Picks and Predictions: World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba

The PGA Tour returns to Mexico this week for the 2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba.

With just two events on the PGA’s fall calendar remaining after this week’s World Wide Technology Championship; Mayakoba has once again enticed some of the world’s best to El Camaleon.

The World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, formerly known as the OHL and Mayakoba Golf Classic in recent years, has been a staple on the PGA Tour’s schedule since its inception back in 2007.

The event began as an alternate field event and it was the first tournament to be held outside of the United States and Canada at the time. The alternate status was changed in 2014 when it was elevated for the first time to a stand-alone event on the calendar.

Part of the Riviera Maya, El Camaleon Golf Club is a stunning Par 71, Greg Norman design, that plays right around 7,000 yards in length. El Camaleon’s unique layout takes players on a journey through stretches of jungle, mangroves, and along the coastline, all over the course of 18 tournament holes.

A field of 132 has made the trip to this week’s tropical paradise. The 2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba welcomes a field that includes five of the top twenty-ranked players in the World.

Viktor Hovland returns to El Camaleon this week with the Norwegian looking to win this event for the third consecutive year. Other notable names making the trip to Mexico include former world number one, Scottie Scheffler, who was recently supplanted by Rory McIlroy at the top of the OWGR, Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau, and Billy Horschel amongst others.

Despite winning here in back-to-back trips, it isn’t Viktor Hovland who claims the top spot on the oddsmakers list this week, instead, it is Scottie Scheffler who earns that honor this week. Here is a look at how the rest of the favorites for this week’s World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba shake out over on WynnBet.

2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba Favorites

(Odds courtesy of WynnBet. **Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.**)

• Scottie Scheffler  (+900)
• Viktor Hovland  (+1100)
• Collin Morikawa  (+1400)
• Billy Horschel  (+1600)
• Aaron Wise  (+1800)
• Tony Finau  (+1800)
• Brian Harman  (+3300)
• Tom Hoge  (+3300)
• Emiliano Grillo  (+3500)
• Maverick McNealy  (+3500)

Pick to Top 20: Brandon Wu  (+325)

Talented 25-year-old Brandon Wu hasn’t won on Tour yet but he has shown already in his young career how much potential he has. The University of Stanford product has recorded some of his best finishes on Tour to date on coastal tracks in tropical climes.

Wu finished 3rd at this year’s Puerto Rico Open in March, and he was runner-up to eventual winner Jon Rahm at the inaugural Mexico Open at Vidanta near the end of April. After missing the cut to begin the new PGA Tour season, Brandon has put in some solid performances, this includes at last week’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship where he finished 35th.

It’s been a little while since his last top-20 finish but Brandon demonstrated multiple times last season what he is capable of when firing on all cylinders with top-10 finishes at both the Wyndham Championship (8th) and Genesis Scottish Open (6th).

Wu’s lone appearance at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba came back in 2019 when he made the cut in his debut at El Camaleon and gained over five strokes in the driving accuracy department, something which is critical to success at Mayakoba.

He ranked 19th in greens in regulation percentage last season on Tour; further demonstrating an ability to be accurate from both off the tee and on approach. Combine that with positive results on Paspalum greens like he will see this week, and I like his chances of having a good week.

Pick to Top 10: Emiliano Grillo  (+300)

Emiliano Grillo has been a top-10 machine in previous appearances at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, the Argentine has three in his last six visits to El Camaleon. Now he comes into this year’s edition of the World Wide Technology Championship in arguably better form than ever before.

Grillo has two top-ten finishes in his last four starts and you have to go all the way back to the Open Championship in July to find the last time that the 30-year-old failed to make the weekend in an event.

Emiliano has historically been excellent with his irons, and this season on Tour so far the Argentine ranks 17th in greens in regulation percentage. He finally lost strokes with his putter in his last start, this coming after a streak of seven consecutive events where he gained on the greens.

Paspalum has been the one surface throughout his career that Grillo has consistently gained strokes, however, and I like him to bounce back this week after perhaps suffering from some fatigue in his last start.

Pick to Win: Tom Hoge  (+3000)

It would be a challenge to find many who are playing better golf than Tom Hoge at the moment. The 2022 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am champion has started the new season playing exceptional golf, Hoge is on a run of four consecutive top fifteen finishes and it seems like it may just be a matter of time before a second PGA Tour win is in the bag.

The TCU product has had mixed results at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba over the years, but he did come close here back in 2020 when he finished T-3rd and just three shots back of eventual winner Viktor Hovland.

You could certainly make a strong case that the 33-year-old is playing better now than at any other point in his career coming into this event.

Hoge has the skill set to continue his hot start to the season this week at El Camaleon, he comes into the week ranked 3rd in Strokes Gained: Approach, 20th from tee to green, and 6th in greens in regulation percentage, this season on Tour.