Course Guide: We are pretty much accustomed with the Corales Golf Club which has played host to a couple of Korn Ferry events, and now 7 PGA Tour events. Set by the coast, it plays to a long 7,668 yards and is a Par 72, but with temperatures pushing 30 degrees Celsius each day the ball travels a mile in these parts. As part of the Puntacana Resort, the course is not the most difficult, so expect plenty of attacking play this week, as long as the wind allows. The inland front-9 is where the heavy scoring happens, with the back-9 featuring plenty of coast-lined holes and some longer par-3s, par-4s and par-5s.
Corales Golf Club, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic: Designer: Tom Fazio 2010; Course Type: Mid-Score, Coastal, Long; Par: 72; Length: 7,670 yards; Holes with Water Hazards In-Play: 6; Number of Sand Bunkers: 94; Acres of Fairway: 50; Fairways: Supreme Paspalum; Rough: Supreme Paspalum 1.75-2″; Greens: 6,000 sq.ft average featuring Supreme Paspalum; Tournament Stimp: 11ft.
Course Scoring Average + PGA Tour Difficulty Rank:
- 2024: 70.46 (-1.64), Rank 35 of 51 courses
- 2023: 71.32 (-0.68), Rank 27 of 49 courses
- 2022: 71.23 (-0.77), Rank 25 of 50 courses
- 2021: 72.48 (+0.48), Rank 14 of 51 courses
- 2020: 71.12 (-0.88), Rank 30 of 51 courses
- 2019: 71.07 (-0.93), Rank 30 of 49 courses
Corales GC Fairway Widths (yards): Below are the fairway widths for Corales Golf Club and how they compare to recent courses that we’ve seen on Tour:
- Corales GC: 75 yards at 300 yards.
- Harbour Town: 250 yards from tee: 29 yards wide; 275:26; 300:22; 325:26; 350:22.
- Oaks Course: 250 yards from tee: 33 yards wide; 275:34; 300:29; 325:27; 350:26.
- Memorial Park: 30 – 40 yards at 300 yards.
- Copperhead: 250 yards from the tee: 24 yards wide; 275:20; 300:21; 325:23 350:19.
- TPC Sawgrass: 250 yards from the tee: 31 yards wide; 275:32; 300:30; 325:28 350:20.
- Bay Hill: 250 yards from the tee: 32 yards wide; 275:33; 300:33; 325:39 350:29.
- PGA National: 250 yards from the tee: 29 yards wide; 275:27; 300:25; 325:27 350:25.
- TPC Scottsdale: 250 yards from the tee: 33 yards wide; 275:30; 300:28; 325:27; 350:27.
- Pebble Beach: 250 yards from the tee: 33 yards wide; 275:33; 300:29; 325:30 350:26.
- Torrey Pines South: 250 yards from the tee: 26 yards wide; 275:27; 300:25; 325:24; 350:23.
- Pete Dye Stadium: 250 yards from the tee: 29 yards wide; 275:27; 300:26; 325:26; 350:24.
- Waialae: 250 yards from the tee: 34 yards wide; 275:32; 300:34; 325:37; 350:34.
- Plantation Course: 250 yards from the tee: 59 yards wide; 275:61; 300:65; 325:60; 350:62.
Course Designer Links: For research purposes, other Tom Fazio designs include:
- Atunyote GC – Turning Stone Championship 2007-10.
- Caves Valley GC – BMW Championship 2021.
- Congaree GC – Palmetto Championship 2021 + CJ Cup 2022.
- Conway Farms GC – BMW Championship 2013, 2015, 2017.
- Eagle Point – Wells Fargo Championship 2017.
- Raptor Course Greyhawk GC – Fry’s.com Open 2008/09.
- Shadow Creek GC – CJ Cup 2020.
- The Summit Club – CJ Cup 2021.
Fazio has also had renovation input into:
- Riviera Country Club – Genesis Invitational.
