Aberg keen to keep building at Mexico PGA Tour event
The field includes five of the top 50 players in the world rankings plus Swedish rookie Ludvig Aberg, but the course will be the star of the show when the World Wide Technology Championship begins on Thursday in Los Cabos, Mexico.
El Cardonal Golf Course at Diamante is the new venue for the annual PGA Tour stop previously played at El Camaleon at Mayakoba. The tour did not renew its agreement with El Camaleon after the 2022 tournament, and it became a LIV Golf venue a few months later.
As a result, this will be the first PGA Tour event played at a course designed by Tiger Woods.
The 15-time major champion won't be teeing it up this week as he continues to recover from ankle surgery last April. But he was on the premises at El Cardonal earlier in the week, shuttled around in a golf cart as he watched a First Tee clinic for local youth.
Woods' design is a par-72, 7452-yard track for the pros this week, featuring some dramatic elevation changes and views of the Pacific Ocean.
"There are going to be different ways to play every hole," Woods said on the course's website.
"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 last three players to win this tournament - Norway's Viktor Hovland (2021, 2020) and Americans Russell Henley (November 2022) and Brendon Todd (2019) - are not in the field this week.
That could open the door for someone such as Cameron Young, who at No.16 is the highest-ranked player in the field but is still searching for his first PGA Tour victory.
There's also Aberg, who in his past six starts between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, has six consecutive top-15 finishes, including a victory at the European Masters. The 24-year-old earned a tour card through the PGA Tour University pathway, but can still improve his status for 2024 through the fall series.
"I feel like there's a lot of milestones, there's a lot of things you can always try and get to and that's the same way for me," Aberg said.
"All I try to do is prepare as good as I can."
Aberg is No.99 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings, which will finalise eligibility for the 2024 season. Nos. 51-60 in points after the Fall series will qualify for two signature events next year: the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational. The top 125 will be exempt into full-field events and The Players Championship, while Nos. 126-150 will earn Korn Ferry Tour status and conditional PGA Tour status for 2024.
