The Corales Puntacana Resort Championship is the PGA Tour’s opposite-field stop for those players who did not qualify for this week’s WGC-Dell Match Play. It will be the fifth edition of the Dominican Republic event.
Contested on the resort’s Corales course, the Tom Fazio design features six oceanfront holes, including a final three dubbed “The Devil’s Elbow,” which are capped by a forced carry on the 18th hole over the Bay of Corales.
While the top-ranked stars will be teeing it up in Austin this week, the field in the Dominican will feature a potpouri of players from many different places and in many different stages of their careers.
One player who will be in the field is world No. 100 Joel Dahmen, who returns to defend his maiden PGA Tour title.
Dahmen will be joined by the tournament’s five other champions: Hudson Swafford (2020), Graeme McDowell (2019), Brice Garnett (2018), Nate Lashley (2017), and Dominic Bozzelli (2016) – Lashley and Bozzelli were winners when it was part of the Web.com Tour schedule.
The top-ranked player in the field is Dane Nicolai Hojgaard, who sits at No. 77 in the world, three clear of Maverick McNealy (74) – the last player to make it into the Match Play field.
Marquee names include former Masters winner Danny Willett, as well as Jhonattan Vegas, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Davis Riley, Emiliano Grillo, Matthew NeSmith and Chesson Hadley, among others.
Here are more facts and features about the Tour’s only stop in the Dominican.
The Skinny
Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship
Dates:Â Mar 24-27, 2022
Where: Punta Cana, D.R.
Course:Â Corales Course
Distance: Par 72, 7670 yards
Architect: Tom Fazio (2010)
Format: Stroke play
Field: 144 Players
Purse: $3,700,000
Winning Share: $666,000
Points: 300 (FedEx), 24 (OWGR)
Defending Champion:Â Joel Dahmen
How to Follow
TELEVISION: Thu-Fri: 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (GOLF); Sat-Sun: 2 p.m.-5 p.m. (GOLF)
LINKS: Website | Instagram | Facebook
History
The Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship is a former Web.com Tour event, first played in 2016 at the Puntacana Resort and Club, on the east coast in the La Altagracia province.
In 2018, after two editions as a Web.com event, the tournament was promoted to the PGA Tour as an alternate event (opposite the WGC-Dell Match Play), becoming the first PGA Tour event contested in the Dominican Republic.
The inaugural champion was Brice Garnett, who scored his first (and still only) PGA Tour title with an 18-under par total, four clear of Keith Mitchell.
As an opposite-field event, the tournament rewards 300 FedExCup points to the winner, a two-year tour exemption, and 24 OWGR points, but no invitation to the Masters Tournament.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 tournament was postponed until September when it was inserted into the wrap-around portion of the 2020–21 PGA Tour season. And, so yes, it does appear on the 2020-21 schedule TWICE – making it the first event to be played two times in the SAME season in the PGA Tour’s modern era.
Checking in at 7,668 yards, the Corales Course regularly ranks as one of the longest courses on the Tour’s schedule. Besides the six oceanfront holes, it’s setting is described as being, “punctuated by natural cliffs, coralina quarries and ocean coves.”
The title sponsor is Puntacana Resort and Club, a major resort development located on the eastern shore of the Dominican Republic.
History: Winners
2021: Joel Dahmen (-12)
2020: Hudson Swafford (-18)
2019: Graeme McDowell (-18)
2018: Brice Garnett (-18)
2017: Nate Lashley (-20)
2016: Dominic Bozelli (-24)
History: Records
72-Hole Scoring
(264, -24)* – Dominic Bozzelli (2016)
(270, -18) – Brice Garnett (2018), Graeme McDowell (2019), Hudson Swafford (2020)
18-Hole Scoring
(62, -10)* – Stephan Jaeger (2016, Rd2), Scott Harrington (2016, Rd2), Alexandre Rocha (2016, Rd3)
(63, -9) – Brice Garnett (2018, Rd1), Chip McDaniel (2019, Rd4)
Win Margin
(4)* – Dominic Bozzelli (2016)
(4) – Brice Garnett (2018)
Contested as Web.com Tour event
Defending Champion
Joel Dahmen shot a final round of 70 to claim his maiden PGA Tour title at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship.
Entering Sunday’s finale at the Corales course ,tied for the lead with Rafael Campos at 10 under, Dahmen opened with four birdies on his first seven holes, including three on his first four, and looked like a runaway winner.
But the Washington state native came up empty after that, and following a pair of dropped shots on Nos. 11 and 14, he was again tied with the solid and steady Campos at 12-under par.
After the pair matched pars on Nos. 15 and 16, Campos, who’d navigated his way around the first 16 holes spotless, made the untimeliest of all bogeys: a dropped shot on the 17th hole.
The Puerto Rico native, who’d made just two birdies all day, now needed a gain on the hardest hole of all: the par-4, 501-yard final hole, or a bogey by the leader. Neither happened.
Dahmen finished 2-under 70 to settle on 12 under, while Campos signed for a 71 and an 11-under par total.
Top-5 Finishers
Pos-Player-To Par (Final Rd)
1. Joel Dahmen -12(-2)
2. Sam Ryder -11 (-5)
2. Rafael Campos -11 (-1)
4. Graeme McDowell -10 (-3)
4. Michael Gligic -10 (-1)
The Field
The field will be headlined by all six winners of the event: Hudson Swafford (2020), Graeme McDowell (2019), Brice Garnett (2018), Nate Lashley (2017) and Dominic Bozzelli (2016).
Players with rankings inside the top 100 include Nicolai Hojgaard (77), Swafford (79), Jhonattan Vegas (95), Sam Horsfield (99) and Dahmen (100).
Marquee names, who should contend, are: Rafa Cabrera Bello, Emiliano Grillo, Sahith Theegala, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Patrick Rodgers and Doc Redman.
Other familiar names include Jimmy Walker, Aaron Baddeley, Austin Cook, Chesson Hadley and Jason Dufner.
Top-5 Betting Favorites
1. Jhonattan Vegas (16-1)
2. Joel Dahmen (20-1)
3. Sahith Theegala (25-1)
4. Mark Hubbard (28-1)
5. Brice Garnett (33-1)
5. Doc Redman (33-1)
5. Matthias Schwab (33-1)
5. Kramer Hickok (33-1)
5. Thomas Detry (33-1)
5. Nate Lashley (33-1)
5. Graeme McDowell (33-1)
Full Field: Odds, Rank
Credits: PGA Tour Media, Getty Images, Carey Hoffman