- Quail Hollow – Wells Fargo Championship 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021 & 2017 PGA Championship.
- Merion – 2013 U.S. Open.
- Oakmont – 2016 U.S. Open.
- Seaside Course at Sea Island – RSM Classic
Course Overview: The Corales course opened in 2010 and is a Tom Fazio design. A little like El Camaleon which used to host the Mayakoba Golf Classic in the autumn, the Corales is split between inland and coastal sections. Away from the shore, the course features a number of water hazards and fairways marked with coconut trees, but in the main the inland section is more than scoreable. 6 holes play along the coast, including the home stretch across holes 16 to 18, known as the Devils Elbow. From a grass perspective this week we are dealing with Paspalum greens, so for PGA Tour stop-offs think again about El Camaleon host of the Mayakoba Classic, Grand Reserve Country Club host of the Puerto Rico Open, the Norman Signature Course at Vidanta host of the Mexico Open and El Cardonal at Diamante host of the WWT Championship.
As part of the Corales Puntacana Resort complex, the course is clearly designed around the needs of amateur golfers, so this isn’t intrinsically a hard test. The outbound set of 9 holes is where some serious scoring is essential. With the longest par-4 measuring 465 yards and 2 par-5s which only measure 563 yards (4th) and 515 yards (7th), the front side of the golf course is there for the taking. The inward-9 is more stringent with both par-5s playing over 600 yards and the closing Devils Elbow putting up far sterner resistance. Every year it plays over par across the field.
As with all coastal golf winning scores tend to be dictated by wind. Take 2021 where winds gusting to 22mph on Thursday and 26mph across the closing 54 holes, saw Joel Dahmen took the title at -12/276. Slightly less wind and tee-up situations have led to lower scoring across 2022 -17/271, 2023 -19/269 and especially last year -23/265.
The par-3, par-4, par-5 splits over the 7 renewals held here have been:-
- Garnett -4 -4 -10
- McDowell -2 -6 -10
- Swafford -2 -4 -12
- Dahmen +1, -3, -10
- Ramey -2, -3, -12
- Wallace E, -7, -12
- Horschel -3 -7 -13
Undoubtedly the 16 looks at the longest holes tends to be the key here.
Corales Championship Winners: 2024: Billy Horschel (-23); 2023: Matt Wallace (-19); 2022: Chad Ramey (-17); 2021: Joel Dahmen (-12); 2020: Hudson Swafford (-18); 2019: Graeme McDowell (-18); 2018: Brice Garnett (-18).
- 2024: Billy Horschel 67-69-66-63 -23/265
- 2023: Matt Wallace 67-66-70-66 -19/269
- 2022: Chad Ramey 70-65-69-67 -17/271
- 2021: Joel Dahmen 67-71-68-70 -12/276
- 2020: Hudson Swafford 65-67-69-69 -18/270
- 2019: Graeme McDowell 73-64-64-69 -18/270
- 2018: Brice Garnett 63-68-69-70 -18/270
OWGR of Corales Championship Winners: 2024: Horschel 84; 2023: Wallace 175; 2022: Ramey 203; 2021: Dahmen 79; 2020: Swafford 341; 2019: McDowell 257; 2018: Garnett 214.
Cut Line: 2024: -4; 2023: E; 2022: -1; 2021: +3; 2020: -3; 2019: -2; 2018: -1.
Lead Score Progression:
- 2024: Round 1 -9; Round 2 -15; Round 3 -17; Round 4 -23.
- 2023: Round 1 -6; Round 2 -11; Round 3 -14; Round 4 -19.
- 2022: Round 1 -6; Round 2 -12; Round 3 -14; Round 4 -17.
- 2021: Round 1 -6; Round 2 -7; Round 3 -10; Round 4 -12.
- 2020: Round 1 -7; Round 2 -12; Round 3 -17; Round 4 -18.
- 2019: Round 1 -6; Round 2 -10; Round 3 -15; Round 4 -18.
