Tiger's Tour test ⛳️

Greetings! Hope you all had a nice Halloween, snuck some candy, and are now gearing up for the final three PGA Tour events of the year. Cabo this week, Bermuda next week, and St. Simons Island, Georgia the week after that. A tropical finish! 

As a reminder, to bring a bit more intrigue to the close of the season, I’d love for you to try out Quick Nine’s first ever “pick ‘em” contest today. 

How it’ll work: I came up with six questions and one tie-breaker related to this week’s World Wide Technology Championship (WWT). You can see them (and fill out your picks) below. 

• The person to answer the most questions correctly will win $90. 

• It’s totally free to play along. 

• If there’s a tie at the top, we’ll decide a winner by the tie-breaker question. 

I’m super excited to see how this goes! I hope it’s a fun way to follow the top storylines of the week and give us all a little more to cheer for over the weekend. 

Let’s get into it.

Mexico awaits!

The WWT has taken place near Cancún since it became the PGA Tour’s first tournament in Mexico back in 2007. But, with the Greg Norman-designed El Camaleón Golf Course hosting a LIV event earlier this year, the Tour needed to find a new home for the WWT in 2023. 

Enter the Tiger Woods’ designed El Cardonal in another famous Mexican tourist destination — Cabo San Lucas. 

• It’s the first time a course created by Woods’ TGR Design firm will host a PGA Tour event. 

• And somehow, for a relatively minor event, it’s become an interesting wrinkle in the ongoing LIV Golf vs. PGA Tour saga. 

About the course: El Cardonal is a resort course with 60-yard wide fairways, plenty of views of the Pacific, and literally, no rough. 

• Its length (7,400 yards-plus), high likelihood of wind, and sand “arroyos” that line most holes, however, could present some challenges for players. 

• RickRunGood.com writer Andy Lack said he thinks power off the tee, mid-to long-iron play, and the ability to putt on slow greens will be especially important this week. 

Past champions (again, at a totally different venue) include Russell Henly last year and Viktor Hovland in 2020 and 2021. 

Betting favorites this week include Ludvig Aberg (9-1), Cam Young (11-1), and Sahith Theegala (16-1). 

Quick Nine Pick ‘Em Contest

Here’s a link to Quick Nine’s first pick ‘em contest. To be eligible for the $90 prize, you’ll need to submit your picks by tonight (Wednesday) at 11:59 pm PT. The form is super short and should only take about a minute to fill out. 

Below is a sneak peak at the questions and some context to help you make your selections. 

1. Will Ludvig Aberg beat Cam Young? (Y/N) 

It’s no longer a surprise to see Aberg as the favorite to win a FedEx Fall event. The now 24-year-old rookie (his birthday was on Halloween) backed up his Ryder Cup debut with a T2 at the Sanderson Farms and a T13 at the Shriners last month. 

Meanwhile, we haven’t seen Young since his T15 at the BMW Championship in August and his subsequent Ryder Cup snub. Still, Young is the top ranked player in this week’s field, and it’ll be fascinating to watch the state of his game.

Both Aberg and Young are searching for their first PGA Tour victories. 

2. Will Sahith Theegala finish within the Top 10? (Y/N) 

Theegala captured his first win in Napa earlier this fall, but most recently, he had a somewhat lackluster T19 in a limited field event in Japan. Top 10’s are tough at any event, but coming into Cabo, Theegala is one of favorites to win outright. 

3. Will Lucas Glover finish within the Top 20? (Y/N) 

Another player who narrowly missed a trip to Rome, Lucas Glover is likely still riding high from his back-to-back wins this season at the Wyndham and FedEx St. Jude championships. But, that was in August. 

If Glover’s putting cooperates (historically, the worst part of his game), a top 20 should be doable. Though, last year in Mexico, he finished T38. 

4. Will 17-year-old Billy Davis make the cut? (Y/N)

Davis, a prominent junior golfer from Southern California, Monday qualified for this week’s tournament. If the Auburn University-bound Davis makes the cut in Cabo, it would be an awesome story. 

Interestingly, Davis won an AJGA event earlier this year at El Camaleón Golf Course – the former site of the WWT.

5. Will Michael Block make the cut? (Y/N) 

Yes, Blockie is back, and he’s trying to make his first cut at a Tour event since the PGA Championship in May. 

6. Will Beau Hossler beat Keith Mitchell? (Y/N) 

I don’t think this is a rivalry (Hossler vs. Mitchell), but it should be, mostly because both players rock equally large, oversized visors. 

The two have also had similar seasons (with five top 10 finishes each), while Hossler has been a bit hotter as of late (finishing T7 and T2 in his last two events). Still, Mitchell has something Hossler does not — a PGA Tour win. 

Tie Breaker: In which place will Chris Gotterup finish? (Pick a number between 1-132)

Gotterup, a recent Korn Ferry Tour grad, is someone to keep an eye on this week and into next season. As PGA Tour writer Sean Martin noted, Gotterup was the 2022 NCAA player of the year (University of Oklahoma) and the longest driver on the KFT in 2023 (324.8 yard average). 

During last year’s fall swing, Gotterup finished T51 at the Fortinet, T44 at the Shriners, and T35 at the RSM Classic. 

Alright. Have at it! Again, here’s the link to fill out your picks. 

More news 

🤔 The TGL announced more details about its upcoming, inaugural season, which will include 15-hole matches that feature alternate shot and head-to-head formats. All players will be mic'd up for the telecast and when they’re within 50 yards of the pin, they’ll switch from the simulator to hitting shots within the newly constructed arena. (CBS) 

💚 Scottsdale resident and Arizona State Sun Devil Jon Rahm threw out the first pitch at Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday. 

• His throw sailed a bit right, but who cares? He wore his Master’s jacket for the occasion. 

That’s all for today! Thanks so much for reading y’all and I’ll see you back here on later this week for a mid-tournament check-in. 

Until then! - Nick B.