He not only led the field in SG: Off the tee in Utah, he ranked second in driving distance at more than 351 per drive, even if it did come on a firm course where the ball seemingly rolled forever.

We always like playing guys who are playing with house money and the newest PGA Tour member epitomizes this notion, as he didn’t even have conditional status before that victory. It might be too much to ask for back-to-back wins, but it’s similarly difficult to believe he’ll be too far off the first page of this final leaderboard. 

Aggressive: Nick Dunlap (+650)

Golfbet, the PGA Tour’s own betting platform, already beat me to the punch on this one, as they tweeted Monday afternoon about Dunlap actually owning some decent stats this year in every category other than off the tee. On a course where even you and I could hit a few fairways, driver issues won’t nearly hurt as much as they do everywhere else. He only has three top-20s this year, but this feels like as good a place as any to get that fourth.

World Wide Technology Championship Top-40 Picks

Conservative: Hayden Buckley (market not yet available)

It was a trying season for Buckley, whose pair of top-10s were offset by 13 missed cuts. Perhaps he’s starting to round into form, though, as a T-27 in Utah two weeks ago came as a result of his best single-tournament iron play all year. On a course where distance should offer an advantage and poor accuracy doesn’t hurt too much, this could be a decent spot for him.

Aggressive: Frankie Capan III (market not yet available)

Of all the Korn Ferry grads to make it to the PGA Tour this year, I was perhaps most bullish on Capan, who was terrific on the developmental circuit last season. There wasn’t too much to celebrate, however, as a T-12 in his second start was only bettered during the regular season by a solo third at the two-man Zurich Classic. That said, a T-6 at the Sanderson Farms and another made cut two weeks ago could portend better things on the way, and we’re getting nearly as big a top-40 price here as we can get on anyone.

World Wide Technology Championship First-Round Leader Picks

Conservative: Austin Eckroat (+5500)

It might surprise you to be reminded that despite Eckroat having a winning total of 24-under 264 last year, the first-round lead was a mere 5-under 67, posted by the trio of Rico Hoey, Kevin Streelman and Tom Whitney. The reason was windy conditions on that Thursday, but this Thursday is supposed to have a high of 90 degrees with a slight breeze of 5 mph. The guess here is that it’s going to take something closer to Eckroat’s final-round 63 in order to cash these tickets. Well, that was the low score on Sunday last year, so let’s see if the proverbial lightning will strike twice, as the defending champion tries to post the low number of the day for two straight rounds.

Aggressive: Trevor Cone (+15000)

While searching for a longshot to pop this Thursday, I was intrigued at the profile of Cone, who ranks eighth on the PGA Tour in driving distance and happens to play some decent golf in opening rounds, posting scores of 68 or better in five of his last seven starts. These plays are admittedly dart throws when we delve this deep down the board, but I’ll always take a shot on offensive firepower for a single-round investment and the Virginia Tech product certainly has that.