Tag: Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship

Joel Dahmen says a Las Vegas bachelor party cleared his head for first PGA Tour victory

Dahmen went to meet some buddies in Sin City for a long-planned bachelor party. Then he went out and won his first PGA Tour title.

Joel Dahmen was in a slump. Missing the cut in six of seven tournaments at the start of the calendar year, the University of Washington product had slipped out of the 125 on the FedEx Cup standings for the first time in years.

He needed something to help kick him from his funk. Something to completely clear his mind and make him forget about the PGA Tour grind.

He needed … Vegas, baby.

Rather than playing in the Honda Classic, Dahmen went to meet some buddies in Sin City for a long-planned bachelor party. The result was favorable — Dahmen returned to action in the Dominican Republic and captured his first PGA Tour title at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship.

“We went to Vegas for two nights last weekend and reset the system, had plenty of fun. We played golf, we played at TPC Summerlin and we played at Shadow Creek. We had a blast,” Dahmen said on Wednesday in advance of this week’s Valero Texas Open. “I actually played really well on Saturday at Shadow Creek and I was kind of chirping at the guys, this is the day it’s going to turn around for me, kind of jokingly through a couple cocktails maybe, but I really did believe it was going to turn around.

“Getting away from the game for a couple days, like really getting away from it. I didn’t follow any of the Honda. Normally, I watch golf on Sundays. I watched Matt Jones, I know — huge win for him after a long time. But I just was totally checked out from the whole thing, so when I showed up in Puntacana on Monday, it was kind of a fresh start for me.”

VALERO TEXAS OPEN: Tee times, TV | Odds | Fantasy

[vertical-gallery id=778095297]

Dahmen, one of the more affable players on Tour, finally got that elusive first victory by virtue of some scintillating play amid the island breezes. And while some players come on Tour and find instant success, Dahmen said that’s not the norm for most professional golfers, many who toil as he has for years, hoping to finally find their way into the winner’s circle.

“Most people see Viktor Hovland and (Collin) Morikawa and (Matthew) Wolff and these young guys come right out of college and they win right away and they’re top 20 in the world and winning majors,” Dahmen said. “That’s not reality. The reality is you’re going to go through mini-tours for a little bit. I was fortunate enough to play the PGA Tour Canada, actually was up there for five years. The first couple years I was just kind of a kid dinking around, and then for the Korn Ferry Tour for two years, played out there.

“You learn to travel, you learn to do all these things so when you are out here, it’s not as big a shock and that helps a lot, too.”

Joel Dahmen
Joel Dahmen poses with the trophy after winning the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship on March 28, 2021 in Punta Cana. (Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

This week, he comes into the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio’s Oak Course with renewed vigor, on a track he thinks he can score on.

Dahmen hasn’t enjoyed much success at this venue — in fact, his final round in 2019 was an 80 as he dropped to 69th place — but he does believe it could be the perfect spot for another high finish.

“On paper, this course sets up pretty well for me. I think as far as the metrics of it and all the data, it says I should be able to play well here,” he said. “I’m not a long hitter, so obviously that’s a big advantage to hit the ball far. But you have to place it around these greens, and the wind typically blows so you have to control your golf ball as well.

“I don’t know how hard it’s supposed to blow this week, but obviously it blew really hard last week and (Wednesday) in the pro-am it blew. It’s blowing just as hard, it’s blowing 25 plus out there. Maybe that will kind of help me playing windy conditions last week.”

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=none image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Nate Lashley posted his best number (65) in over a year at comfortable Corales

It’s been more than a year since Nate Lashley’s posted a 65 in PGA Tour play. Until Saturday.

To understand why an overdue 65 is exactly the shot in the arm Nate Lashley needed during the third round of the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, simply scan his recent results.

For example, just three weeks ago Lashley finished fifth … in the Platte Valley Pro-Am. No disrespect to Scottsbluff, Nebraska, but not exactly the world’s grandest stage.

