As the best players in the world prepare to begin another season, golf fans prepare to live vicariously through their heroes competing at courses around the U.S.
To help turn your TV daydream into a reality, Golfweek has compiled 10 courses from the PGA Tour schedule that anyone can play – if their pockets are deep enough.
All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time. Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with the list of top public-access courses in each state among the most popular. Each of the courses below is public-access, although greens fees at several of them go above $500 per player.
The hundreds of members of the Golfweek’s Best ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those averaged overall ratings are presented for each course below.
“It was a hard finish, but I was really happy with how I played today.”
Through 31 holes at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, Matthew Wolff was up five shots on the field, making it easy to envision a second career PGA Tour title for the 22-year-old.
Scottie Scheffler then drained his fifth straight birdie on his back nine to cut it to four.
Wolff stumbled just a bit coming home with bogeys on 16 and 18 but his second-round 64, one day after his career-best 61, gives him a two-shot lead heading into the weekend at the El Camaleon Golf Club in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
This week marks the first time in his career that Wolff has held the solo lead after both 18 and 36 holes.
“No. 16 just doesn’t really set up well for me, not going to take driver there, and 3-wood kind of works away from the fairway,” he said after his round. “You know, like I said, it was a hard finish, but I was really happy with how I played today.”
Matthew Wolff of the United States looks on from the ninth green during the second round of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba on El Camaleon golf course on November 05, 2021 in Playa del Carmen. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
One key for Wolff is that he’s keeping the ball in play.
“I haven’t hit one ball out of play yet. Not to jinx myself, but like I said, feel really confident with every part of my game. My 2-iron and 3-wood are just really strong right now. I feel like I’m not even really giving up that much distance because balls aren’t rolling really in the fairway.”
Wolff won for the first time on the PGA Tour in his fourth start. He wasn’t even 21 yet when he hoisted the trophy at the 3M Open. Now he’s looking for win No. 2 in his 52nd career start.
As for his dinner plans on Friday?
“I’m actually going to go to Saffron in Banyan Tree here. It’s a Thai place that a lot of people say is really good,” he said.
Scheffler made things interesting by making a run up the leaderboard late in the day. He needed just 15 strokes over five holes to card those five straight birdies and vault into solo second. He is seeking his first Tour win.
“It’s not necessarily just bomb driver every time and I kind of appreciate that about this course,” he said. “You really just have to put the ball in position, there’s really no way around it.”
Carlos Ortiz and Viktor Hovland, who each shot 65 on Friday, are tied for third. Hovland, seeking to become the first repeat champion in the event, had a bit of a bad break Friday.
“I was 3-under par going on my front nine, the back nine. Then I get to the first hole, hit it in the left rough and I didn’t have very far in and I pushed it a little bit and literally landed four steps right of the pin, hits a sprinkler head and goes in the trees over the green. That was obviously, that’s a bad break, but it’s not like I sliced it OB or something like that. I knew I was playing good golf, so I just had to reset, and I was happy I made five birdies coming in.”
Hovland also seamlessly overcame a broken-driver incident on the driving range on Thursday, which caused him to go to the backup.
“Yeah. It’s honestly, yeah, I think from an accuracy standpoint, I think the driver might be better.”
“Yeah, I know I can make it happen, so at the end of the day I want to be in contention for the last nine holes of the tournament and that’s my goal pretty much. Just have to keep playing some good golf and enjoy myself.”
Notables who missed the cut
The cut was 4 under and Brooks Koepka is among those who won’t play the weekend. Koepka shot 71-71 to finish even and tied for 108th. Lucas Herbert, who won a week ago at Bermuda, couldn’t recover from his opening round 75 and finished 1 over.
Up next
The Tour is back stateside next week for the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open.
It would be hard to name a program that produces more Tour-level talent than Oklahoma State.
It’s tough to find a college program that churns out more Tour-bound talent than Oklahoma State. Matthew Wolff, Rickie Fowler and Viktor Hovland are just a few of the recent stars.
Wolff made noise in the opening round of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba with a 10-under 61. Cowboys men’s golf coach Alan Bratton later joined the Golf Channel broadcast to discuss some former and current members of his program.
