'Number 7' Thomas "Declaration for First Win of New Season"... What About 'Defending Champ' Hovland?

Worldwide Technology Championship Opening Night on the 4th, Finau and Kepka Compete for Victory, Kang Sung-hoon Represents Korea

Justin Thomas challenges for his first win of the new season at the World Wide Technology Championship.

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] It is the 'Mexico expedition' of world No. 7 Justin Thomas.

The Worldwide Technology Championship (total prize money $7.2 million), which opens on the night of the 4th (Korean time) at El Camaleon Golf Club (par 71, 7,017 yards) in Riviera Maya, Mexico, is the 7th event of the 2021/2022 PGA Tour season. Last year, it was held as the Mayakoba Classic. Defending champion Viktor Hovland (Norway) is aiming to defend his title, while Tony Finau and Brooks Koepka (both from the U.S.) are targeting the 'early bird'.

Thomas is making his second start of the new season following last month's The CJ Cup. In March, he reached his 14th career win at The Players Championship, known as the 'fifth major', and he finished the 2020/2021 season in style with a 4th place at the Tour Championship, the final third playoff event in September. Attention should be paid to his 8-under par on the final day of The CJ Cup. Moreover, El Camaleon is a perfect-fit course where he shot 9-under par on the third day last year. The PGA Tour also named him the strongest favorite to win.

Viktor Hovland has stepped up to defend his title at the Worldwide Technology Championship.

Hovland's performance is formidable. He set the amateur lowest score record (4-under par 280) at the 2019 US Open, the first in 59 years. After turning professional and securing his card on the Korn Ferry (second-tier) Tour, he immediately won the Puerto Rico Open in February last year, marking a milestone as 'Norway's first PGA champion.' He recorded his second career win at this event in December. However, he has lacked wins recently, finishing runner-up at the Farmers Open in January and the Workday Championship in February.

Finau is the champion of the first playoff event, the Northern Trust, in August. After winning the Puerto Rico Open in March 2016, he endured eight second-place finishes, frustratingly close to victory, before finally breaking through in a major match after five years and five months. Along with Koepka, Sergio Garcia (Spain) and Scottie Scheffler (U.S.) have joined the competition for the title, while Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz (both from Mexico) are hoping for a 'home course advantage.'

‘Bermuda champion’ Lucas Herbert (Australia) is a dark horse. He achieved a one-stroke come-from-behind victory at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship that ended on the 1st and is now challenging for 'back-to-back wins' this week. South Korea's Kang Sung-hoon (34, CJ Logistics) is the only Korean entrant. The winning scores over the past three years have been 20 to 22 under par, so aggressive play is necessary. Hovland's iron shots, especially last year's top-ranked iron shot green hit rate, his 'needle-like iron shots,' showed great power.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.