Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions – 2020 Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship

Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions for the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship

The Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship Fantasy Preview

Well, we didn’t see that coming. Some big lessons were learned last week at the U.S. Open, and it was perhaps fitting that the man once known as The Scientist was the one to dish them out.

“They [the USGA] made the fairways too small this week for the guys that were really hitting the fairway….if it’s too narrow, length is gonna win. Too wide, length is gonna win.”

These are fair points made by Bryson DeChambeau, and after winning the U.S. Open by a canter – and the only player to finish the week under par – he is in a privileged position to speak on such matters. Many of us were fixated on how tough Winged Foot was going to play, but maybe we were too quick to swerve those who we figured would be in most trouble in adverse conditions.

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After all, if every player in the field is going to be missing fairways, would you rather be in the rough 180 yards from the flag or 120?

And by the way, it would be too easy to say that Bryson won the U.S. Open because he hits the ball father than anyone else. He ranked first for week for Strokes Gained: Approach, so for all his power there was still elite iron and wedge play to go with that. Love him or hate, DeChambeau was a worthy winner because of his elite all-round game, not just because he’s been working out and eating steak for dinner every night….

From the ridiculous to the sublime, perhaps. The Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship has been bumped up to main event status on the PGA TOUR this week, and after the tribulations of Winged Foot the players couldn’t wish for a more laid-back, picturesque setting for their next run out.

Last Week’s Fantasy Results

Our top guy last week, John Rahm, got off to a hot start before falling victim to Winged Foot’s teeth on Saturday with a 76. Overall it was an up-and-down kind of week but we landed 6 of 7 made cuts with 5 of our selections finishing in the Top 25. 

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The Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship 2020 Field

From a major quality field to a, erm, not-so-much major quality field.

With no disrespect intended, a woefully out-of-form Henrik Stenson is not the ideal event headliner by any means, while for all their talents Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Long and Corey Conners have just three PGA TOUR titles between them in more than 150 starts combined.

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Will Zalatoris is certainly an intriguing talent and he will be looking to back up an outstanding week at the U.S. Open here, while talented European Tour pros Thomas Detry and Mathias Schwab get a chance to strut their stuff in a PGA TOUR event.

But yes, the feel is very much of a week-after-a-major in the Dominican Republic.

This Week’s Course Preview

There are lots of retirees and ex-pats that play their golf at the Corales GC in Punta Cana, and it’s really not difficult to see why given the stunning aesthetics of this coastal layout.

Being by the ocean reveals what we know to be true of coastal courses – the wind can be a major factor, but that really is the only defense that Corales has at its disposal.

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It’s a long old stretch at 7,670 yards for its Par 72, but that’s not to say that only bombers need apply given that former winners here like Graeme McDowell and Brice Garnett aren’t going to be winning longest drive contests any time soon.

The fairways are so wide here that everyone get a decent shot of playing from the short stuff on approach, and the real thick rough is way offline. The fairways are peppered with some sizable bunkers but most would be expected to miss these.

The slow Paspalum greens are nice and receptive, and as tends to be the case in events of this nature it could become something of a putting shootout this week given that there is little competitive edge to be found from tee-to-green – that is, unless you are consistently firing your approaches within 6ft of the pin. Is there anybody in this field that is capable of doing that?

If the wind doesn’t blow, expect this Tom Fazio layout to be taken for -20 or better this week.

Weather Forecast for Punta Cana, DOM

The sultry temperatures in this part of the world – the mercury will reach 88°F at times this week – will ensure there’s a nice holiday vibe to proceedings.

It should be said that there’s some ‘scattered thunderstorms’ in the early forecast for the weekend, so it will be interesting to see how heavy the rainfall is. If the fairways soften, then length could be more of an advantage than usual at this layout.

As for the wind, the forecast will tell you that it’s fairly settled at 9-10 mph, however at the localized level some of the oceanfront holes will experience a breeze much in excess of that.

PUNTA CANA WEATHER

Last Year’s Results for the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship

You have to back to March 2019 to try and recall Graeme McDowell’s victory from the dark recesses of your mind the last time this event was played.

The Irishman was, at the time, in a desperate battle to earn enough ranking points to get into his home British Open at Royal Portrush, so motivation was not in short supply.

