Congratulations if you were on-board Taylor Moore at a Monday best price of 70/1 with William Hill at the Valspar Championship. A maiden victory for Taylor who stamps a ticket to The Masters in 2 weeks. Wyndham Clark did the decent thing for this column, delivering a full each-way payout at 35/1 with Boylesports.
This week we move from Florida to the Dominican Republic. This is the sixth Corales Championship on the PGA Tour, with Brice Garnett, Graeme McDowell, Hudson Swafford, Joel Dahmen and Chad Ramey taking the first five renewals. The PGA Tour has signed a 4-year contract with Grupo Puntacana, the owner of the Puntacana Resort & Club, which will see this tournament on the schedule through the 2024/25 season. This week’s tournament is a part-PGA Tour event offering up 300 FedEx Cup points, a full 2-year exemption and an increased $3.8 million prize fund.
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Before we go into the detail surrounding the Corales Championship, we always have new visitors to Golf Betting System. Welcome and let me point you in the direction of our weekly Golf Betting System podcast (published every Tuesday of the golfing calendar), the Steve Bamford Golf Channel on YouTube and our hugely popular, +6,200 strong, private Group on Facebook – you can Join Here.
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 5 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: Resort, Coastal, Long; Par: 72; Length: 7,670 yards; Holes with Water Hazards: 6; Fairways: Supreme Paspalum; Rough: Supreme Paspalum 1.75-2″; Greens: 6,000 sq.ft average featuring Supreme Paspalum; Tournament Stimp: 11ft; web.com Course Scoring Average 2016: 69.67 (-2.33), Difficulty Rank 25 of 26 courses. 2017: 70.34 (-1.66), Difficulty Rank 22 of 28 courses. PGA Tour Scoring Average 2018: 71.50 (-0.50), Difficulty Rank 26 of 51 courses. 2019: 71.07 (-0.93), Difficulty Rank 30 of 49 courses. 2020: 71.12 (-0.88) Rank 30 of 51 courses. 2021: 72.48 (+0.48), Rank 14 of 51 courses. 2022: 71.23 (-0.77), Difficulty Rank 25 of 50 courses.
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.
Course Overview: The Corales course opened in 2010 and is a Tom Fazio design. A little like El Camaleon which hosts 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 and TPC Kuala Lumpur which had Paspalum green complexes for CIMB Classics between 2013 and 2017.
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. Indeed it has averaged 1.09 (2018), 1.07 (2019), 0.95 (2020), 0.66 (2021) and 0.96 (2022) shots below par across the 5 PGA Tour tournaments hosted here. The inward 9 is more stringent with both par-5s playing over 600 yards and the closing Devils Elbow putting up far sterner resistance. 2018 saw the back-nine play 0.59 over par, with 2019 at 0.15, 2020 at 0.07, 2021 at 0.68 over par and 2022 at 0.24 over par.
As with all coastal golf, winning scores tend to be dictated by wind. Korn Ferry renewals here were won by Dominic Bozzelli (2016) at -20/268 and Nate Lashley (2017) at -24/264. Tough weekend 15-25 mph winds in 2018 took their toll on scoring with -18/270 being Garnett’s winning total and he won by a chunky 4 shots. 2019 saw Graeme McDowell again win at -18/270, with 15-20 mph winds on Thursday and light winds from that point onwards. 2020 saw Hudson Swafford win by a single shot from Tyler McCumber at -18/270 in a week when the wind never gusted over 16mph.
2021 was a far tougher affair with winds gusting to 22mph on Thursday and 26mph across the closing 54 holes. Joel Dahmen took the title at -12/276. Last year saw less wind over the final 54 holes and Chad Ramey won with a winning score of -17/271.
The par-3, par-4, par-5 splits over the 6 renewals held here (including Korn Ferry) have been -2 -9 -13 for Bozzelli, -5 -8 -7 for Lashley, -4 -4 -10 for Garnett, -2 -6 -10 for G-Mac -2 -4 -12 for Swafford, +1, -3, -10 for Dahmen and -2, -3, -12 for Ramey. Undoubtedly the 16 looks at the longest holes tends to be the key here.
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.
