Corales Puntacana Championship: Course and current form stats

• Wind is the biggest threat at Corales

• Take Rai to contend (e/w) in the Caribbean

• Martin can secure second Tour triumph

Tournament and Course Notes

• It's a two-tournament week on the PGA Tour: While the elite of world golf travel to South Carolina, for the RBC Heritage, the remainder of members have an opportunity to tee-up in the Caribbean;

• This week's Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic has been staged eight times. In 2016 and 2017 it was part of the Web.Com Tour (now called the Korn Ferry Tour), since when it has been an annual event on the PGA Tour;

• Corales Golf Club was designed by Tom Fazio and opened 14 years ago, and is laid out close to the Caribbean island's east coast;

• The undulating fairways are fairly generous, and will offer golf's biggest hitters the opportunity to drive it long and especially if conditions are calm. Six holes run close to the Caribbean coastline, with water coming into play on seven holes;

• Putting surfaces are undulating and, like most coastal venues, the ability to scramble successfully will always come in handy if weather conditions deteriorate. Both fairways and greens are laid with Supreme paspalum.

Latest betting for this week's Corales Puntacana Championship

Good Current Form

The 'top seed' in the Caribbean is Dane Nicolai Hojgaard who is the only member of this week's field to tee-up at Augusta.

Hojgaard fell away a little on Sunday in Georgia but he should be proud of his tie-for-16th in the Masters.

He was second here 13 months ago, finishing one stroke behind winner Matt Wallace.

Two more experienced pros, who have played solidly in 2024, are Swede Alexander Noren and American Billy Horschel.

Noren's last four PGA Tour starts have all yielded T20s, while Horschel has finished inside the top 12 in three of his most recent five outings.

And don't discount the much-travelled Englishman Aaron Rai whose best finish of the year so far was a tie-for-seventh in Houston.

Latest betting for next month's PGA Championship

Good Course Form

Among the stand-outs, regarding course form, are Sam Ryder, Nate Lashley and Ben Martin.

Ryder has twice been runner-up at Corales - including once on the Web.Com Tour - and has a best 2024 finish of tied-16th at last month's Players Championship.

Lashley, who won here in 2017, also performed well (T13) at TPC Sawgrass.

Back in January the experienced 41-year-old American stood on the podium when the Tour travelled to Torrey Pines, which is a coastal venue not too dissimilar to Corales.

Meanwhile, Martin's last three Corales starts have all produced top-10s and, in his most recent PGA Tour outing, finished tied-seventh at the Texas Open.

Martin's sole PGA Tour success came nearly 10 years ago.

Betfair Sportsbook

Stroke Averages

Lowest Six At Corales Golf Club (2018-23)

Average .... (Rounds)
69.44: Ben Martin (16)
69.50: Alex Smalley (12)
69.70: Kevin Chappell (10)
69.76: Joel Dahmen (17)
69.86: Jhonattan Vegas (14)
70.06: Nate Lashley (18)
Min. No. of Rounds = 10 Only those entered this week are included in table

Note: List Contains Leading Reserves