And neither, happily for McDowell, was inspiration, as his putter heated up remarkably over the weekend – in the third round he took hit just 20 putts in an outstanding show of touch and feel.

That was enough for him to secure a one-shot win at -18 over Mackenzie Hughes and Chris Stroud, with Jonathan Byrd in solo fourth and Kelly Kraft and Chip McDaniel in T5.

Graeme McDowell’s highlights | Round 4 | Corales Puntacana 2019

In the fourth round of the 2019 Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, Graeme McDowell carded an 18-under 270 to seal his win over Mackenzie Hughes and Chris Stroud. SUBSCRIBE to PGA TOUR now: http://pgat.us/vBxcZSh The Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship is contested in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

Where to Play Fantasy Golf for the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship this Week

It’s the calm after the storm, and the DFS site have just taken their foot off the gas in terms of their slate of contests. However, it’s not all bad news, because only the finest drafters and judges will thrive with a field of this low quality!

• PGA $600k Beach Vacation: Finish in the top 20% of this contest and you’ll earn a prize on your $25 entry, but you’re not interested in that – you’re interested in the $200k top prize!
• PGA $125k Driver: Want to see how good you are? Here’s a challenge: this single-entry contest will give you one chance to draft a winning team – no mean feat given the low grade talent on show this week. But if you can, there’s a top prize of $25k to the winner.

This Week’s Fantasy Notes for the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship

These weak field events at easy courses really can be a headscratcher to negotiate.

In the field we have a number of players who are excellent from tee-to-green but who can’t putt – any of those guys could win if the flat stick heats up.

And then you have those consistently strong putters who perhaps lack a touch of class in their ball-striking. But could the easy conditions negate their weakness?

These are the sorts of conundrums we face, and maybe it is better to focus on the knowns – e.g. the latter category of player, over the unknowns….will the putter of the likes of Conners and Grillo heat up? We just don’t know….

It’s best not to get fixated on length at Corales GC given the rollcall of former winners, but as mentioned if the rain does come then there will be little run in these fairways – at that point, length will surely become something of an edge.

We know that some players thrive on these squally, coastal courses, so as ever we point you in the direction of complementary events such as the RBC Heritage, RSM Classic, Sony Open, AT&T Pebble Beach and the Puerto Rico Open, where the same sets of rules apply.

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Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Fantasy Picks and Odds to Win the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship

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Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win The Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship

Top Tier Pick:

Mackenzie Hughes (Odds: 20/1, FPPG: 53.9, GPFP: 43.10 Salary: $10,300)

Making it all the way through to the TOUR Championship at the tail end of last season was another feather in the cap of Mackenzie Hughes, whose profile continues to rise on the back of some impressive performances.

Ordinarily it would be considered something of a risk to take the top salary player in a weak field event, but with his incredible short game – the Canadian ranked inside the top-10 of the PGA TOUR for both Strokes Gained Around the Green and Putting in the season just ended – Hughes is a reliable play who can thrive against less skilled opposition.

His recent form – T3 at the Travelers Championship, T6 at the Memorial, T10 at the BMW Championship – stands out like a sore thumb in this company, and having previously won at one of our correlating events Hughes is a must play this week.

Key Stats:

• SG: Around-the-Green – 6th
• SG: Putting – 8th
• Scoring Average – 64th

Top-Tier Pick #2:  

Charles Howell III (Odds: 28/1, FPPG: 61.1, GPFP: 75.76 Salary: $9,700)

These weak-field events are set up for a young gun to blast their way to the title, but as McDowell showed here last year there is still plenty to be said for experience when the pressure of lifting the trophy becomes to mount.

Charles Howell III has never been a prolific winner by any means, but with three PGA TOUR titles he still has a stronger resumé than most this week and with one of those victories coming at a correlating event at the RSM Classic he will be feeling confident this week.

Last season was a pretty ordinary one by CHIII’s own standards, but there were signs of life towards the end as his short game improved, and T3 at the 3M Open and an excellent solo 30th at the U.S. Open last week were testament to such an improvement.

Solid enough from tee-to-green and an excellent putter, Charles Howell III is the match of anybody in this field right now.

