Last week the World Wide Technology Championship took place at the El Cardonal at Diamante where after delivering a hit performance, Erik van Rooyen took home the shining trophy, the first prize of 1,476,000, and the following fame.
The tournament was also much in the limelight as for the first time the event was being played at El Cardonal at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico which is designed by Tiger Woods. But as it turns out the course is unwell with a participant in the event.
On Sunday after the game was over Kelly Kraft who finished 71st in the event, took to Instagram to express his disappointment over the Woods-designed course. He wrote “Best part about this week was having my family here and watching the @rangers win the World Series!! About the golf, not sure where to start. All I will say is that @pgatour could do a better job at picking courses to host these events. In my opinion, this wasn’t my favorite course, and I’ve played on tour for a little while. Better luck next week.”
Last weekend Kraft made scores of 70, 68, 71, and 71 in the four rounds. The reason as to why Kraft was not happy with the course is not clear. Last Monday even Tiger Woods was spotted at the El Cardonal ahead of the beginning of the match which further added to the hype of the event.
This was the first time that the event was hosted at El Cardonal and prior to the tournament was held at the Riviera Maya in Mexico, south of Cancun. Riveria is the official partner of the PGA of America and was hailed by Golf Digest magazine to be among the best resorts in Mexico and the Americas.
But in 2022 it was the 16th and the last edition of the event was held in 2022 after which LIV Golf snatched the opportunity to hold their own tournament.
Riviera Maya was snatched by LIV Golf for 2023 and beyon
LIV Golf selected Mayakoba as its February event in 2023 and they shared some important ties. LIV’s CEO Greg Norman has designed the course and has strong relations with the resort and tournament organizers. The tournament was North America’s first LIV Golf League event of 2023. The team round was won by Koepka-led Crushers GC and the individual round was won by Charles Howell who took home $5 million.