Published Predictor Model: Our published predictor is available here. You can build your own model using the variables listed on the left hand side. Top 10 of my published predictor are: Joel Dahmen, Emiliano Grillo, Ben Martin, Chris Stroud, Russell Knox, Dylan Wu, Wyndham Clark, Nick Hardy, Brice Garnett and Fabrizio Zanotti.
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 27 degrees Celsius (81 Fahrenheit). And with forecasted winds relatively light for this stretch of the Dominican Republic, I’m expecting scoring to be nice and low, especially as they received 92mm of rain last week.
Player Strokes Gained Rankings: These top 25 in the field rankings are based on an 8-tournament window that stretches back to the Farmers Insurance Open / Dubai Desert Classic 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) Nicolai Hojgaard; 2) Carson Young; 3) Fabian Gomez; 4) M.J. Daffue / Cameron Percy; 6) Tyler Duncan; 7) Michael Gligic; 8) Brent Grant; 9) Dylan Wu; 10) Kramer Hickok / Chris Stroud; 12) Ben Martin; 13) Sam Stevens; 14) Adam Long; 15) Nick Hardy / Chad Ramey / Erik van Rooyen; 18) Kyle Westmoreland; 19) Joel Dahmen; 20) Scott Harrington; 21) Cody Gribble; 22) Wyndham Clark; 23) Jonas Blixt / Taylor Pendrith; 25) Bill Haas; Richy Werenski.
Top 25 SG Approach: 1) Ricky Barnes; 2) Wyndham Clark; 3) Akshay Bhatia; 4) Ryan Gerard; 5) Kevin Roy; 6) Ryan Moore; 7) Nicolai Hojgaard; 8) Matt Wallace; 9) Hank Lebioda; 10) Fabian Gomez; 11) Charley Hoffman; 12) Kevin Chappell / Tyler Duncan / Scott Piercy; 15) Chris Stroud; 16) Chesson Hadley / Michael Kim; 18) Jason Dufner / Ben Martin; 20) Emiliano Grillo; 21) Nick Hardy / Dylan Wu; 23) Henrik Norlander; 24) Sean O’Hair; 25) Cameron Percy.
Top 25 SG Around The Green: 1) Jonas Blixt; 2) Matt Wallace; 3) Camilo Villegas; 4) Kevin Chappell; 5) Aaron Baddeley / Thomas Detry; 7) Trevor Cone / Matthias Schwab; 9) Sean O’Hair; 10) Arjun Atwal / Patrick Rodgers; 12) Bill Haas; 13) William McGirt; 14) Austin Cook; 15) Austin Eckroat; 16) Vincent Norrman / Augusto Nunez; 18) Wyndham Clark; 19) Mark Hubbard; 20) Harry Higgs / Taylor Pendrith / Adam Schenk; 23) Nicolai Hojgaard; 24) Brian Stuard; 25) Chad Ramey.
Top 25 SG Tee to Green: 1) Wyndham Clark; 2) Nicolai Hojgaard; 3) Sam Stevens; 4) Kevin Chappell / Ryan Gerard; 6 Tyler Duncan; 7) Ben Martin / Dylan Wu; 9) Kevin Roy / Matt Wallace; 11) Augusto Nunez; 12) Carson Young; 13) Nick Hardy / Scott Piercy; 15) Akshay Bhatia; 16) Thomas Detry; 17) Joel Dahmen / Jason Dufner / Mark Hubbard / Chris Stroud / Erik van Rooyen; 22) Scott Harrington / Charley Hoffman / Michael Kim / Cameron Percy / Patrick Rodgers.
Top 25 SG Putting: 1) Ricky Barnes; 2) Bo Van Pelt; 3) Ben Crane; 4) Chad Ramey; 5) Kramer Hickok; 6) Andrew Novak; 7) Sung Kang / Seung-yul Noh; 9) Ryan Moore; 10) Chesson Hadley / Nicolai Hojgaard; 12) Cameron Percy; 13) Matti Schmid; 14) Grayson Murray / Trevor Werbylo / Richy Werenski; 17) Harrison Endycott / Scott Piercy; 19) Brice Garnett / Kelly Kraft / Adam Long; 22) Justin Lower; 23) William McGirt; 24) Taylor Pendrith; 25) Hank Lebioda / Henrik Norlander.