- 2018: Round 1 -9; Round 2 -13; Round 3 -16; Round 4 -18.
Path to Victory: Below are end of round positions for the winners of the Corales Championship since 2018:
- 2024 – Billy Horschel: Round 1: 7th, Round 2: 12th, Round 3: 5th.
- 2023 – Matt Wallace: Round 1: 3rd, Round 2: 1st, Round 3: 3rd.
- 2022 – Chad Ramey: Round 1:15th, Round 2: 3rd, Round 3: 2nd.
- 2021 – Joel Dahmen: Round 1: 2nd, Round 2: 4th, Round 3: 1st.
- 2020 – Hudson Swafford: Round 1: 1st, Round 2: 1st, Round 3: 2nd.
- 2019 – Graeme McDowell: Round 1: 81st, Round 2: 7th, Round 3: 1st.
- 2018 – Brice Garnett: Round 1: 1st, Round 2: 1st, Round 3: 1st.
Shots From the Lead: Below are the Corales Championship winners and where they were positioned in terms of shots from the lead during the tournament:
- 2024 – Billy Horschel: Round 1: 4 back, Round 2: 7 back, Round 3: 3 back.
- 2023 – Matt Wallace: Round 1: 1 back, Round 2: 1 ahead, Round 3: 1 back.
- 2022 – Chad Ramey: Round 1: 4 back, Round 2: 3 back, Round 3: 2 back.
- 2021 – Joel Dahmen: Round 1: 1 back, Round 2: 1 back, Round 3: level.
- 2020 – Hudson Swafford: Round 1: level, Round 2: 2 ahead, Round 3: 2 back.
- 2019 – Graeme McDowell: Round 1: 7 back, Round 2: 3 back, Round 3: 1 ahead.
- 2018 – Brice Garnett: Round 1: 1 ahead, Round 2: 1 ahead, Round 3: 1 ahead.
Incoming Form of Corales Championship winners since 2018:
- Billy Horschel: MC Valspar/7th Houston/12th Valspar/MC Players.
- Matt Wallace: 7th Valspar/MC Players/29th Honda/MC Genesis.
- Chad Ramey: MC Valspar/5th Puerto/MC Honda/28th Suncoast.
- Joel Dahmen: MC Players/MC Arnold Palmer/MC Genesis/60th Pebble.
- Hudson Swafford: 56th Fortinet/MC Lincoln Land/MC 3M Open/MC Workday.
- Graeme McDowell: 46th Valspar/54th Arnold Palmer/ MDF Honda/42nd Puerto Rico.
- Brice Garnett: 31st Valspar/MC Honda/MC Genesis/35th Pebble.
Tournament Stats: We’ve published some key player statistics for this week’s event that are well worth a look. Naturally they’ll help to shape a view on players who could go well this week: Current Form | Tournament Form | First Round Leader | Combined Stats.
My published predictor is available here. Top 10 of my published predictor are: 1) Alex Smalley, 2) Keith Mitchell, 3) Joel Dahmen, 4) Seamus Power, 5) Nate Lashley, 6) Henrik Norlander, 7) Thorbjorn Olesen, 8) Steven Fisk, 9) Chad Ramey, 10) Jeremy Paul.
Corales Championship Winners & Prices: 2024: Horschel 20/1; 2023: Wallace 25/1; 2022: Ramey 50/1; 2021: Dahmen 50/1; 2020: Swafford 200/1; 2019: McDowell 40/1; 2018: Garnett 66/1. Overall Average: 64/1.
Historical Weather:
- 2024: Thursday: Mostly sunny. High of 87. Wind NE 10-16 mph, gusting to 22 mph. Friday: Partly cloudy. High of 87. Wind NE 8-14 mph, gusting to 24 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy. High of 87. Wind NE 14-20 mph, gusting to 26 mph. Sunday: Partly cloudy. High of 87. Wind NE 10-16 mph, gusting to 26 mph.