In fact, it’s been more than a year since Lashley went this low in a PGA Tour event. He had rounds of 64 and 65 during the now-defunct Military Tribute at The Greenbrier back in early September 2019.

But this week in Punta Cana the schedule offered up a familiar golf course — one on which Lashley has enjoyed success. He won a Korn Ferry Tour event at Corales in 2017, his first victory on that tour after winning three PGA Tour Latinoamérica titles in 2016.

Again, Lashley found the Dominican breezes to his liking on Saturday, using an incredible stretch of six birdies in eight holes to move to 12 under and within a few shots of the leaders through three rounds.

Corales Puntacana: Scores | Photo gallery | Tee times

What about Corales is so inviting to Lashley?

“I feel like it’s a good second-shot golf course and I think that’s a good strength of my game. When I’m hitting my irons well, I feel like on a course like this I’m going to have a chance to finish well. I like that you hit some fairways and then if you have a chance to hit some irons in close. I like that.”

Lashley, who has the 2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic title on his resume, had made just two of his last dozen cuts heading into the Dominican Republic, but he was resourceful in climbing the leaderboard on Saturday. Even when the University of Arizona product was off-target he found a way to get back into position, converting on all five scramble opportunities.

[vertical-gallery id=778067652]

“Yeah, I mean scrambling’s always key. When you can get up and down
and save those pars or save the birdies when you’re up around par 5s, that’s huge,” he said. “That’s where you turn in a 7-under round or that can go to a 3- or 4-under round, that’s a big difference when you get up and down five out of five times. So that’s when you have some great scores, and hopefully, I can continue that tomorrow.

“I’ve been hitting it well. The first three rounds, I hit it pretty well and
the first couple rounds, played good. Second round just, you know, one of those days where you play pretty well, but you only shoot 1 under. Could have been three 3 or 4 under pretty easy. That’s the way golf is. I’m playing well, I feel better, body feels better physically. So, you know, just come out tomorrow and try to continue what I’m doing and see what happens.”

[jwplayer Xcsrud5u-9JtFt04J]

Hudson Swafford ends round with 3 straight birdies to secure 36-hole lead at Corales Golf Club

Hudson Swafford lead the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship after 36 holes by two shots in the Dominican Republic.

A hornet sting between his fingers couldn’t stop Hudson Swafford from taking the lead in the Dominican Republic on Friday.

The former University of Georgia golfer finished the second round 5-under 67 to hold a two-shot lead at 12 under heading into the weekend at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship.

Swafford, who started his second round on No. 10, carded birdies on Nos. 12 and 14 and suffered a hornet sting on No. 11 in the joint of his pinky finger to start his round and make the turn at 2 under.

The punches kept coming. His next nine was a bit of a roller coaster. After a bogey on No. 1, Swafford went par-birdie-birdie-bogey to get back to 2 under on the round, then ended with three consecutive birdies.

Swafford, coming off a first-round 65, co-led after 18 holes at Corales Golf Club alongside Scott Harrington, Tyler McCumber and Sepp Straka.

Corales Puntacana: Scores | Photo gallery

“The wind was a little different today, so definitely the front nine played a little harder I would say after the first four holes kind of being some help wind,” Swafford said. “The last few were back into the wind right there in the middle, so made covering some bunkers a little more difficult with driver and fairways got a little smaller.

“Made a mistake on maybe 5, I guess, but other than that I honestly played pretty good. I gave myself a lot of chances, that’s all that we were trying to do because I feel like I’m rolling it good, I feel like I’m seeing lines pretty good, so just trying to get on the green as fast as possible.”

Swafford said he did not seek medical attention for the sting, but iced it for his first few holes. The sting might have even been a blessing, he said, forcing him to not overthink during Friday’s round.

“I guess it kind of just cleared my mind of the golf thing and just let me focus on something else,” Swafford said.

