Out of the Rough: Corales Puntacana Championship (2026)

Previously, the Corales Puntacana Championship served as the alternate field event for the RBC Heritage but this season will play opposite to The Open Championship.

The Barracuda Championship, the lone Modified Stableford scoring format event on the Tour, served as the alternate field event for The Open Championship the last two seasons.

Now, the unsung heroes, the grinders and the up-and-coming stars of both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour will head to Punta Cana this week.

This event has been a part of the PGA Tour since 2018 and was previously part of the Web.com Tour (now the Korn Ferry Tour) from 2016 to 2017. 

It annually served as the alternate event to the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and since its inception on Tour, has always served as an alternate event. 

Like last week’s ISCO Championship, this event is also co-sanctioned between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

The Field

Last week’s runner-up, Taylor Pendrith, who ultimately lost in a play-off to Steven Fisk at the ISCO Championship, headlines this week’s field as the highest ranked golfer within the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) at 87th.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout (96th,) Stephan Jaeger (98th) and Blades Brown (100th) are the only other three golfers within the top 100 of the OWGR to be playing this week.

Other notable PGA Tour members teeing it up this week include Rico Hoey, Max McGreevy, Garrick Higgo, Emiliano Grillo, Kevin Roy and Chandler Blanchet.

Just as last week’s ISCO Championship was co-sanctioned between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, so is this week’s Corales Puntacana Championship. 

Notable DP World Tour members playing this week include Nacho Elvira, Jacob Skov Olesen, Thriston Lawrence, Jorge Campillo, Alejandro Del Rey and Freddy Schott.

Higgo comes in as the defending champion, having topped a list of five golfers by a single stroke to claim victory a season ago.

Other former winners of this event playing this week include Chad Ramey (2022,) Joel Dahmen (2021) and Brice Garnett (2018.)

The Course

Corales Golf Club plays as a par-72 at over 7,6000 yards, making it one of the longest courses on all of the PGA Tour.

Corales Golf Club is a thing of beauty as it features six oceanside holes and an endless display of natural settings.

The course is very open off-the-tee and combining that with the long distance of the course, makes it a bomber’s paradise.

The Paspalum greens are where this event is often won.

The green complexes are very difficult and will cause players fits all week long. Being able to navigate these tricky Tom Fazio designed putting surfaces will be the difference between winning and losing this week.

Corales Golf Club’s closing three-hole stretch, known as ‘The Devil’s Elbow’ will once again be the spotlight this week. The par-four 18th hole features a force carry of the Bay of Corales.

Wind will be a factor as the course is coastline. The coastal winds at these types of events always come into play.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, there is a 40-percent chance for evening showers on Thursday. Friday is calling for a 15–percent chance of precipitation, Saturday a 20-percent chance and Sunday a ten-percent chance. Temperatures are currently set at 88-degrees across all four days. Winds will be the highest on Thursday at 14 miles-per-hour. Winds will settle to 13 miles-per-hour for Friday through Sunday. The wind is forecasted to be coming out of the east for all four days.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG: OTT) / Average Driving Distance

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

• Birdie or Better Percentage

• Par 5 Average Scoring

• Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR%)

• Scrambling

• Strokes Gained: Around the Green (SG: ATG) / Sand Saves Percentage

Betting Card

Stephan Jaeger (+3000)

As one of the premier names in this field, I felt that 30/1 was an exceptional number on Jaeger. He is currently 12th on Tour in SG: ATG, 13th in sand saves percentage, 17th in scrambling, 27th in par-five average scoring, 30th in both birdie-or-better percentage and average driving distance, 59th in SG: PUTT, 75th in GIR% and 112th in both SG: APP and SG: OTT. He comes into this week with a 15th place finish last week at the ISCO Championship and a 15th at the John Deere Classic. He missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open and withdrew from the Charles Schwab Challenge but prior to those two events he placed ninth at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson and 18th at the PGA Championship. He last played this event in 2021 where he placed 48th.

Austin Eckroat (+4500)

It’s hard to find premier approach players in this field as most of them would be playing in England this week but Eckroat is one of them. He is currently 22nd on Tour in SG: APP, 28th in birdie-or-better percentage, 49th in par-five average scoring, 52nd in sand saves percentage, 66th in SG: PUTT, 78th in GIR%, 105th in scrambling, 113th in average driving distance, 132nd in SG: OTT and 134th in SG: ATG. He last played the Genesis Scottish Open where he placed 30th. Prior to that he placed 58th at the John Deere Classic, 73rd at the RBC Canadian Open, 67th at the Charles Schwab Challenge, 40th at the PGA Championship, 19th at the Truist Championship, sixth at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and tenth at the Valero Texas Open. He last played this event in 2023 where he placed fifth. 

Zach Bauchou (+5500)

In my journey to find above average approach players in this week’s field, we have Bauchou. He is currently 35th on Tour in SG: APP. He is also 33rd in scrambling, 49th in par-five average scoring, 52nd in SG: ATG, 54th in GIR%, 69th in birdie-or-better percentage, 96th in SG: PUTT, 103rd in average driving distance, 110th in SG: OTT and 136th in sand saves percentage. He missed the cut at the Genesis Scottish Open but placed 67th at the John Deere Classic. He also missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open but had a great stretch of form prior to that. He placed 22nd at the Charles Schwab Challenge, sixth at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, 24th at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic, 13th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and 28th at the Valero Texas Open. He’ll be making his tournament debut this week. 

Zecheng Dou (+6000)

Again, Dou is an above average approach player on the PGA Tour, currently ranked 33rd. He is also 23rd in GIR%, 31st in scrambling, 38th in average driving distance, 39th in SG: ATG, 78th in par-five average scoring, 79th in birdie-or-better percentage, 91st in SG: PUTT, 115th in SG: OTT and 130th in sand saves percentage. Dou missed the cut last week at the ISCO Championship but placed 21st at the John Deere Classic a week prior. He had a string of missed cuts prior to the John Deere Classic but did place 13th at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic. He placed 50th at this event a season ago. 

A.J. Ewart (+9000)

Ewart has become a staple of my betting cards and that because the stats tell me he’s a much better golfer than the outcomes suggest. He is currently 11th on Tour in SG: PUTT, 17th in scrambling, 21st in sand saves percentage, 48th in GIR%, 63rd in SG: ATG, 66th in par-five average scoring, 69th in birdie-or-better percentage, 95th in both SG: APP and average driving distance and 125th in SG: OTT. He placed 34th last week at the ISCO Championship. Prior to that he placed 71st at the John Deere Classic, 29th at the RBC Canadian Open, 17th at the Charles Schwab Challenge and 19th at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson. He too will be making his tournament debut this week. 

2025 Betting Card

• Harry Hall (+2200) - T49th

• Hayden Springer (+4500) - T41st

• Ricky Castillo (+4500) - T38th

• Quade Cummins (+5000) - T41st

2024 Betting Card

• Nicolai Hojgaard (+1600) - MC

• Davis Thompson (+4000) - T18th

• Max Greyserman (+5500) - T40th

• Hayden Springer (+9000) - MC

2023 Betting Card

• Wyndham Clark (+1100) - 6th

• Thomas Detry (+2200) - T8th

• Cameron Percy (+3100) - T68th

• Dylan Wu (+4500) - T16th

• Austin Eckroat (+10000) - 5th

Gambling Disclaimer

All of the above listed information, pertaining to who I am betting this week, was collected by myself. I am not responsible for any losses due to gambling as the information listed above are simply my suggestions collected through my research. Please bet responsibly.