- 2023: Thursday: Mostly sunny. High of 83. Wind NE 14-18 mph, gusting to 26 mph. Friday: Mostly sunny. High of 84. Wind ENE 15-20 mph, gusting to 26 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy. High of 83. Wind ENE 15-20 mph, gusting to 26 mph. Sunday: Partly cloudy. High of 84. Wind E 12-17 mph, gusting to 25 mph.
- 2022: Thursday: Partly cloudy. High of 84. Wind ENE 10-15 mph, gusting to 22 mph. Friday: Partly cloudy. High of 85. Wind E 8-14 mph, gusting to 18 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy. High of 85. Wind SE 6-12 mph, gusting to 15 mph. Sunday: Partly cloudy. High of 84. Wind SE 6-12 mph.
- 2021: Thursday: Partly cloudy. High of 84. Wind ENE 14-18 mph, gusting to 22 mph. Friday: Mostly sunny. High of 85. Wind ENE 15-25 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy. High of 85. Wind ENE 16-26 mph. Sunday: Partly cloudy, showers possible. High of 86. Wind ENE 16-26 mph.
- 2020: Thursday: Partly cloudy, with occasional showers. High of 91. Wind ESE at 6-12 mph. Friday: Partly cloudy. High of 91. Wind ENE at 6-12 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy. High of 91. Wind ENE at 6-12 mph, gusting to 16 mph. Sunday: Partly cloudy. High of 91. Wind NE at 8-12 mph, gusting to 16 mph
- 2019: Thursday: Partly cloudy. High of 85. Wind SSE 8-14 mph, with gusts to 20 mph. Friday: Cloudy with isolated showers. High of 85. Wind SE 5-10 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy. High of 83. Wind NE 5-10 mph. Sunday: Partly cloudy. High of 83. Wind NE 7-14 mph.
- 2018: Thursday: Partly cloudy and humid with a high of 84. Wind ESE 8-14 mph. Friday: Partly cloudy and humid with a high of 84. Wind ESE 8-14 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy with a high of 83. Wind NE wind 15-20. Sunday: Cloudy with scattered showers. High of 82. Wind NE 15-20 mph, with gusts of 25 mph.
Weather Forecast: The latest weather forecast for Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, is here.
I’m expecting typical equatorial conditions with temperatures approaching 28 degrees Celsius (82 Fahrenheit). And with forecasted winds relatively light for this stretch of the Dominican Republic on both Thursday and Friday, strengthening to their north-easterly gusts up to + 25 mph – anything less than that and the course becomes significantly easier.
Player Strokes Gained Rankings: These top 25 in the field rankings are based on an 8-tournament window that stretches back to the Mexico Open/Magical Kenya Open which includes both PGA Tour and DP World Tour events, where recorded. Player rankings are based on performance relative to the rest of the field:
- Top 25 SG Off The Tee: 1) Carl Yuan; 2) Rico Hoey; 3) Harry Higgs / Keith Mitchell / Carson Young; 6) Luke List / Alex Smalley; 8) Pierceson Coody / Thomas Rosenmueller; 10) Emiliano Grillo; 11) Aldrich Potgieter / Michael Thorbjornsen; 13) Joel Dahmen / Steven Fisk; 15) Lanto Griffin / Erik van Rooyen; 17) Max McGreevy; 18) Takumi Kanaya; 19) Nick Hardy; 20) Ben Griffin; 21) Hayden Buckley / Ricky Castillo / Quade Cummins / Greyson Sigg / Hayden Springer / Tim Widing.