Top 25 SG Total: 1) Nicolai Hojgaard; 2) Wyndham Clark; 3) Kevin Chappell; 4) Sam Stevens; 5) Akshay Bhatia; 6) Kramer Hickok; 7) Michael Kim; 8) Tyler Duncan; 9) Scott Piercy; 10) Ben Martin / Dylan Wu; 12) Kevin Roy; 13) Ryan Gerard; 14) Matt Wallace; 15) Ricky Barnes; 16) Carson Young; 17) Hank Lebioda; 18) Chris Stroud; 19) Thomas Detry / Ryan Moore / Cameron Percy / Chad Ramey / Richy Werenski; 24) Henrik Norlander / Kevin Tway.
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:
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: 37th, Driving Accuracy: 24th, Greens in Regulation: 19th, Scrambling: 21st, Putting Average 2nd.
Let’s take a view from players as to how Corales Golf Club sets up and what skill sets the course favours:
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...”
Jonathan Byrd: “It was a solid day. It’s kind of, it’s one of those courses that I think if you’re disciplined on your second shots, that you can have a fairly solid day because there’s plenty of room off the tee. But I really drove the ball pretty well. I didn’t feel quite as great about my swing today, I felt a little out of rhythm, but I kept hitting some pretty good tee shots. I really only hit about two bad shots today, maybe just one on a par 5 and I still made birdie. It was a clean day and I made some good putts and hit some good pitch shots on the par 5s. Yeah, I just feel I’ve got to take advantage of every day. You’ve just got to stay aggressive on this golf course. If you get a little passive, you’ll make a lot of pars, but you’ve got to be intent on making some birdies because guys are going to shoot low scores.”
Path to Victory: Below are the end of round positions for the winners of the Corales Championship since 2018:
Shots From the Lead: Below are the last 5 Corales Championship winners and where they were positioned in terms of shots from the lead during the tournament:
For the record, here’s the breakdown of Paspalum PGA Tour victors in the field since 2008:
2 – Ryan Moore.
1 – Ryan Brehm, Scott Brown, Joel Dahmen, Brice Garnett, Chesson Hadley, Charley Hoffman, Chad Ramey, D.A. Points, Martin Trainer.
We are into our sixth PGA Tour visit to the Corales so we have some history to look into in the pursuit of 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) and 7th (2022) at Grand Reserve – host course of the Puerto Rico Open. A coastal specialist, Garnett in an understated PGA Tour career, had also finished in the top 20 across Pebble Beach and Harbour Town, prior 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.
On to 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.
Described as a second shot golf course, a player who can find plenty of greens consistently has to be a key element this week. Ultimately though it’s a hot putter on these Paspalum greens who wins the coveted 2-year PGA Tour exemption.
My Final Corales Championship Tips Are As Follows:
Ben Martin is the kind of player I like for these alternate events.
The 35 year old is experienced with 213 PGA Tour starts. He’s also playing some very nice golf having made 4 straight cuts including 13th at Pebble Beach and 5th at the Honda Classic. At 89th in the FedEx Cup he’s given himself a chance of gaining a top 70 spot to keep his PGA Tour card and to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which is an even bigger deal moving forward. And Ben has always taken these weaker events seriously throughout his career: 6th at the 2011 Reno Tahoe Open, 3rd at the 2014 Puerto Rico Open, 7th at the 2016 Barracuda Championship, plus 6th at the 2017 Barbasol Championship.
His results here at Corales are also eye-catching. 3 appearances have brought 3 pay cheques including 9th and an emotional 2nd, last year, over his past 2 renewals. 3rd (2014) and 14th (2020) in Puerto Rico, plus 20th (2020) at El Camaleon, Martin clearly likes these sub-tropical climes and plays very nice on Paspalum golf courses. And for the first time in ages, Martin actually arrives at one of these alternate events in good nick.
Ranking in this field in the top 10 for Tee to Green, top 15 for Off the Tee and top 20 for Approach across my 8-week Strokes Gained trackers, Ben also ranks in the top 10 for Strokes Gained Current Form. RESULT: T8
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Ryan Gerard has certainly had an astronomical rise through the golfing ranks since he turned professional last year. His first port of call was PGA Tour Canada where he won the Quebec Open, plus finished 3rd and 4th across just 4 events in August and early September. Into 2023 where in only his 4th Korn Ferry Tour start he finished 3rd at the Astara Golf Championship in Bogota, Columbia. The week prior in Panama he had held the Thursday lead and was 5th heading into Sunday, before a final round 75 demoted him to 41st. However you have to say that Gerard is a fast learner.
