When LIV Golf secured El Camaleon at Mayakoba for its opening tournament of the 2023 season it left a void that needed to be filled by the PGA Tour as the Mexican venue had hosted the World Wide Technology Championship since the tournament began in 2007.
Eventually, the PGA Tour opted for El Cardonal Golf Course at Diamante to replace the original. The course opened in 2014 and this week’s event will be the first time it has been seen on the PGA Tour, but there is added meaning behind its debut.
While El Camaleon was the creation of LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, the new venue was designed by a man who perhaps epitomises the PGA Tour as much as anyone, Tiger Woods. Not only that, but it will be the first time a course designed by Woods has featured on the circuit.
The 82-time PGA Tour winner may not be quite ready for a comeback to competitive action as he recovers from ankle surgery after limping out of April’s Masters, but because of his association with the course, he is at the venue, where he has been spotted travelling in a golf cart, putting his ankle to the test by walking down some steps and photographed alongside a player who is in the field, Carson Young.
Tiger spotting in Mexico 👀The El Cardonal course designer was out scouting the course.@TigerWoods | @WWTChampionship pic.twitter.com/HYkClNjFTvOctober 31, 2023
🚨Tiger testing the leg down a steep flight of stairs in Mexico 🇲🇽 (via @GolfChannelLA) pic.twitter.com/2gIbWwhE4INovember 1, 2023
🚨#LOOK: Tiger Woods in Cabo 🐅 pic.twitter.com/3tpoeJOPgJNovember 1, 2023
The course’s predecessor is famous for its variety, hence its name, which translates to “The Chameleon,” but players can expect plenty of variation in the new venue too.
That’s because Woods designed it specifically so that there are several ways to play each hole, while it also boasts spectacular views over the Pacific Ocean, mature vegetation and native dunes in homage to the Southern Californian courses where the 15-time Major winner honed his legendary skills growing up.
Even though Woods won’t have the honour of playing a course he designed this week, there are encouraging signs he may not be too far away from a comeback. Last month, he was seen hitting shots for the first time since his surgery, while there is still one spot to fill for a tournament he hosts, the Hero World Challenge, which gets underway on 30 November.
Beyond that is December's PNC Championship, where Woods has been a regular alongside his son, Charlie, in recent years, and can use a cart. Then there’s his and Rory McIlroy’s TGL, which is backed by the PGA Tour and begins on 9 January, with Woods one of 24 players on its roster.
In August, the 47-year-old also joined the PGA Tour Policy Board as it negotiates an agreement with the Saudi Public Investment Fund behind LIV Golf. With the PGA Tour now using a course designed by Woods for one of its tournaments, his presence at it this week serves as the latest reminder that, despite a lengthy spell away from action, he’s as heavily involved in the Tour as ever.