- Top 25 SG Approach: 1) Henrik Norlander; 2) John Pak; 3) Ben Griffin; 4) Alejandro Tosti; 5) Rico Hoey; 6) Steven Fisk; 7) Keith Mitchell; 8) Danny Walker; 9) Thorbjorn Olesen; 10) Hayden Buckley / Max McGreevy; 12) Matti Schmid; 13) Hayden Springer; 14) Anders Albertson / Ryan Fox; 16) Jackson Suber; 17) Ben Martin; 18) Jonathan Byrd; 19) Quade Cummins / Joel Dahmen / Chandler Phillips; 22) Chan Kim / Thomas Rosenmueller / Greyson Sigg; 25) Ricky Castillo / Charley Hoffman / Chad Ramey.
- Top 25 SG Around The Green: 1) Martin Laird; 2) Ben Pollard; 3) Jonathan Byrd; 4) Paul Peterson; 5) Matt Wallace; 6) Alejandro Tosti; 7) Kevin Kisner; 8) Andrew Putnam; 9) Mac Meissner; 10) Ricky Castillo; 11) Aaron Baddeley; 12) Dylan Wu; 13) Danny Willett; 14) Harry Hall / Troy Merritt; 16) Chan Kim; 17) David Lipsky; 18) Trevor Cone / Brandt Snedeker; 20) Alex Smalley; 21) Ben Griffin; 22) Charley Hoffman / Seamus Power; 24) Taylor Montgomery; 25) Braden Thornberry.
- Top 25 SG Tee to Green: 1) Rico Hoey; 2) Steven Fisk; 3) Ben Griffin; 4) Ricky Castillo; 5) Keith Mitchell; 6) Joel Dahmen; 7) Hayden Springer / Alejandro Tosti; 9) Thorbjorn Olesen; 10) Henrik Norlander; 11) Charley Hoffman; 12) Alex Smalley / Matt Wallace; 14) Erik van Rooyen; 15) Max McGreevy / John Pak / Thomas Rosenmueller / Carl Yuan; 19) Harry Hall; 20) Martin laird; 21) Noah Goodwin / Chandler Phillips; 23) Danny Walker; 24) Greyson Sigg / Michael Thorbjornsen.
- Top 25 SG Putting: 1) Bo Hoag; 2) Jonathan Byrd / Taylor Montgomery; 4) Danny Willett; 5) Troy Merritt / William Mouw; 7) Hayden Springer; 8) Joseph Bramlett; 9) Scott Piercy; 10) Rafael Campos / Henrik Norlander; 12) Emiliano Grillo; 13) Harry Hall; 14) Quade Cummins; 15) Matthew Riedel; 16) Justin Lower / Jeremy Paul; 18) Braden Thornberry / Vince Whaley; 20) Chad Ramey; 21) Ryan Fox / Brandt Snedeker / Kris Ventura; 24) Alex Smalley; 25) Ben Griffin.
- Top 25 SG Total: 1) Garrick Higgo; 2) Cameron Champ / Austin Cook; 4) Tyler Duncan; 5) Steven Fisk; 6) James Hahn / Hayden Springer / Nick Watney; 9) Ben Griffin; 10) Henrik Norlander; 11) Keith Mitchell; 12) Harry Hall / Alex Smalley; 14) Quade Cummins / George McNeill; 16) Joseph Bramlett; 17) Chan Kim / Thorbjorn Olesen; 19) Rico Hoey / Danny Willett; 21) Joel Dahmen; 22) Emiliano Grillo / Max McGreevy; 24) Noah Goodwin; 25) Ricky Castillo.
Tournament Trends & Key Factors: Analysing the final stats of Corales Championship winners since 2018 gives us a little more insight into the requirements for this tough Florida golf test:
- 2024, Billy Horschel (-23). NA yards (NA), 87.5% fairways (8th), 70.8% greens in regulation (24th), 76.2 % scrambling (17th), 1.57 putts per GIR (2nd).
- 2023, Matt Wallace (-19). 300 yards (15th), 73.2% fairways (31st), 73.6% greens in regulation (11th), 84.2 % scrambling (4th), 1.68 putts per GIR (12th).
