The PGA Tour’s World Wide Technology Championship had been held at El Camaleon Golf Club at Mayakoba since its inception in 2007. However, that all changed in 2023 when bitter rival LIV Golf secured the course for the Mexico leg of its big-money League.
Undeterred, that March, the PGA Tour unveiled a course designed by one of its all-time greats, Tiger Woods, as the new home of the FedEx Cup Fall tournament, El Cardonal at Diamante Cabo San Lucas.
The course, which opened in 2014, was Woods’ maiden foray into design. Before its PGA Tour debut, Woods had promised the course would “remind people of the old-style California courses” where he had grown up, while challenging players to “think and make choices.”
However, whether his lack of experience in course design had anything to do with it, it met with mixed reviews afterwards.
The likes of Andrew Putnam, Kelly Kraft and Michael Kim all had their say. Putnam complained the course was too easy, while Kraft suggested the PGA Tour hadn’t made the best choice to replace the Mayakoba course.
Thomas Detry also came a cropper at the par 3 16 when his ball rolled off the front edge of the green and into a steep native area below. That led some fans to question the design while others argued it was to do with the course set up for the tournament,
It wasn’t all bad, and Kim perhaps had the most balanced view. While he said the fairways “could be some of the widest fairways on tour, if not the widest” he complimented Woods’ design on the varied layouts of the greens, while he felt the 15-time Major winner had designed a course that “fit his own game,” something “famous players” often do when turning their hand to design.
The greens offer plenty of variety
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Whatever the pros and cons, it was retained for the 2024 tournament, and it’s likely to remain part of the PGA Tour for some time to come, with the arrangement set to hold for five years.
The course was never meant to be particularly penal, and Woods has admitted he had his pro-am partners in mind when conceiving it. However, it is also intended to test players of most abilities.
The wide fairways were a conscious choice to ensure options and leeway for players with higher handicaps, while its length – a hefty 7,452 yards off the back tees,…
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