The PGA Tour heads south of the border for the 2025 World Wide Technology Championship. It is part of the 2025 FedEx Cup Fall Series. The first round tees off Thursday at the El Cardonal at Diamante in Los Cabos, Mexico. Below, we look at World Wide Technology Championship from BetMGM Sportsbook’s odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
The defending champ is Austin Eckroat (+5500), who won the 2018 NCAA team title with Oklahoma State, claimed his second career PGA Tour victory here last year. His other win was at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches in March 2024. He posted a 24-under 265 in the win at El Cardonal, including a final-round 9-under 63 at the Tiger Woods-designed course last year. However, Eckroat isn’t the favorite this November, or close to it. Ben Griffin and J.J. Spaun (+1200) are listed as the co-favorites, followed by Max Greyserman (+2000), Garrick Higgo, Michael Thorbjornsen and Rico Hoey (+2200 each).
El Cardonal is 7,452 yards long and plays as a par 72, including a 582-yard Par 5 on Hole No. 1. The front 9 features a pair of par 5’s, including No. 6 playing at 601 yards. No. 18 wraps up with a Par 5 at 585 yards, one of 2 Par-5 holes on the back 9. The fairway, rough and green consist of paspalum, and the course was established in 2014. There are also plenty of cacti and palo verde trees on the course located on Baja California, and the fairways are very wide with huge, rolling greens. Winds off the sea can be the most difficult feature at the resort-style course.
World Wide Championship – Expert picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 5:37 a.m. ET.
J.J. Spaun (+1200)
Spaun is the highest-ranked player in the field, in terms of the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), checking in at No. 6. Griffin, the other co-favorite, checks in at No. 12. The Los Angeles native Spaun is a good play here because of his decent distance off the tee. He isn’t terribly accurate from the tee box, but you don’t have to be with wide fairways and plenty of room for error. The San Diego Aztec graduate is No. 5 on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained (SG): Approach to Green, while checking in No. 7 in SG: Total, and No. 38 in SG: Off the Tee, each helpful metrics at this layout. While he isn’t a tremendous putter, he is rather neutral, which will be helpful on the large, undulating Mexican greens.
Rico Hoey (+2200)
We rolled with the 30-year-old Hoey for a top-20 finish at the Bank of Utah Championship, and he did not disappoint. He turned in a runner-up finish with an 18-under 266, his second consecutive top-5 finish, and third top-10 result in the past 4 outings on the fall portion of the schedule. Like Spaun, above, he ranks high in SG: Off-the-Tee at No. 2 on Tour, while posting a solid No. 8 in SG: Approach to Green. The biggest drawback with Hoey is his occasional struggles on the putting surface, although that wasn’t an issue in Utah 2 weeks ago. If you’re bit more conservative, HOEY (+110) – TOP-20 FINAL PLACEMENT is a solid value.
Thorbjorn Olesen (+2800)
This will be the 100th PGA Tour event Olesen has played. He has never won an event, so, yeah, this is a long-shot bet. He has made the cut in 60 of 99 events, posting 3 finishes in the top 5, with 11 top-10 showings and 9 international wins. The potential is there for a breakthrough at El Cardonal, especially due to the Dane’s good work in the SG: Total (16th) and SG: Approach to Green (60th) categories. In addition, he is an exceptional putter, posting a 0.377 mark, ranking 21st in SG: Putting. He isn’t a banger off the box, but he doesn’t have to be. He is smart, fairly accurate, and he doesn’t do much wrong.
World Wide Championship picks – Contenders
Matt Kuchar (+4500)
Ol’ Kooch is still hanging around at 47 years old. The last time we saw him he was rolling it at The Country Club of Jackson in the Sanderson Farms Championship, posting a T-18 in early October. He was a respectable T-30 at El Cardonal in last season’s event, posting a 12-under 276. Things got away from him in the final round, managing just a 1-under 71 as he tumbled down the leaderboard. He is a tremendous putter, ranking 14th in Tour in SG: Putting. If you don’t want to bet him to win, there is tremendous value taking KUCHAR – TOP-20 FINAL PLACEMENT (+200) for the chance to double up.
Austin Eckroat (+5500)
The defending champ is a value at this price. He is solid off the tee box, ranking No. 27 in Driving Accuracy Percentage (65.39%). It served him well last season as the tied it all together at El Cardonal for the victory. He showed last season that while stats and metrics are important, it isn’t an end-all, be-all. He is 122nd in SG: Putting (-0.104), yet he still got the job done for the trophy in 2024. ECKROAT – TOP-40 FINAL PLACEMENT (-125) is a solid play if you’re a little less adventurous.
Beau Hossler (+8000)
Hossler is a very good putter, checking in 35th in SG: Putting (0.261) on Tour, and he is 29th in Putting Average (1.733). That, in and of itself, isn’t going to be the only reason to take him. However, he is tied for sixth in SG: Around-the-Green (0.449) in 77 total measured rounds, and No. 1 in Scrambling from 10 yards or less, with a success rate of 83 times in 84 attempts.
World Wide Championship pick – Long shot
Joel Dahmen (+15000)
Dahmen was T-14 last season at this event, posting a 15-under 273, a promising showing heading into this event. He is playing for his life, too, ranking 109th in the FedEx Cup Fall Series after starting 93rd. He missed the cut at the Bank of Utah Championship 2 weeks ago, and he needs to turn in a strong showing in Mexico to climb back into the top 100 to secure full status for the PGA Tour in 2026. The 37-year-old Washingtonian is struggling a bit, and if he presses too much, perhaps that will cause his downward spiral to continue. The fan favorite is worth a roll of the dice for $2 to profit $300. DAHMAN – TOP-40 FINAL PLACEMENT (+150) at plus-money is nice, too.
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