World Wide Technology Championship Opens With PGA Tour Card Race at Stake

Ben Griffin returns to defend his title at the World Wide Technology Championship from November 5–8 with three events left in the PGA Tour’s race for 2027 playing status. The 72-hole stroke-play tournament at El Cardonal at Diamante in Los Cabos, Mexico, brings together players pursuing full status and those trying to reach next season’s first two Signature Events.

Griffin arrives after a tie for fourth at the VidantaWorld Mexico Open. Ryan Gerard is No. 23 in the Official World Golf Ranking and the highest-ranked entrant in the Tour’s event assessment. Gerard’s world ranking is separate from the FedExCup Fall standings used in the status race.

Thursday’s start and U.S. coverage

The first round is scheduled to begin Thursday, November 5, at 8:30 a.m. EST, with groups starting from the first and 10th tees. The official opening-round tee sheet places Gerard in the morning and Griffin in the afternoon.

In the United States, Golf Channel coverage runs from 3–6 p.m. EST on each of the four competition days, Thursday through Sunday. The GOLF App is also listed in the official U.S. broadcast schedule.

Who is in the field?

The Tour’s official field list, stamped November 3, contains 120 entrants and a separate list of 10 alternates. Griffin, Gerard, Mackenzie Hughes and Taylor Pendrith are all in the main field. The event media hub’s latest listed field change, on November 3, replaced Aldrich Potgieter with Harry Higgs.

Griffin spoke at Tuesday’s opening ceremony about having undergone a small procedure and described how he felt on the course. “I feel just as good on the course as I did maybe two months ago,” he said in the November 3 transcript. His comments describe his own condition ahead of the defense.

Gerard completed Wednesday’s pro-am and discussed his preparation at the event. This is his second fall start and his first since Japan, according to the current interview. The listed field and tee times establish the planned lineup; late changes remain possible.

What the standings mean

The season-ending top 100 in the FedExCup Fall standings earns full status for 2027. Positions 101–125 carry conditional status, and other exemptions can also protect a player’s eligibility, as the Tour’s November 3 status guide explains. This week alone does not decide those final positions.

Hughes and Pendrith began the week at Nos. 101 and 102 in the November 2 post-VidantaWorld snapshot. Chandler Phillips was just inside the full-status benchmark at No. 99, with A.J. Ewart at No. 104. The dated ranks show where each player starts the week; they do not establish a required finish.

A separate race covers Nos. 51–60, the Aon Next 10 positions that provide entry to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational in 2027. Steven Fisk moved from No. 70 to No. 54 after finishing tied for second in the previous event. The winner in Los Cabos receives 500 FedExCup points.

Room off the tee, demands around the greens

El Cardonal is a Tiger Woods design playing to par 72 over 7,452 yards. The winning totals in its first three editions as host were 27 under, 24 under and 29 under. Griffin’s record 259 last year included a closing 63 and five consecutive birdies beginning at the eighth hole.

Griffin described the course Tuesday as forgiving from the tee but demanding on approach shots and with the putter. He also described wind drying the course during the early part of the week. Those were his observations at the opening ceremony, rather than a forecast for all four rounds.

Gerard’s Wednesday assessment also emphasized room from the tee, with approach placement, slopes, wind and putting affecting the next shots. “I think the golf course sets up well for me,” he said. Approach control and putting are the parts of his game to follow as he tries to turn that assessment into a result.

After Los Cabos, the final fall stops are Austin, Texas, from November 12–15 and St. Simons Island, Georgia, from November 19–22. The schedule therefore offers this week and two further events for changes in the standings.