World Wide Technology Championship 2026 preview picks analysis

Another week and another step closer to survival or the precipice at this week’s World Wide Technology Championship.

As Seamus Power proved at the Bermuda Championship, one good week can change everything - he began the week in 103rd place in the FedEx standings and on the brink of losing his card but his runner-up finished changed everything, seeing him leap into the top 60. Job done.

And there will no doubt be other such stories as the PGA Tour Fall Season nears its climax. After this week in Mexico, just two tournaments remain, the Austin Championship and the RSM Classic. So time is fast running out.

One man with no such worries is Ben Griffin, who won three times in 2025, joining Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy as the only players to claim more than two titles. And one of those wins came here, when he set a tournament scoring record of 29 under par.

Griffin holed three huge birdie putts on his way to a stunning final round of 63. He finished by two-putting for birdie on the par-five 18th at El Cardonal at Diamante for a two-shot victory.

Griffin, playing for the second time since his Ryder Cup debut, reeled off five straight birdies starting at the eighth. That included a 40-foot putt on the par-three 11th to tie the lead, a 25-foot putt on the 12th for the outright lead and a 25-foot putt on the par-three 16th that all but sealed it.

"After making a few birdies early, I kind of pushed myself a little bit harder than the past few weeks when I was in contention to kind of keep the pedal down," Griffin said. "Fortunately, the putter heated up and I made a lot of putts on the back nine. It was fun feeling the nerves down the stretch trying to hold things off. It was nice to make a couple down the stretch."

Ben Griffin

The victory took him to ninth in the world rankings. Unsurprisingly, he suffered something of a hangover in 2026. He has failed to add another victory with his highlights coming when he finished third at the Cadillac Championship and Charles Schwab Challenge. But his fourth place finish at the Mexico Championship offers encouragement.

Jackson Kuivan is widely regarded as one our sport’s rising stars with a huge future. The 21-year-old American won his first PGA Tour event at the 3M Open in July in only his third start on the PGA Tour and was a member of the victorious United States team at the Presidents Cup.

At Auburn, Koivun won 11 individual tournaments and was named SEC Player of the Year three times. As a freshman in 2024, he became the first player to claim the Haskins Award, Jack Nicklaus Award, Ben Hogan Award and Phil Mickelson Award in the same season. He later became the first golfer to win the Haskins, Nicklaus and Hogan awards twice.

In June 2026, Koivun announced that he would forgo his senior year at Auburn University and turn professional after the US Open. He had earned PGA Tour status through the PGA Tour University accelerated programme the previous year. By turning pro, he forfeited his exemption to the 2026 Open for winning the Mark H McCormack Medal.

He made his professional debut at the John Deere Classic, where he missed the cut. But he didn’t have to wait long for everything to change. In the third round of the 3M he shot a 10-under 61, including a tournament record 28 on the back nine, to go into the final round with a three shot lead. In the final round, Koivun closed with a bogey-free 66 to win the tournament by three over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Koivun finished with a 72-hole tournament record score of 25-under 259. He finished 70th in the FedEx Cup after the Wyndham Championship.

In September, Koivun was selected as a captain's pick to be on the US Presidents Cup team, becoming the first golfer since Jordan Spieth in 2013 to start a year without a tour card and play in the Presidents Cup. He helped the U.S win the trophy and was the only undefeated U.S. player during the competition.

Ryan Gerard has enjoyed a season he will remember for a long time.

It tells you everything you need to know about his consistency that he finished third in the FedEx Cup despite failing to record a victory. He finished second three times, third once and five times in the top five, earning well in excess of $10m in prize money. He was third at the Tour Championship and fourth at the recent Baycurrent Classic.

His success should surprise nobody.

He turned professional in 2022, competing on PGA Tour Canada, where he won the Quebec Open in his fourth start and gained Korn Ferry status for 2023.

After only four starts he Monday qualified into the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic and finished fourth, then placed 11th at the next week’s Puerto Rico Open en route to securing PGA Tour Special Temporary Membership at the Texas Open. He enjoyed just one further top-25 in 2023 and failed to make the top-125 on the FedEx Cup required to earn 2024 Tour membership.

However, he earned his PGA Tour card for 2025 by finishing 12th on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024, enjoying 12 top-25 finishes, four top-10s and a win at the BMW Charity Pro-Am, where he shot a 26-under 259.

In his first full season on the PGA Tour, Gerard made nine of his first ten cuts in 2025. During that stretch, he finished in the top-25 five times, with two top-10s, including a runner-up finish at the Valero Texas Open, where he finished three strokes behind tournament-winner Brian Harman. Later on in the season, he earned his first win at the Barracuda Championship.

In December, Gerard was ranked 57th in the world rankings heading into the final tournament week of the year. He opted to play in the Mauritius Open, requiring a top-four finish to reach the top-50 in the rankings and secure an invitation to the 2026 Masters. He finished runner-up.

Tournament winners:

It was won in 2018 by Matt Kuchar, in 2019 by Brendon Todd, in 2020 and 2021 by Viktor Hovland, in 2022 by Russell Henley, in 2023 by Erik van Royen, in 2024 by Austin Eckroat and last year by Ben Griffin.

The course:

El Cardonal is a par 72 measuring 7,363 yards. Designed by Tiger Woods, it carves its way through natural dunes and features a lot of bunkers. It is a classic risk-and-reward course - and that means you are going to see some low scores.

Form guide:

With the exception of Scottie Scheffler, there has been no more consistent performer on the PGA Tour in 2026 than Ryan Gerard.

Prize money:

Total prize money is $7.5m, with around $1.3m going to the winner along with 500 FedEx Cup points.

How to watch:

Thursday, November 5, Sky Sports Golf, 8pm; Friday, November 6, Sky Sports Golf, 8pm; Saturday, November 7, Sky Sports Golf, 8pm; Sunday, November 8, Sky Sports Golf, 8pm.