Wolff has been battling his game for several months but has started to show signs of regaining his past form. Thursday was a perfect example as Wolff went bogey free for a round which not only set the course record at El Camaleon but earned him the 18-hole lead.
“Really proud of Matt. Traded messages with him earlier today and he was really proud he got the course record,” Bratton told Golf Channel. “He told me at Vegas, he texted me, and told me he was starting to get his game where he likes it to be. I think he said, ‘I’m back.'”
Wolff is looking to win for the first time since the 2019 3M Open, his only win on Tour.
Hovland, who’s the defending champion this week, made a nice five-footer on his last hole of the day Thursday to close out an opening 4-under 67. During his time at Oklahoma State, Hovland was the recipient of the 2019 Ben Hogan Award, given annually to the best men’s collegiate golfer based on year-long performance in college and amateur events.
“I’m not surprised at all Viktor’s settled in as one of the best players in the world…he’s got a confidence that I think is really rare,” Bratton said. “That’s one of the big separators for him is the confidence he has in his ability to execute. He’s not afraid to be vulnerable, and he has a clear picture of where he wants to go with his game and what he needs to do to continue to rise.”
Hovland will need to play more solid golf if he hopes to catch his old Cowboy teammate before the weekend gets underway in Mexico.
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Eugenio Chacarra is currently a senior at Oklahoma State but is in the field this week in Mexico. His first round didn’t go according to plan as he paired seven bogies with five birdies for a first-round 73. He’ll have to make a run on Friday to make the cut as the expected number to hit will hover around 4 under.
Despite his struggles Thursday, his coach had glowing remarks about his game.
“He’s as talented as anyone who’s ever played at Oklahoma State. He doesn’t have the resume just yet,” Bratton told Golf Channel. “His talent is off the chart. He’s a fantastic ball-striker, and just an incredible talent, and a big, big personality.
“I think the sky is the limit and I’m not afraid to make a statement like that. The kid is really, really talented.”
Another member of the current Cowboy squad, Bo Jin, currently is in contention at the Asia-Pacific Amateur being played at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club. He went bogey-free in the second round, and if he holds on to claim the win, he’ll earn an invitation to the 2022 Masters, among other exemptions.
Puttview provides our hole-by-hole maps for the host site of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba on the PGA Tour.
El Camaleon Golf Club, site of this week’s World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba on the PGA Tour, was designed by Greg Norman and opened in 2004 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. In 2007 it became the first course in Mexico to host a PGA Tour event.
Located about an hour’s drive south of Cancun, the course plays through jungle, thick mangroves and alongside the oceanfront. The paspalum layout ranks No. 18 on Golfweek’s Best course-ranking list for Mexico, the Caribbean, the Atlantic islands and Central America. It will play to 7,039 yards with a par of 71 for this week’s Tour event.
Thanks to yardage books provided by Puttview – the maker of detailed yardage books for more than 30,000 courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges that players face this week. Check out the maps of each hole below.
Feeling lucky? Here are several players to watch this week in Mexico.
The PGA Tour is back in Mexico this week for the World Wide Technology at Mayakoba. The young Norweigan Viktor Hovland is the defending champion, as he was able to bring down Aaron Wise by a single shot last December. A few of the biggest names in golf will be looking to take the hardware away from the former Oklahoma State star, including two former world No. 1s.
Justin Thomas will make his second-straight start at this event looking to build on a T-12 performance last season. He’s made just one start on Tour since the new season got underway which resulted in a top 20 (T-18) performance at the CJ Cup. Brooks Koepka will be making his third start of the new season, as he’s still searching for his first top 30. He missed the cut at this event in 2020.
El Camaleón Golf Course will play as a par 71, hovering around 7,017 yards throughout the week as the yardage is subject to change.
2021 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba picks – Favorite
Abraham Ancer (+1500)
Ancer has loved playing in front of his home country of Mexico over the last few years, especially at this event where he finished T-12 in 2020, T-8 in 2019, and T-21 in 2018.
He finished last season with three top 10 finishes in his final four starts, including a win at the WGC FedEx St. Jude. Despite missing the cut at his first event of the new season, he came right back the next week and posted a top 15 at the CJ Cup.