Key Stats:

• SG: Around-the-Green – 11th
• Greens in Regulation – 49th
• SG: Putting – 60th

Mid-Tier Pick #1: 

Kristoffer Ventura (Odds: 40/1, FPPG: 54.5, GPFP: 43.62 Salary: $9,200)

The bomb-and-gouge game of Kristoffer Ventura should play quite nicely at Corales GC, and remember that the fairways are so wide here the Norwegian will do well to miss them with his 310 yard grenades off the tee.

And what was noticeable in his T7 finish at the Safeway Open last time out was how well he was striking the ball within 100 yards or so off the hole – for a guy that ranked fourth on Tour last season for SG: Putting, that’s an intriguing combination indeed.

A two-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019, Ventura should feel very comfortable amongst this grade of competition, and if he plays anything like he did at the Safeway Open here you suspect he will go very close indeed.

Key Stats:

• SG: Putting – 4th
• Birdie Average – 11th
• Driving Distance – 28th

Mid-Tier Pick #2: 

Beau Hossler (Odds: 80/1, FPPG: 53.5, GPFP: 42.77 Salary: $7,200)

It’s been a while since we saw the best of Beau Hossler, but the signs are that he is just about piecing his game together again.

There were rounds of 65 and 67 at the Safeway Open on his way to a T23 finish, and that was another improvement on the pair of 66s he recorded at the Northern Trust.

While no means blessed with the best tee-to-green game, the Hoss can go long off the tee and is an outstanding putter, so it’s not a huge leap of faith to see him do rather well this week.

Key Stats:

• SG: Putting – 24th
• Driving Distance – 26th
• Approaches from 75-100 yards – 51st

Low-Tier Pick: 

Vincent Whaley (Odds: 125/1, FPPG: 45.5, GPFP: 36.42 Salary: $6,900)

In a week when finding an edge is troublesome, maybe hitting it long off the tee and making some putts is a fair enough strategy.

If so, Vincent Whaley springs to mind because he has some competence in both areas – he ranked 65th for Driving Distance last season and 47th for SG: Putting, and in his last start he produced one of his best PGA TOUR results to date with T23 at the Safeway Open.

More intriguingly, he seems to have a fondness for this sort of test, having finished solo second at the Korn Ferry Tour’s coastal Bahamas Great Abaco Classic and T9 at the Puerto Rico Open earlier this year, so as low-key picks go Whaley might just be the guy this week.

Key Stats:

• SG: Putting – 47th
• Driving Distance – 65th
• Birdie Average – 68th

Sleeper Pick for The Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship

Peter Malnati (Odds: 150/1, FPPG: 49.1, GPFP: 39.30 Salary: $6,800)

One of the more reliable putters around, Peter Malnati can appear towards the summit of these weak field leaderboards from time to time.

He did really well at the Wyndham Championship, finishing T20, and so the game is there, and it is often best served in these windy, coastal tests – he was T11 at the AT&T Pebble Beach and T12 at the Sony Open last season.

A winner on the PGA TOUR and a two-time champion on the Korn Ferry Tour, Malnati has a more polished resumé than most in this field and at least we know he can get the job done when in contention.

Key Stats:

• SG: Putting – 40th
• Scrambling – 48th
• SG: Around-the-Green – 80th

Alternative Sleeper Pick for The Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship

D.J. Trahan (Odds: 200/1, FPPG: 47.4, GPFP: 50.76 Salary: $6,600)

Having opened up 67-65 at the Safeway Open, there are plenty of positives to D.J. Trahan this week who looks completely under-matched at this throwaway salary.

This is not one of golf’s elite performers, make no mistake, but he has a solid bank of form in events that are similar to this with T8 at the RSM Classic, T24 at the Bermuda Championship and T28 at the Sony Open all pleasing on the eye.

His short game was in good order at Silverado, and for a player who is reasonably good off the tee as well a profile is building of a guy who could perform well in the Dominican Republic.

Key Stats:

• Total Driving – 15th
• Greens in Regulation – 64th
• Birdie Average – 84th

This Week’s Sample DraftKings Lineup

Note: Sample lineups provided as examples only.  Be sure to mix-and-match players to best fit individual contests.

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Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2020-2021)

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Cover Photo via Instagram