Nearly nine years ago, Tiger Woods hit a ceremonial first tee shot to officially open El Cardonal at Diamante in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It was the first golf course he designed and now, it’s hosting the PGA Tour for the first time.
The World Wide Technology is this week, the first in a five-deal deal to be played at Diamante. The WWT was previously staged at El Camaleon Golf Club near Cancun, Mexico but after 16 years with the PGA Tour, the course jumped ship for LIV Golf.
Woods and El Cardonal stepped in to take over and on Thursday, a field of 132 golfers will tackle the 7,452-yard, par-72 layout for the first time.
On Tuesday, Woods was seen cruising around the venue in a golf cart.
Tiger spotting in Mexico 👀
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 31, 2023
The El Cardonal course designer was out scouting the course.@TigerWoods | @WWTChampionship pic.twitter.com/HYkClNjFTv
Woods built a fun short course at Diamante called The Oasis. He’s currently building a third layout there called The Legacy, and the expectation is that the Tour stop will shift to that course which is set to rival Shadow Creek in Las Vegas.
El Cardonal is named after the large desert tree, the cardon, that dots the landscape on the Baja California peninsula.
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Justin Lower was among the Tour pros trying to work their way through a practice round at El Cardonal on Tuesday and apparently, the Big Cat made him nervous.
Just bladed a chip shot in front of @TigerWoods so that’s how my days going
— Justin Lower (@justinlower_1) October 31, 2023
The WWT starts on Thursday. It’s the third-to-last event on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Fall series.
Woods posted a message on X on Wednesday, wishing all the players good luck on his course.
I am so proud of El Cardonal @DiamanteCabo, @tgrdesignbytw’s first course to be home to a @PGATOUR event. Good luck to all the players this week! I hope you have as much fun on this course as I did designing it. pic.twitter.com/DArURj46BH
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) November 1, 2023
Source: golfweek.usatoday.com