Over Ancer’s last 24 rounds on the PGA Tour at venues measuring under 7,200 yards, he ranks inside the top 35 in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, Ball-Striking, Tee to Green, and Total.
2021 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba picks – Contender
Maverick McNealy (+5000)
Maverick McNealy hits his tee shot on the first hole during the final round of the Fortinet Championship at Silverado Resort and Spa on September 19, 2021 in Napa, California. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
The first several events of the young season have been a mixed bag for McNealy with a solo runner-up to Max Homa at the Fortinet Championship thanks to a late shank, and a missed cut at the Shriners. However, he posted a top 25 in his last start over in Japan at the Zozo Championship.
He’s played in this event the last two seasons with a T-26 back in 2019, and improved on that in 2020 with a T-12 performance.
So far this season McNealy ranks 20th in scoring average, important at an event where the winning score will be around 20 under. He’s been great off the tee ranking inside the top 30 in both distance and SG: Off the Tee.
2021 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba picks – Long shot
Danny Lee (+10000)
After his final round 71 last week at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, many may forget how great Lee played despite finishing T-2. Three holes on the back nine cost him, as he played 12-14 4 over.
Lee didn’t play here in 2020, but has a great track record from 2017-2019 with finishes of T-25, solo 2nd, and T-26 respectively.
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The PGA Tour event in Mexico is now titled the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba through 2027.
The PGA Tour’s event at El Camaleón Golf Club at Mayakoba on Mexico’s Riviera Maya will now be titled the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba through 2027. The event is slated to be held November 1-7.
“We are excited to partner with World Wide Technology as we continue to foster the growth of golf in Mexico and Latin America through the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba and its charitable initiatives,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan. “The World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba broke new ground as the first PGA Tour event in Mexico in 2007, and we look forward to properly celebrating this new partnership and the 15th anniversary of the event come November.”
The event has generated nearly $3 million dollars in charitable contributions since 2007.
“The global expansion and resulting positive impact of the PGA Tour makes Mayakoba a natural fit for WWT,” said Jim Kavanaugh, CEO and co-founder of WWT. “At WWT, we do whatever it takes to create the best possible technology experiences and business outcomes for customers and communities around the world. We are proud to support the tournament as it showcases top golf talent while also inspiring leadership and opportunity through the expansion of youth golf in Mexico and Latin America.”
Past champions of the tournament include Fred Funk, Harris English, Charley Hoffman, Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar, and most recently Viktor Hovland in 2020.
The 2020-21 PGA Tour season has proven to be a season for ending winless streaks. Tony Finau is looking to join the crowd.
The 2020-21 PGA Tour season has proven to be a great opportunity for golfers to end winless streaks. Tony Finau is looking to join the crowd.
Already this season, Stewart Cink (11 years), Martin Laird and Brian Gay (seven years), Hudson Swafford and Sergio Garcia (three years) all terminated extended winless streaks.
On Friday, Finau shot a second-round 66 to tie for the lead at 9 under after 36 holes at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, the final Tour event in the calendar year 2020.
“Anytime you have length, you have a little bit of an advantage,” said the long-hitting Finau after his round at El Camaleon Golf Club in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, a par-71 course playing 7,071 yards this week. “This golf course, you don’t have to have length. It’s not a long golf course. You have to hit it in the fairway. I seem to have the right combo for the golf course this week. Hopefully that continues, with 36 to go.”
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He last won in 2016 at the Puerto Rico Open. It remains his lone Tour victory. Finau was close two other times. In 2019, he lost to Xander Schauffele in a playoff at the WGC-HSBC Champions. In February, he led by two late at the Waste Management Phoenix Open before falling in a playoff to Webb Simpson.
According to Justin Ray of the 15th Club, Finau is tied with Jim Furyk and Matt Kuchar for posting the most top-10 finishes without a win over the last four years.
Finau is in a good spot to get back in the winner’s circle this week. He started on the 10th hole on Friday and made three birdies on each side before making a bogey on his final hole.
“When you’re scoring well, it’s always a good feeling,” he said.
Tied with Finau for the clubhouse lead after the early group is Tom Hoge, who shot a 4-under 67 in the second round. Hoge has yet to win in 165 career starts on Tour.