From there he grabbed the mainstream attention by Monday Qualifying for the Honda Classic and then proceeding to finish 5th. The week after he finished 11th at the Puerto Rico Open and after 71st last week at the Valspar Championship, he stands on the verge of Special Temporary Membership of the PGA Tour – where he needs no worse than a two-way T57 at Corales.
For me though, Corales is sure to suit and for a player that sits 5th for Tee to Green and 13th for Strokes Gained Current Form in my 8-week tracker, this +50/1 price point is a bargain. RESULT: MC
*bet365 Golf Each Way Extra – Up to 12 places for Each Way Golf bets on selected tournaments. Each Way Extra gives you the option to increase or decrease the number of places when you are betting pre-event on the To Win Outright market on selected Golf events – add places on to your Each Way Golf bets for extra security at lower odds, or increase the price by removing places. Bet restrictions apply. For further details of how Each Way Extra works on golf click here.
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Backed off the boards at 28/1 for the Puerto Rico Open a few weeks ago, Dylan Wu makes lots of sense this week on a similar, long, Paspalum set-up. Yes the Puerto Rico event was weaker than this, but Wu has done little wrong to see his price more than double.
8 outings in 2023 have seen 6 out of 8 cuts made. 10th at the Honda Classic, Dylan shot 61 at The America Express to show he can go extremely low. 9th, 20th, 14th and 16th going into Sunday across the AMEX, Honda, Players Championship and Valspar Championship respectively, the 26 year-old has been operating at the higher end of leaderboards all year, without yet finishing the job off.
That might change this week in a weak field and on a course he visited 12 months ago. 56th then, Dylan has also played well in sub-tropical climes on the Korn Ferry Tour. 2020 saw him finish 2nd at the Great Exuma Classic, 18th at Great Abaco Classic – both on Paspalum golf courses in the Bahamas – plus 7th at the Panama Championship. RESULT: T16
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Justin Lower hasn’t been in stellar form of late but we have seen Nico Echavarria, Trey Mullinax and Joel Dahmen, amongst others, who have won alternate events with no form to speak of over the past couple of years. It happens!
So why do I like Lower this week? Well he likes to make birdies ranking 40th on the PGA Tour so far this season – only Thomas Detry in this field ranks higher – Justin is the sort who plays well by the sea and who plays wells with his longer irons from 175 yards and out. Important here on a +7,600 yard golf course with par-3s which are 239 yards (2nd), 204 yards (9th) 265 yards (11th) and 214 yards (17th) from the tips. He’s also an excellent putter, ranking 24th for Strokes Gained Putting this season, give him some relatively large, flat and slow greens this week at Corales and he could cause some damage.
15th here last year where he shot mid rounds of 65-68, Justin has finished 17th (2021) and 8th (2022) at Port Royal – home of the Bermuda Championship – so he enjoys coastal golf. 8th at the Barbasol Championship last year highlights a player who takes alternate events seriously. For me, Lower will really appreciate and respond to the drop in class this week after playing the WM Phoenix Open, Genesis, API and Players in recent weeks, due to his great start to this season’s PGA Tour campaign where he finished 4th at the Fortinet Championship and 8th in Bermuda. RESULT: MC
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✅ Bet £10 get £50 in free bets for new customers
✅ Bonus code SPORT50 can be used, but does not change the offer amount in any way
✅ For further details read our bet365 new customer offer page
✅ Early odds available each week on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour
✅ ‘Each Way Extra’ promotion where you can choose between 3, 8, 10 or 12 places each way
bet365 New Customer Offer: New Customers only. Bet £10 & Get £50 in Free Bets. Sign up, deposit between £5 and £10 to your account and bet365 will give you five times that value in Free Bets when you place qualifying bets to the same value and they are settled. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits. Min odds/bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. T&Cs, time limits & exclusions apply. Registration required. The bonus code SPORT50 can be used during registration, but does not change the offer amount in any way. #Ad
2023 Majors Competition, Sponsored By bet365
