The First Look: Mini Mexico fall swing wraps in Los Cabos at World Wide Technology Championship

We’re inching closer to the finish line of the 2026 PGA Tour calendar.

And it’s never been a more important time for so many to earn valuable FedExCup points.

While Ben Griffin will return to defend his title at the World Wide Technology Championship, almost everyone around the bubble of the top 100 in the FedExCup Fall standings are feeling the weight of the end of the season.

Here’s everything else you need to know as the Tour returns to El Cardonal at Diamante.

FIELD NOTES: Griffin returns to defend his title in Mexico while his North Carolina Tar Heel teammate Ryan Gerard headline the field. Gerard, at No. 23 in the Official World Golf Ranking, the highest-ranked player at the World Wide Technology Championship. Griffin, meanwhile, looks to become the first player since Viktor Hovland (2020-21) to successfully defend at this championship. Griffin comes into this week with some momentum, having finished T4 at the VidantaWorld Mexico Open last week. … Young guns Jackson Koivun, Ben James and Blades Brown are all teeing it up. Koivun has three top-10 finishes this season, including a T5 at the Biltmore Championship Asheville this fall. James, meanwhile, is just outside the Nos. 51-60 range in the standings to earn a spot in the first two Signature Events of 2027. … Other PGA Tour University grads who are in the field include Luke Clanton, Gordon Sargent and David Ford, who are fighting for full status in 2027. … Just three events remain in 2026, and the battle for the top 100 spots is heating up. All those ranked from No. 93 (Christiaan Bezuidenhout) to No. 99 (Chandler Phillips) are in the field. Funny enough, all of Nos. 101, 102 and 104 are Canadians – Mackenzie Hughes, Taylor Pendrith and A.J. Ewart – while some other notables on the outside looking in include Tony Finau (No. 109), Lucas Glover (No. 111) and Joel Dahmen (No. 131).

SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: European Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald, who is going for his third straight Ryder Cup title leading the squad into 2027, will tee it up on the PGA Tour for just the second time this season after making the cut at the PGA Championship earlier this spring. … Star amateur Preston Stout, who's the No. 1-ranked player in the current PGA Tour University standings, will tee it up on the PGA Tour for the sixth time this season, his highlight coming at the John Deere Classic where he finished T15. Stout also is the No. 1 male amateur in the world and is the reigning Mark H. McCormack Medal winner. He also won the NCAA DI Men’s National Championship individual title this year and earned his way into the field via his win at the 2026 Cabo Collegiate. … Fresh off his win at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by Virginia’s Richmond Region, Austin Hitt will make his first start on the PGA Tour since this event in 2024. Hitt rolled through the end of the Korn Ferry Tour season, notching three top-five finishes in his final five events to earn a PGA Tour card. … Jay Leng, who finished runner-up at the U.S. Amateur in an impressive summertime run, is back in action on the PGA Tour after also teeing it up at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. Leng, who is a Stanford Cardinal, is the No. 9-ranked amateur in the world and was teammates with Stout at the Walker Cup. … Camilo Villegas, Jorge Villar, Alejandro Madariaga and Alvaro Ortiz are also set to tee it up. Ortiz is back in action after finishing T34 at the VidantaWorld Mexico Open. He won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2026 en route to finishing fifth in the Korn Ferry Tour Points List and earning a PGA Tour card for 2027.

SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: The World Wide Technology Championship is the sixth event of the FedExCup Fall. Players are already set to jockey for position in the standings as Nos. 51-60 in the FedExCup Fall standings will make up the Aon Next 10 for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational. … With his win at the VidantaWorld Mexico Open, Andrew Novak made a huge leap in the standings from No. 89 to No. 53 and has all but secured himself a spot in the two Signature Events come 2027. … Steven Fisk, who finished T2 to Novak on the back of an 8-under 63 in the final round at the Mexico Open – tied for the low round of Sunday – also made a hearty jump up the standings from No. 70 to No. 54. … Harris English and Ricky Castillo were the two players who were bumped from the Nos. 51-60 mark after last week. Neither are in the field this week.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.

COURSE: This week's track, El Cardonal at Diamante, plays to a par 72 that measures 7,452 yards. … The Tiger Woods design – the first by Woods to host a PGA Tour event – is located on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas. … The topography is demanding for both players and caddies as there is a dramatic 240-foot drop in elevation between the 17th tee and the third fairway. … Announced this summer, Woods’ design firm will add a third layout to the Diamante Cabo San Lucas resort to complement El Cardonal (2014) and the 12-hole, par-3 Oasis course, which debuted in 2016.

72-HOLE RECORD: 259, Ben Griffin (2025)

18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Matthew Wolff (Round 1, 2021 at El Camaleon), Carson Young (Round 2, 2024 at El Cardonal), Sami Valimaki (Round 1, 2025 at El Cardonal), Garrick Higgo (Round 3, 2025 at El Cardonal), Nick Dunlap (Round 1, 2025 at El Cardonal)

LAST TIME: Ben Griffin won for the third time in 2025 in record-setting fashion. After a tidy 9-under 63 in Sunday’s finale, Griffin held off the hard-charging duo of Chad Ramey and Sami Valimaki, topping them by two shots. … He set the 72-hole tournament scoring record in the process. Griffin made five straight birdies Sunday starting on No. 8, including a 40-foot bomb on No. 11 to tie for the lead. He added another 25-footer on No. 16 that essentially sealed the deal before two-putting for a closing birdie on the par-5 18th. … Garrick Higgo and Trevor Cone finished a shot further back at 26 under and rounded out the top five.

How to follow (all times ET)

Television:

• Thursday-Sunday: 3-6 p.m. (Golf Channel)

PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and free at PGATOUR.com/liveaudio:

• Thursday-Sunday: 1-6 p.m.