“More than anything for me, I’ve gotten the ball in play off the tee,” Hoge said on Friday. “I’ve struggled with that here in the past, so that was kind of my focus this year. There’s some tight holes out there and I’ve tried to steer it a little bit in the past too much. I’ve just tried to go out and make a confident swing each tee shot.”
Russell Knox, who like Finau hasn’t won since 2016, had the solo lead after the first day and is a shot back after bogeying the 18th to posting a second-round 69.
Weather has been part of the story this week. Friday’s round was delayed by one hour.
The third round is set for Saturday with Golf Channel’s live coverage starting at 2 p.m. ET.
The 22-year-old Chilean opens the Mayakoba with a 66 as he eyes a big payday to help pay the medical expenses of an infant relative in need.
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Salvemos, Rafita, translates to “save, Rafita.” That hashtag is the mission this week for 22-year-old Chilean golfer Joaquin Niemann, who has promised to donate his winnings at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, to help pay for the medical needs of his young relative.
It could be a big check if Niemann can maintain his early pace. He made an eagle and three birdies on his second nine to shoot 5-under 66 at El Camaleon Golf Club on a windy, rainy day on the Yucatan Peninsula to share the early lead in the opening round with Argentine Emiliano Grillo at the PGA Tour’s final official event of the calendar year.
A few days after Niemann’s one-month-old cousin, Rafita Calderon, was born, his Aunt Carola, who is a pediatrician, observed that the baby displayed symptoms of hypotonia. Tests revealed that Calderon suffered from Type 1 Spinal Muscular Atrophy, which affects about 1 in every 10,000 babies born every year. Symptoms include weak muscle tone, trouble breathing and swallowing, and those diagnosed with the rare genetic disease have a life expectancy of two years. Calderon is battling for his life, desperately needing a one-time injection of Zolgensma, a drug which according to Niemann costs $2.1 million in his home country. Calderon is at a medical center in Santiago, Chile, five hours from where the family lives awaiting treatment.
Niemann posted an Instagram story in support of his young relative and created a Go Fund Me page that already has raised more than $120,000. At the RSM Classic two weeks ago, Niemann promised to contribute $5,000 for every birdie and $10,000 for every eagle in addition to his earnings, which totaled $152,450. This week, Niemann is wearing a ribbon on the top of his hat to raise awareness of Rafita’s plight, and he isn’t alone.
“I’ve got a bag with a lot of them, so yeah, just put it on the first tee and the locker and the 10th tee so (players) can grab it,” Niemann said. “Having all the support from all the people here on Tour is really amazing, and also from Mexico. The tournament, they’re helping me a lot to tell a little bit more of the story of Rafita, so happy for all the support of the players. We’re fighting for him.”
Niemann, 22, became the first Chilean to win on the PGA Tour at the 2019 A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier and represented his country as a member of the International team at the 2019 Presidents Cup.
Grillo, 28, also is seeking his second career Tour title and first since 2015. Playing in his trademark aggressive style, Grillo rattled off four birdies in a row beginning at the fifth and drained a 20-foot par putt at his final hole of the day to shoot 66 and extend his streak of par-or-better rounds in the event to a perfect 17-for-17.
Joaquin Niemann lines up a putt on the tenth green during the first round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic at El Camaleón Golf Club on December 03, 2020 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Photo: Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
“There is not a flag stick, you could put it behind a tree, he will find it,” said PGA Tour Radio commentator Dennis Paulson of Grillo. “He is not afraid. He is the Lanny Wadkins of his generation.”
American Rickie Fowler, who is winless this year, carded eight birdies but also a quadruple-bogey 8 en route to shooting 1-under 70. World No. 3 Justin Thomas struggled to shoot 1-over 72.
Niemann got off to a sluggish start, too, offsetting an early bogey with a bounce-back birdie on his first nine, the back nine, before going on a 5-under tear over the course of five holes beginning at No. 3. He drilled a 7-wood to reach the par-5 seventh in two and rolled in the putt for eagle. Niemann, the 45th-ranked player in the world, did most of his damage on the three par 5 holes, which he played in 4 under. After the round, he reiterated his social media post that he’s playing for something bigger than himself this week.
“It’s always extra motivation trying to play for him,” Niemann said of Rafita, “and get some more money for him, so yeah, it’s special.”