- 2022, Chad Ramey (-17). 290 yards (50th), 78.6% fairways (14th), 66.7% greens in regulation (21st), 75.0 % scrambling (18th), 1.58 putts per GIR (2nd).
- 2021, Joel Dahmen (-12). 306 yards (17th), 69.6% fairways (40th), 68.1% greens in regulation (10th), 78.3 % scrambling (4th), 1.63 putts per GIR (2nd).
- 2020, Hudson Swafford (-18). 303 yards (12th), 78.6% fairways (14th), 70.8% greens in regulation (25th), 71.4 % scrambling (21st), 1.65 putts per GIR (5th).
- 2019, Graeme McDowell (-18). 286 yards (53rd), 73.2% fairways (31st), 72.2% greens in regulation (16th), 60.0 % scrambling (47th), 1.52 putts per GIR (1st).
- 2018, Brice Garnett (-18). 288 yards (51st), 80.4% fairways (20th), 66.7% greens in regulation (24th), 75.0 % scrambling (15th), 1.54 putts per GIR (1st).
Tournament Skill Averages:
Driving Distance: 33rd, Driving Accuracy: 23rd, Greens in Regulation: 19th, Scrambling: 18th, Putting Average 4th.
Let’s take a view from players as to how Corales Golf Club sets up and what skill sets the course favours:
Billy Horschel (2024): “The putter worked very nicely today, I made quite a few putts from outside 20 feet, something I don’t think I’ve done a lot of this year. It’s weird, putting on Paspalum I wouldn’t say that that would be a good thing, this grass is tough to make putts.
Yeah, it’s a really good golf course. It’s long, or there’s holes that are long and depending on the wind certain holes play a little bit longer. I guess this is maybe a little bit of an unusual wind for this time of year maybe. I guess talking to some guys, 18 usually plays down off the right so we’ve been playing it in off the right, in off the left for most of the week and it’s still going to be the same way. So 17, 18’s going to be a real challenge this week compared to maybe years past. Yeah, I think it’s a really good golf course. I think the driving’s nothing overly difficult, but I think it requires really solid iron play, especially when you’re playing of winds of 10 to 15, gusting to 20, 25.”
Matt Wallace (2023): “The course was playing pretty tough, you know, with the wind. Wind picked up, stayed pretty consistent in the direction, but we had a great game plan. We’ve been playing well and yeah, it’s nice to get off to a good start.
We had it only playing probably about 12 or 13 at the start. Picked up a little bit towards the end downwind, but into wind it’s a lot more than downwind for me especially with the lofted clubs. So we were playing some of them 25 yards into wind with some lofted clubs.
A little bit of confidence there, finding the middle of the clubface. Those ones into wind, yeah, they were seriously long for that sort of distance getting up to 295 and we’re thinking there’s a 20-, 30-mile an hour wind. Yeah, it’s nice, it’s nice. I’m not trying to overexert myself as well, I’m just trying to hit it as good as I can and they’re coming off nice and hot.
I actually spoke to Luke Donald last week to see if he knew about this golf course and he did and he said it was relatively wide off the tee, it wasn’t his style of golf, which he obviously likes the tight. I was like yeah, it’s kind of similar to myself, I like the really tough golf courses, but actually when I got here I was like maybe it’s a good thing for me at the moment. My driving was really good this week because I probably had that space. So it was a good golf course for me to come to. My iron play was stellar and my putting, my chipping has been awesome. Yeah, it all came together.”
Chad Ramey (2022): “My game? I don’t hit it the longest out here, but I usually keep it out in front of me. Hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens. Then if I can get the putter working, usually shoot some scores. I just liked how I putted and wedged the ball today. I didn’t have my best with my driver, still hit a lot of good iron shots, but my putter and wedge definitely bailed me out.”
“The win will make a big difference. I can kind of look at my schedule and kind of pick and choose a little more of where I want to go, whereas the way it’s been my rookie season, I’ve kind of just wherever I get the opportunity to play, I kind of have to go play because I don’t really have much of an option. It will definitely make planning and everything like that a little easier.”
