Big things are happening this week at the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico.
Tiger Woods’ course set to host PGA Tour event for first time with Michael Block playing
El Cardonal at Diamante, the first course designed by Tiger Woods, will stage the World Wide Technologies Championship in Mexico this week.
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
El Cardonal at Diamante, situated on the Southern end of Baja California Sur, will host a PGA Tour event for the first time. It will also mark the first instance in which a tour event is staged on a Tiger Woods-designed golf course.
The 15-time major champion is in Mexico this week too, scouting the property and ensuring it lives up to his standard for professional play.
Opened in 2014, El Cardonal sits adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, providing breathtaking views for both players and fans. The course plays firm and fast, with the wind usually howling.
Think links golf but with warmer weather. The tropical climate of Mexico is a stark departure from the conditions often seen in Great Britain during The Open Championship.
“I set up the golf strategy to make golfers think and make choices,” Woods said, per the course’s website.
“There are going to be different ways to play every hole. Angles of approach are going to be very important and will dictate the type of shots you should consider. I love this kind of golf.”
The fairways are wide, and the greens are expansive, which should give the field this week plenty of imagination.
Included in the field for this week’s World Wide Technology Championship is PGA club professional Michael Block, who burst onto the scene at Oak Hill during the PGA Championship this past May.
Block’s surreal hole-in-one and his incredible up-and-down on the 18th hole during Sunday’s final round lit the golf world on fire, producing lasting images for years to come.
But the ‘Block Party’ has continued well past that amazing Sunday.
He recently won the Southern California Match Play Championship, which awarded him an exemption into the field at El Cardonal this week.
Block will also compete in the Australian Open at the beginning of December.
Nevertheless, Block has competed in five PGA Tour events so far in 2023. His only made cut came at Oak Hill, as he most recently missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open in June.
Perhaps he can replicate the magic he discovered in Western New York on Tiger’s course with Woods watching him.
That would be quite something, right?
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
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