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There have been 15 visits to El Camaleon for the World Wide Technologies Championship (albeit often called something else) but there have been a few whispers this week that there may not be too many more. The reason? There are reports that the designer Greg Norman will be taking LIV Golf to the venue. It’s certainly not because the course is unpopular because it's not: the players like the track, so do fans and so, too, do punters. The latter like it because it tends to throw up specialists. The first challenge is hitting the fairways. They are not narrow but if missed there are problems. First up, the grass is clingy and so hitting from the rough is not straighforward. Secondly, bigger threats are not too far away – mangroves, jungle, canals and even caves. Of this Jon Rahm has said: “Technically it doesn’t suit my game. I mean, it’s really a course for shorter hitters, it’s not really long off the tee. There’s a lot of emphasis and importance on keeping the ball in play off the tee, so that means I’m not able to use my driver as much as I would like to, which is one of my main tools.” A former winner at the track, Matt Kuchar, has added: “If you’re missing fairways, it means you’re in the mangroves, you’re in the hazard, you’re taking penalty drops, you’re really in trouble.” Kuchar also talked about another key factor: “The wind typically will pick up in the afternoons and when the wind picks up, you had better be hitting the ball solid, you had better be in control.” The final big factor is the Paspalum grass on the green. It’s not quite Bermuda but it is along those lines and Vaughn Taylor explained: “The grass is different. It’s grainy. If you haven’t been on it before, you might be a little confused.” Viktor Hovland has won both of the last two editions and, while he seems more of a big-hitter than the long term trend of smart and steady winners, he has proved himself very good on Paspalum (winning in Puerto Rico) and he likes playing in wind after playing his college golf in Oklahoma.
Angles to consider 1/ Greens in Regulation As mentioned, El Camaleon calls for smart golf off the tee and into the green. It’s not long but trying to overpower it risks finding mangroves and even caves. Rescues are tricky and so is the wind which blows off the ocean. Every winner since 2014 ranked top 11 for GIR and the last three? Todd was third, Hovland has been first and fifth. 2/ The Par 4s Five of the last eight winners topped the Par 4 Performance rankings. Hovland was first in his first win and second last year. 3/ Similar Conditions Hovland was a winner in Puerto Rico, Todd in Bermuda, Matt Kuchar in Waialae, Fiji and Harbour Town, Patton Kizzire at Waialae, Graeme McDowell in Harbour Town and the Dominican Republic, Harris English at Southwind and on Hawaii, Johnson Wagner and Mark Wilson at Waialae, Brian Gay at Southwind, Harbour Town and in Bermuda, Fred Funk on Hawaii. That’s 13 of 15 winners who have also won on other blustery tracks, by the sea, often not long, with grainy greens.
Selections The above angles have been used to create a shortlist from which the following players are selected. Tony Finau A winner on Paspalum in the Puerto Rico Open and he’s a three time top 20 finisher on the course (two of them top 10s). He’s been in fine form through the summer, a spell that has seen him hit lots of greens. He won the 3M Open and Rocket Mortgage Classic back-to-back off the back of that excellent long game. Ranked third for Par-4s last season. Russell Henley Henley is very good at finding fairways (top 30 in each of the last three season) and also greens (top 20 the last three campaigns). He’s yet to put it together at El Camaleon (a best of 29th from four starts) but that means there’s a little juice in his price. He’s a past winner at Waialae and should have won there again earlier this year. He’s also won in Florida and has top 10s in Sea Island, Harbour Town, Southwind and Sedgfield. He ranked top 20 for Par-4s last season. Robby Shelton Back in 2019 Shelton finished sixth in this event and was left ruing a third round 72. He ranked fourth for GIR so he succeeded in the manner that matters. He’s won twice in Tennessee and once in South Carolina so he understands hot and sticky conditions. He’s back on the main tour and made a nice start without quite following through. He was top 10 through 18 holes at the Fortinet Championship, made the cut at the Sanderson Farms Championship, was second at halfway in the Shriners Children’s Open (finishing 15th) and second again after 36 holes last week in Bermuda before landing 23rd. He ranks top 10 for GIR and Par-4s in this field the last 12 months.
Tips: 1-2; +56.00pts 1.5pt e.w. Tony Finau at 16/1 (Coral, Skybet, BF Sportsbook, Paddy Power, William Hill 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) mc 1pt e.w. Russell Henley at 50/1 (Skybet, BF Sportsbook, Paddy Power 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) 1st 0.5pt e.w. Robby Shelton at 70/1 (Skybet, William Hill 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) mc
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