Joel Dahmen (2021): “I played here during the Korn Ferry Tour and I think I played here in 18 maybe. I played okay there as well, so I’ve had good success here. I normally typically am a pretty good ball-striker, and the wind blows so you have to hit your ball solid out here and that’s what I do. Made a couple good par saves, too.
Yeah, those last holes, those are so hard, 16, 17, 18, into the wind, long, tough. I hit 4-iron on 16, 4-iron on 17, 4-iron on 18, but I got it on the green. But I wasn’t even thinking that Rafa could tie me, I was just trying to figure out how to two-putt somehow. He hit a great shot in there and somehow his putt missed, I don’t know how that one missed, but those things happen when you win. I’ve been close a couple times, but the breaks didn’t quite go my way and today they definitely went my way for sure.”
Hudson Swafford (2020): “I came here two years ago and I actually, I missed the cut but I liked the golf course. It really, really sets up good for me. I was kind of not in a good place when I came here last year, struggling with my game. Got to be a great mid to long iron player here with the par 3s and a lot of long par 4s, so I thought the golf course set up great for me. Yeah, I had been playing good. I wasn’t going to miss it.”
Graeme McDowell: “No, I love the golf course. I think the golf course is really, really good. The front nine is kind of shortish and tricky and the back nine is actually very long. Eighteen (Devil’s Elbow) is a beautiful hole. I played it yesterday and it was kind of downwind and you’re able to bite off a lot of the corner. When I was here last year, we had more of the north wind and you had to go way left and play a long second shot in. Made a bunch of birdies and it comes to a halt when you’ve got 5-wood into 10 and 5-wood into 11. Listen, happy with that. That was a bit more like it. But like I say, I was very clean today, hit a lot of nice shots, hit a lot of better iron shots. I feel pretty good on these greens. I’ve got a house in the Bahamas and play a lot on this Paspalum type stuff, so I kind of feel like I practice more on this type of stuff. In a funny way that kind of stands me in good stead here as well.”
Brice Garnett: “Yeah, I think last year I just kind of approached the golf course wrong. Everybody’s kind of in play off the tee box. I kind of got out of my element, out of my game. To me, this is a second-shot golf course. Everybody’s in play off the tee and it comes down to a putting competition. I would say one of my best aspects of my game is probably my tee ball. I wouldn’t say this helps me tremendously, but there’s a lot of tee balls with the wind off the right and that’s what I prefer. Today I was able to hit a lot of fairways and get good looks from there. Well, I think last year I was focused too much on bombing the driver. That’s just not my game. My game is put it in the fairway and try to take advantage from there. So this year my wedges have been great. I’ve played the par 5s great, and I’ve putted good, too. So I’ll just kind of stick more to my game plan and not let the width of the fairways or the length kind of deter me from my game.”
Keith Mitchell: “I played it two years ago and I’ve played enough on Paspalum that I know that when you’re putting on Paspalum, if there’s ever any doubt, it’s usually straighter than you think and usually hit it a little firmer than you think. But no, it was both. The wind, it all depended on where you were when the wind and the rain picked up to determine if it was – your luck on that hole. 15 was the hardest hole and we played it right into the wind.”
First Round Leader Analysis: First round leader(s), their group and winning score since 2010. Full First Round Leader stats are here.
- 2024 – Bryan PM -9/63 175/1.
- 2023 – Garnett/Martin AM/PM -6/66 80/1 & 40/1.
- 2022 – Martin AM -6/66 150/1.
- 2021 – Jaeger AM -6/66 66/1.
- 2020 – Harrington/McCumber/Straka/Swafford 1AM/3PM -7/65 110/1, 150/1, 50/1, 110/1.
- 2019 – Dahmen/Dunne/Jones 1AM//2PM -6/66 40/1, 50/1, 45/1.