And Niemann didn’t need to be told what a first prize of $1,296,000 this week would do to help efforts to get his relative the medical attention he needs.
The Mayakoba Golf Classic will see Brendon Todd try to defend his title against a competitive field led by Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka.
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The final individual PGA Tour event of 2020 takes place at El Camaleon Golf Club in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, this week.
The Mayakoba Golf Classic will see Brendon Todd try to defend his 2019 title against a competitive field led by betting favorites Justin Thomas (+600) and Brooks Koepka (+1200). Below, we look at the 2020 Mayakoba Golf Classic betting odds, and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions to win.
Berger has been out of tournament play since a T-17 finish at the Zozo Championship. He returns from longer than a month of rest ranked sixth in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings. He’s the second-best golfer in the field by that measure but shares the fifth-best betting odds.
Berger has one win, a runner-up, two third-place finishes and three other top 10s with just one missed cut through 16 events in 2020. He hasn’t played this event since a 51st-place showing in 2014, but he has consistently been one of the top Tour pros since the mid-June restart and his win at the Charles Schwab Challenge. He averaged 1.86 total strokes gained on the field through 57 measured rounds in the 2019-20 season, according to Data Golf.
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Varner missed the cut at both the Bermuda Championship and the RSM Classic, but he has a T-13 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and a T-15 at the Houston Open mixed into those results. He has a fifth- and sixth-place finish in four appearances at this event but finished just 58th in 2019.
He’s averaging 1.27 Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and 0.65 SG: Approach through 13 measured rounds early in the 2020-21 season. That approach game will play well at the short – 6,987-yard – El Camaleon GC.
2020 Mayakoba Golf Classic betting picks – Long shot
Wesley Bryan (+15000)
Wesley hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since the 2017 RBC Heritage. He recently tied for 12th at the Sanderson Farms Championship before a missed cut at the Bermuda Championship and an extended layoff.
He’s averaging 0.53 SG: Approach through six measured rounds this season. His 1.33 SG: Approach would have led the Tour last season if he had played enough rounds to qualify.
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At 15, Lukas Roessler of Chile is one of the youngest players in the field this week with a spot in the Masters up for grabs.
Ivan Camilo Ramirez isn’t getting too far ahead of himself after opening with a two-shot lead Thursday at the Latin America Amateur Championship with a spot in the Masters and the British Open on the line.
Ramirez, a 22-year-old from Colombia, found himself at 2 over after three holes in windy conditions, but he was able to stay calm and finished with five birdies in his round of 3-under 68 at Mayakoba’s El Camaleón Golf Club.
“It wasn’t the start that I wanted, but at end of the day, it’s 18 holes today, 18 tomorrow, 18 on Saturday and 18 on Sunday,” said Ramirez, who played at Texas Tech and finished fourth individually at the 2018 NCAA championships. “It’s just a lot of holes that you have to stay calm and stay patient.”
Chileans Lukas Roessler and Gabriel Morgan Birke are tied for second at 1 under. At 15, Roessler is one of the youngest players in the field this week. His older brother, Toto Gana, won the 2017 LAAC at Club de Golf in Panama. Gana shot a 77 Thursday.
“It was an incredible moment when he won, and we realized if you practiced a lot, you could go far,” Roessler said. “He wasn’t that good at the beginning, but then he practiced a lot and he became a good player then, so that gave us motivation to keep on practicing.”
Roessler shares the same coach, Alvaro Miguel, as his brother and Joaquin Niemann, the 2018 LAAC winner. Niemann became the first Chilean player to win on the PGA Tour at the 2019 Greenbrier tournament. The 21-year-old tied for fifth at the Sentry Tournament of Champions to start the year.
Ramirez has played in all six previous editions of the LAAC. Last year he tied for ninth at the LAAC played at Teeth of the Dog in the Dominican Republic after missing the cut in 2018.
“I feel like a few of the last years that I haven’t played well, I’ve put too much pressure on myself. So, this week, I just want to enjoy it,” Ramirez said. “It’s a great chance to play in the Masters and The Open, but I think the prizes have to stay out of my mind. I just need to play golf. I need to play 54 more holes and follow the plan that I have. “