The 33-year-old is coming off a T-56 finish at the Safeway Open in Napa, California. Last season on Tour, Swafford competed in 10 events, making five cuts and earning one top-10 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. His lone Tour win was in 2017 at the CareerBuilder Challenge.

[vertical-gallery id=778067652]

Finishing two strokes behind Swafford were Luke List, Sean O’Hair and Justin Suh at 10 under.

List shot a bogey-free 65, tied with Adam Long for the second-lowest round of the day behind Graham DeLaet’s 64. O’Hair finished the day with a 5-under 67.

Suh, 23, carded five birdies Friday to finish but his most impressive moment of the day was his long par putt on No. 18 to finish the day with his second-straight 67.

Tied for fifth at 9 under are Mackenzie Hughes, Long, Straka and Xinjun Zhang.

Entering the weekend T-9 at 8 under with six other players, including Kelly Kraft, was Patrick Rodgers, who made six consecutive birdies Friday on Nos. 7-12 for the longest consecutive birdie streak in a round of his Tour career. Rodgers finished his round 3-under 69 after bogeys on Nos. 13, 16 and 17.

Notable players to miss the cut at were Jhonattan Vegas, reigning champion Graeme McDowell and Charles Howell III.

[lawrence-related id=778067768,778067670,778067690,778067681]

Graeme McDowell: Majors over Ryder Cup should be the priority when golf returns

Graeme McDowell ha

A year ago this week, Graeme McDowell resurrected his career with a victory at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. That feels like a lifetime ago, McDowell said, as the COVID-19 pandemic has made his return of form with the clubs “slightly irrelevant.” McDowell was speaking from his home in Florida where he was laying low with his family and waking up most mornings to his son asking him to go build train tracks.

McDowell was one of the voices of reason when the Players Championship was canceled after one round, saying one day later, “To be honest, I was expecting the horn to go off on the ground yesterday… It’s the right call. It’s the responsible move. At the end of the day what we’re doing out here is insignificant compared to what’s going on on the planet right now.”

Today was supposed to be the media day for the European Tour’s Irish Open, an event that McDowell, a proud Northern Irishman, committed to host in late May, but with each passing day seems less likely. With the season’s first two majors already postponed, McDowell expressed concern for whether the Ryder Cup, which is scheduled to be played Sept. 25-27, should be contested, and said the majors should take priority.

“I feel like the Ryder Cup can only happen if we felt the selection process wasn’t compromised,” said McDowell, a four-time European Tour Ryder Cupper and vice captain for Thomas Bjorn in 2018. “Otherwise the tournament wouldn’t just feel right. We need 3-4 months for the qualification process. It’s a crazy puzzle. I can’t imagine how much time the tours have spent figuring out a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, Plan D.”

He added: “If we could be back to playing golf around June, you could argue four solid months for the qualifying process. Could you pick two teams of 12? That could re-inject some adrenaline back into golf, then I’d be fully supportive of it.”

McDowell said many “bigger picture things” have to fall into place and “it’s a waiting game and a dynamic situation.”

As a part-owner in two restaurants, Nona Blue, with Orlando and Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, locations, McDowell may have a better perspective “from ground zero,” he said, than many of his fellow competitors as to the ripple effect the coronavirus has had on the economy. Both restaurants are shut down and trying to help staff through these difficult times. But being closed for potentially several months is going to have negative consequences on their restaurants’ cash flow.

“All of a sudden, you’re thinking about, ‘Will we be able to come out of this on the other end?’” he said. “It’s scary to think how quickly a business, all around the world, can be impacted by this.”

McDowell said he will be raring to go when the professional golf tours resume and it will only take two weeks of hard work to be ready. In the meantime, he says he’s enjoying plenty of quality time in the pool with his family.

“Our backyard looks like a pool supply store with all the inflatables and bouncy castles and slides you can imagine,” he said.

[opinary poll=”do-you-agree-with-the-pga-tour-cancellin-JWMD0u” customer=”golfweek”]