2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba Expert Picks & Preview: Tom Hoge, Jason Day & Dean Burmester Among Top Plays – The Action Network

The Butterfield Bermuda Championship was going about as well as could be expected until there were seven holes left.

Ben Griffin held a two-shot lead before hopping on the bogey train to close out the round, and we saw our 120/1 longshot slip from first to third. That course continues to offer us great value, though, for players of his skill set. The leaderboard was peppered with players on the shorter side off the tee who hit greens and have great short games. So we’ll keep going back to that well in the future.

Now we head to Mayakoba for the World Wide Technology Championship. This is a course that has favored similar players as Bermuda, so we may see a bit of a carryover with the form even though this event has a much stronger field.

The Course

El Camaleón is a short, easy course that measures just under 7,000 yards for a par 71 where we can expect the winner to reach around 20-under par if the winds stay calm.

The driver is about as irrelevant here as any course on TOUR, although Viktor Hovland winning this tournament back-to-back has thrown a wrench in that type of play. It’s short, and anywhere that Brian Gay and Fred Funk have won shows that players don’t need to bomb it off the tee.

There also isn’t much rough, so accuracy really isn’t too important either. It’s truly a second-shot course where contenders will be dialed in with the wedges and enjoy a hot putting week.

We’ve mentioned in past previews for this event that this course has a strong correlation with the Sony Open in Hawaii. Both are short seaside courses that favor strong wedge play and putting. Two previous winners, Patton Kizzire and Matt Kuchar, followed this victory up by winning the Sony the following January. Two other champs, Johnson Wagner and Mark Wilson, have won both events in their careers.

The Favorites

Scottie Scheffler and the aforementioned Hovland come in at the top of the board at +900 and +1000 respectively. Hovland’s history is well known here, but Scheffler also had a solid result last season, finishing fourth. Both players present problems if we try to go for the longshots.

That next tier in the teens is made up of Tony Finau, Collin Morikawa, Aaron Wise and Billy Horschel. All should fit here well and have finished in the top 10 before minus Morikawa, who is making his debut at the event this week.

In the +2000s, we see players like Taylor Montgomery, Maverick McNealy and Emiliano Grillo. They’ve all been riding great form this fall and could be ready to pop up here at a course that doesn’t present too much of an issue.

I will make one play here at the bottom of this range with Tom Hoge at +3000. I’m not a huge fan of the number, but his game is in perfect shape on a course that fits him as well as any, so I’ll take a chance. He’s been inside the top 15 in five straight events and was third here back in 2020.

The Midtier

I’ll start my plays in this spot off with Kyoung-Hoon Lee at +5000 on DraftKings. Lee has had a solid run of form highlighted by a third at THE CJ CUP two weeks ago. His game has been in good shape for the past season now as he’s gained strokes pretty much across the board. He’s been hitting the driver and the irons well, and the short game seems to be in a good spot overall.

We’ll take a chance here with Jason Day as well at +5000 on DraftKings. This has been a spot for vets to find their winning ways again. Players like Kuchar and Pat Perez have ended droughts here similar to what Day is facing. His game has recovered to the point where the ball striking is in great shape now as he finished eighth and 11th the past two starts. We also know that his short game has always been a strength as well.

I’m also going with Dean Burmester here at +8000 on DraftKings. He’s not the usual fit for this course, but without much danger here, this can be a place he tries to overpower. He finished the 2022 season in great form and has carried that run over into the fall with a fourth already at Sanderson Farms. He’s shown he’s a proven winner overseas with nine wins worldwide, so if he’s going to get a PGA TOUR breakthrough, this seems like a decent place for him.

The Mayakoba Card

• Tom Hoge +3000 (1.09 units)
• Jason Day +5000 (.66 units)
• Kyoung-Hoon Lee +5000 (.66 units)
• Dean Burmester +8000 (.41 units)

Total Stake: 2.82 units