BlogCorales Championship Preview and Picks

Things you need to know about the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship

The Corales Puntacana Championship has been a Web.Com Tour event in 2016 and ’17 and transitions to the PGA Tour this year.  The course is at the eastern end of the Dominican Republic in the town of Punta Cana.  The resort has 45 holes, 27 holes built by P.B. Dye and 18 designed by Tom Fazio.  The tournament is held at the Tom Fazio, Corales Golf Club.

This event gives second-tier players who didn’t qualify for the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship opportunities for playing a tournament this week but also they can gain FedEx Cup points.  The good news is that they receive the same exemptions on the PGA Tour as other events.  This is a perfect way for a bottom-tier player getting himself full status with a win.  Unfortunately, the winner gets just about every award given to a regular winner except one crucial invite, to the Masters.  Augusta won’t extend an invite to the winner in the Dominican Republic this week.  Another snub, the new Ryder Cup list won’t include money earned this year.

Course information:

• Corales Golf Club
• Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
• 7,670 yards     Par 36-36–72
• Tom Fazio designed the course, and it opened in 2010.
• The course plays along the cliffs, bays, and coves of the Caribbean Sea, with six oceanside holes, and the inland holes dotted with lakes and quarries. The course features ever-changing elevations, strategic bunkering, and large, elevated greens.
• On the front nine water comes into play on just the 390-yard, 3rd hole.  The nine also has plenty of other hazards in the form of huge waste bunkers.  The nine ends with a 175-yard par three, in which the green sits in a rather exposed position atop of a rocky headland.
• The back nine has a dramatic finish.  The last three holes play toward or along the Bay of Corales and are called the Devil’s Elbow. The 501-yard 18th wraps around the water, enticing players to bite off as much of a carry as they dare on the tee shot, but it was the 214-yard par-3 17th that ranked as the toughest hole in the Web.com Tour event in 2017. It plays along the coast to a narrow green guarded by bunkers on both sides.
• The course has a unique grass on it, Paspalum supreme which is a lot like Bermuda but can tolerate salt and takes a low quality of water to survive.  The course is very tough for the average player while it’s very manageable for the pros that will play it this week.  Since the course has opened, it’s gotten the reputation as one of the best courses in the Caribbean.
• Now the course is very private, some of its founding members are Mikhail Baryshnikov, Julio Iglesias, and President Bill Clinton.
• The course has been the site of the Web.Com Tour.  Last year Nate Lashley won by a shot over Augusto Nunez as Lashley was  Lushly was 20 under par.  For the week, Corales Golf Club played to a 70.336 average making it the 22nd hardest of 28 courses on the Web.Com Tour.  In 2016 Dominic Bozzelli was 24 under par and won by four shots over Blake Adams, Roberto Diaz, and Sam Ryder.  The course played to a 69.674 average and was the 2nd easiest of 26 courses on the Web.Com Tour.
• In looking at this year’s field, last year’s winner Nate Lashley and runner-up Augusto Nunez is playing, along with 2016 runner-up Roberto Diaz and Sam Ryder.

DraftKings Tips

*Here are the guys that cost the most on DraftKings this week:

• Emiliano Grillo- $11,600
• Scott Piercy – $11,200
• Jim Furyk – $10,800
• Rory Sabbatini – $10,400
• Patrick Rodgers – $10,000
• Graeme McDowell – $9,800
• Paul Dunne – $9,600
• Chris Wood – $9,400
• Corey Conners – $9,100
• Robert Garrigus – $9,000
• Fabrizio Zanotti – $8,900

For many this week it will be hard to pick players for the Corales Puntacana Championship.  Since it’s a second-tier event a lot of Web.Com Tour players are in the field along with a lot of European Tour events since there isn’t an event this week in Europe.  I believe that playing in this game is a bit of a crapshoot, there is a reason these players are in the Dominican Republic instead of Austin, that is consistency.  So pick with the thought that the player who will win and finish high is probably one of the last players on your list.  Still, this week is a challenge so have fun with it.

If you look at the who’s hot list above, you will see a lot of players on the top of that list, which are also the high price players in DraftKings list.  Unfortunately, most of the top Web.Com tour players aren’t in the field.

I wonder if it’s best just to take a pass on Emiliano Grillo since at $11,600 he is a lot of money.  The same with Scott Piercy at $11,200, he is a lot of money for a player that isn’t that hot.  The reason that Jim Furyk is $10,800 is he was 7th at Valspar, so it makes sense for him to be that high.  Frankly, I would take a pass on him also.

