Parting Shots
PGA Tour pro 'not sure where to start' in criticism of golf course designed by Tiger Woods
Justin Suh tees off on the 18th hole at El Cardonal at Diamante during the final round of the 2023 World Wide Technology Championship.
Orlando Ramirez
While the entire golf world eagerly awaits the potential return of Tiger Woods to the PGA Tour, at least one tour pro would rather not return to a golf course designed by the 15-time major champ.
The 2023 World Wide Technology Championship marked the first time the PGA Tour has played a Woods design, and Kelly Kraft made known his negative feelings about El Cardonal at Diamante.
"About the golf, not sure where to start," Kraft wrote on Instagram about the Cabo track. "All I will say is the PGA Tour could do a better job at picking courses to host these events. In my opinion this wasn’t my favorite course, and I’ve played on tour for a little while."
Ouch. El Cardonal was the first course completed by Woods' TGR Design firm. It opened in 2014.
"Side note, I will say that @wwt_inc did a great job with what they had," added Kraft, the 2011 U.S. Amateur champ who is in danger of losing his PGA Tour card with two events remaining in the fall. "Thanks for the hospitality!"
Erik van Rooyen won the low-scoring event at 27 under par, two shots better than Matt Kuchar and Camilo Villegas. Kraft finished in 71st place at eight under par. Here was the 35-year-old's full post:
Aside from the low scoring, the tournament was defined by the course's wide fairways. Adam Long hit all 56 fairways for the week, becoming the first player to do that on the PGA Tour in 31 years.
The PGA Tour has not yet released the fall portion of its schedule for 2024 so it's unclear if—or where—the World Wide Technology Championship will be played next year.