There is a lot of golf this week and the attention shouldn’t just be all on Austin for the WGC as the PGA Tour head to the Dominican Republic for the Corales Puntacana Championship, an event which offers the regulars who aren’t in the WGC the chance to earn some coin.
Chad Ramey earned plenty of it a year ago when he took advantage of the big name absentees to win the tournament. He hasn’t really kicked on enough to be in Austin this week so heads back here to attempt to defend the title.
Recent Winners
2022 – Chad Ramey
2021 – Joel Dahmen
2020 – Hudson Swafford
2019 – Graeme McDowell
2018 – Brice Garnett
The Course
We remain at the Corales Golf Club in Punta Cana this week. To say this course is a monster would be an understatement. It is a par 72 which stretches to 7,670 yards. Wind is always a guaranteed on this coastal setup and although it isn’t expected to be too bad over the course of the four days there will always be a coastal breeze so it is still worth factoring into the equation. I definitely wouldn’t want to be on someone who hasn’t shown comfort in the wind.
There is a little more of a challenge off the tee than you might think here but the greens on the larger side so there is every reason to believe this is going to come down to a putting contest. The best putter in the field won both the first two runnings of this event as a PGA Tour tournament at this time of year and I don’t think that is a coincidence. We are basically looking for players who set up a gamut of birdie chances and who takes more than their fair share.
The Field
This is very much a second tier event this week and as a result of that many of the upper tier of the PGA Tour give the event a swerve. There are a number of DP World Tour players who have made the trip over looking to take this event down and earn better playing rights on the PGA Tour. Thomas Detry has his PGA Tour card but goes in search of a first win at this level while Matt Wallace is in a similar bracket.
Indeed, there number of players who will be looking for a first PGA Tour win teeing it up this week. They include Wyndham Clark, Taylor Pendrith and Nick Hardy. The last two champions Chad Ramey and Joel Dahmen are both in the field and then there are other names which catch the eye such as Nicolai Hojgaard, Patrick Rodgers, Erik van Rooyen and Fabrizio Zanotti. As ever in this tournament the field is competitive rather than elite.
Market Leaders
Wyndham Clark is a 9/1 favourite to win the tournament this week. The immediate thought is that is plenty short enough for a man who has never won at this level before but he went well at the Valspar last week in a much better field than the one he encounters here and in a similar tournament in Bermuda three years ago only a playoff denied him the title. He was T22 on debut last year but this event is a little too quirky for me to be taking a single figure price.
Thomas Detry is next in the market at 18/1. He is now a PGA Tour card holder but he hasn’t won on the DP World Tour and hasn’t won at this level either. He is a Corales regular though and has registered a couple of top 15 finishes which isn’t too shabby but he never convinces me when he is in contention. He has claimed he visits here a lot on holiday and there is suggestion that he is going to move here now he has a PGA card but familiarity has done him no favours so far.
Patrick Rodgers and Taylor Pendrith are next in the betting at 22/1. Pendrith had a good year last season but this year hasn’t gone anything like to plan so far with just one top 10 to his name at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He has played here once and finished in the middle of the field and it doesn’t feel like he is about to win. Rodgers has two top 10s on the season but has made just two of seven cuts in 2023.
Former champion Joel Dahmen can be backed at 25/1 on the best prices. If you back him you at least know he can get the job done here but that was when the conditions were pretty brutal and the scoring was high. It is not likely to be that way this week so that will be concern. He was T13-T12 before winning here but his form has deserted him in 2023 with no top 40 finish to date. You always have to respect former champions going back to places which offer up good memories but Dahmen doesn’t feel like a winner in waiting to me.
Main Bets
These greens need to be hit so it is encouraging that Erik van Rooyen ranked second for strokes gained on approach last week. We know the South African is competent in the wind and with the injuries looking like they are behind him I think EvR could go well this week. There were signs that van Rooyen was coming to the boil in Puerto Rico at the beginning of the month when he put four solid rounds together and on a more demanding track he did likewise at the Valspar last week. Van Rooyen has already won one of these second string PGA Tour events and when you look at events which correlate with this one van Rooyen has solid form at most of them. He feels like a big runner this week.
Another player who has form at a lot of correlating tracks is Akshay Bhatia. He caught the eye in Puerto Rico earlier in the month but then when you go further back he has a top 20 in Bermuda and a pair of top 10s in Bahamas on the Korn Ferry Tour. The American ranks 12 for strokes gained on approach so with his comfort in the wind you would imagine he will be setting up a lot of looks for birdie. If he can get the putter warmed up early in the week then there is plenty to suggest that he could have a big say here.
Outsiders
Hank Leboida ranks sixth for proximity to the hole on the PGA Tour this season and if he can fire a few immaculate iron shots away this week then he is entitled to be there or thereabouts. This hasn’t been his best season but there are just a few signs that he is beginning to build up a bit of confidence having made his last two cuts and three of his last four. In the cut he missed at The Honda Classic he shot 66 in the second round and you only shoot those kind of scores around there if your game is in decent touch, even if he was freewheeling after an indifferent first round. He feels a big price at 80/1 in this company.
Brice Garnett seems to offer up his best golf in these conditions and having won this tournament in the past we know he can get the job done here. He looked to be coming into some form at The Honda Classic and in Puerto Rico but terrible Sundays sent him down the field. He then missed the cut at the Valspar last week but that is easily done on a tough course. Garnett is just outside the top 20 in strokes gained with the putter this season so if he can hit a large number of greens, which his form in these conditions would suggest he will, then he could see off a few challengers on greens he has putted well on in the past. I’m happy to play the former champion at 100/1.
Tips
Back E.van Rooyen to win Corales Puntacana Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
Back B.Garnett to win Corales Puntacana Championship (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
Back A.Bhatia to win Corales Puntacana Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 36.00 with Betway (1/5 1-7)
Back H.Leboida to win Corales Puntacana Championship (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-7)
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