So is there anyone that I like?  Yes, Rory Sabbatini at $10,400 should be your top pick, he finished T-5th at Valspar, but he has had a consisted year making cuts each week in seven events since Sony Open.  I also think that Patrick Rodgers at $10,000 is a savvy pick, he was T-7th last week at the Palmer and was T-8th at Pebble.  Graeme McDowell at $9,800 is good, he could be one of my favorites because he finished T-22nd at Palmer last week with a 73 on the last day.  The reason I like McDowell is that he wins on ocean courses like Pebble Beach and Mayakoba in Cancun, Mexico.  Hilton Head is also close to the Atlantic, so he has a track record winning on courses like Corales Golf Club.  Now Paul Dunne at $9,600 is a toss-up, the Irishman has struggled a bit of late, his last finish was T-55th in Mexico.  But it bothers me that his previous starts he missed the cut at Pebble and Dubai.  Chris Wood at $9,400 may be a good pick, he was 2nd in the Oman Open last month, and that course is identical to Corales since half the holes of the Al Mouj course run along the shores of the Gulf of Oman.  Now Corey Conners at $9,100 is the first of our top players that participated at Corales last year; he finished T-53rd.  He’s been solid on the PGA Tour, remember he was the third round leader at Valspar before shooting a final round 77 to drop down into a T-16th.  He now knows what to do in the last group on Sunday and could be good this week.   As for Robert Garrigus at $9,000 he won’t be one of my choices, but he did finish T-8th at the Farmers. I would say the same for Fabrizio Zanotti at $8,900, but he did finish T-7th in the Oman Open and T-9th at Abu Dubai.  Nate Lashley is at $7,400, and despite winning this event last year the reason he is $7,400 is that he has not played the weekend in seven of his ten starts on the PGA Tour, could he find some magic, maybe.  But if you’re looking to have six guys make the cut, you would be best to leave Lashley off your six picks.

Some picks from the rest of the field

Many will think that Harris English at $8,700 is a good pick, since finishing T-8th at the Farmers he has missed three cuts in his last five starts, he was T-22nd last week at the Palmer.  Trey Mullinax at $8,800 could be a good pick, in his last start at the Valspar he finished T-8th, and in 2016 at the Corales Puntacana Championship, he was T-11th.  Now a person that won’t get picked that much and probably should is Seungsu Han at $8,500.  The reason he could be good is that in the last three months, in his last ten starts he has been in the top-ten five times.  This includes a win at the Casio World Open in Japan, a T-4th at the Oman Open (remember that course is like Corales) and a T-13th in his last start in Dubai.  Now some will think David Lingmerth is a good pick at $8,500; I would take a pass on him since he has struggled this year.  At $8,400 is Retief Goosen, he has had an up and down year in 2018 but did finish T-12th at the Farmers but what sticks in my mind was that he ended T-2nd at Puerto Rico a year ago, that course had the same elements as Corales.  Just remember Goosen is the type of players that could turn into a good pick.

Troy Merritt at $8,200 is an ok pick, finished T-8th at Pebble, and Sam Ryder at $7,800 is good value.  He didn’t start well in 2018,  missing his first four cuts, but since has settled down.  He has lots of experience at Corales finishing T-12th last year and runner-up in 2016.  Another runner-up at Corales in 2016 is Roberto Diaz at $7,600, but he missed the cut last year and had struggled on the PGA Tour in 2018.  Still, he has made seven cuts in his last nine starts, but his high finish is T-33rd at the Honda.

Now in looking for some gems and bargains of the week at the bottom of the barrel, there isn’t anybody better than Rafael Campos at $7,300.  Yes, he has missed a lot of cuts, but he was T-2nd at the Panama Championship and the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic, both courses close to water.  He also was T-3rd at the Corales Puntacana Championship last year but missed the cut in 2016.  He is the type of guy that wins events like this out of nowhere.   Another possible pick is Augusto Nunez at $7,000; he has been solid in 2018 until missing the cut in Mexico two weeks ago, but remember he was runner-up at Corales last year.  Now many have asked me if Tony Romo would be a good pick at $6,600 and I can’t answer anybody fast enough, no.  He may be good with his friends at his home course, but I see him going down in flames this week.

Here are some of the secrets of what it takes to play well at the Corales Puntacana Championship:

Key stat for the winner:

So what vital stats is essential at Corales Golf Club?  Players that hit it long will do better; the course is a bombers paradise.  Because of the high winds that buffer the course, hitting greens is hard.

Here are some more key stats to look for this week:

• There is no rhyme or reason to winning this event.  Since it’s a second-tier event, it’s a combination of a PGA Tour and a Web.Com tour stop.  So there are no real favorites because there are no real marquee players that you know of. Yes the field does have ten major champions playing (Angel Cabrera, Retief Goosen, John Daly, Jim Furyk, Trevor Immelman, Davis Love III, Graeme McDowell, Shaun Micheel, Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Weir) and 14 players that have won five or more PGA Tour events on it (Davis Love III (21), Jim Furyk (17), Stuart Appleby (9), K.J. Choi (8), Geoff Ogilvy (8), Mike Weir (8), Retief Goosen (7), Hunter Mahan (6), Rory Sabbatini (6), John Daly (5), Jonathan Byrd (5), Ben Crane (5), Carl Pettersson (5), Mark Wilson (5).  But done of them will win because you do need the firepower to overpower the course.
• Weather will play a factor this week, it will be warm with temperatures in the low 80s, but rain and thunderstorms are in the forecast Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Winds will be light for the area, with it blowing between 8 to 15mph all four days.
• Will a newcomer win this week?  Probably.  It’s more about a player being in the right place at the right time.