- 2018 – Garnett AM -9/63 – 60/1
For the record, here’s the breakdown of Paspalum PGA Tour victors in the field since 2008:
- 1 – Joel Dahmen, Chesson Hadley, Charley Hoffman, George McNeill, Chad Ramey, Erik van Rooyen, Matt Wallace.
We are into our eight PGA Tour visit to the Corales so we have some history to look into in the pursuit for a winner. Brice Garnett can only be described as Paspalum and tropics specialist on the basis that prior to his win here in 2018, he had finished 6th (2014) and 7th (2015) at El Camaleon – host course of the Mayakoba Classic. He’s also gone on to finish 5th (2021), 7th (2022) and 1st (2024) at Grand Reserve – host course of the Puerto Rico Open. An understated coastal specialist, Garnett had also finished in the top 20 across Pebble Beach and Harbour Town, previous to winning this off a 31st place finish at Copperhead.
2019 saw veteran Graeme McDowell take his 4th PGA Tour title. Now we know with G-Mac that coastal affairs are exactly what he excels at. The 2010 U.S. Open winner at Pebble Beach, McDowell’s wins on the PGA Tour have also come at Harbour Town (2013), Mayakoba (2015) and naturally here. So all 4 victories on the coast. You can also add the 2020 Saudi International to that list played at Royal Greens G&CC. That course is played around 4 lakes, with a stretch of the course running alongside the Red Sea. The eagle-eyed amongst you will have also noted that McDowell’s wins in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Saudi Arabia were all on Paspalum putting surfaces.
2020 saw Hudson Swafford win the Corales in September. You’ll have done well to dig him out at 200/1. Injury had ravaged his 2020 with far more MCs than pay cheques, but he arrived in the Dominican Republic off 56th at Silverado. A winner on the Bermudagrass greens of PGA West in 2017, Swafford’s coastal highlights on the PGA Tour had been exclusively at Waialae Country Club where he had finished 8th (2014), 9th (2016) and 3rd (2019). Prior to winning this 11 appearances on Paspalum golf courses on the PGA Tour had heralded no better finish than 24th at the 2015 CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur and Swafford’s previous visit to Corales Golf Club had resulted in a MC.
Onto 2021 where Joel Dahmen won his maiden PGA Tour title on his 111th PGA Tour start at 50/1. 6 missed cuts in 7 2021 outings was hardly compelling, but what Joel lacked in current form he made up for in course form. 11th (3rd after 36 holes), 13th and 12th (7th after 36 holes) on his 3 goes here at Corales was pretty stellar, plus he had also finished 6th at Mayakoba in 2019, which we know is a coastal, Paspalum grassed affair.
2022 saw Tour rookie Chad Ramey win at 50/1. 26th (8th after 54 holes) at Sanderson Farms, 14th at the Shriners Children’s Open and 17th at the Bermuda Championship in the Fall had shown a level of talent on the main Tour. That was before 5th at the Puerto Rico Open, where Chad had been 3rd after 54 holes, which they played just 4 weeks prior to the Corales. Clearly the Paspalum, coastal, sub-tropical climes of Puerto Rico and Costa Rico worked for the Mississippi man.
2023 saw Matt Wallace land his very first PGA Tour title here, building upon 4 on the DP World Tour. Winless for 5 years, he held off Nicolai Hojgaard by a shot with a great mix of long driving and solid ball-striking. Matt had finished 7th at the Valspar Championship in Tampa, before jumping on a jet to the Dominican Republic.
2024 and Billy Horschel took the title. Disappointed to have missed out on The Masters and Signature event RBC Heritage, he’d shown good form in the build-up finishing 9th at PGA National, 12th at Copperhead and 7th at Memorial Park at the Houston Open. He arrived off an immediate MC at TPC San Antonio, but ranked 4th across my 8-week tournament analysis in the Corales field for Strokes Gained Current Form on his arrival.
