Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2020 Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship

The Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship Fantasy Sleeper Report

Have we witnessed the future of golf?

Will we see Matt Kuchar bulk up to a 300lb behemoth?

Will Chez Reavie turn to a diet of steak and weights?

Maybe (probably not), but it’s hard to argue with the notion that Bryson DeChambeau has changed the way that his fellow professionals view the game.

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Let’s get things right – Bryson didn’t win the U.S. Open by six shots because he hits the ball further than anybody else. No, Bryson won the U.S. Open because he is comfortable approaching from the rough, and because he is an underrated putter. If golf was simply about hitting the ball 330 yards, the upper echelons of the sport would look very different.

But, and here’s the thing, there are a number of courses on the PGA TOUR that DeChambeau could simply overpower in the coming years, and that has to be a cause for concern as to the sport’s future direction.

Anyway, enough about that, because nobody will be overpowering Corales GC for this week’s exhaustingly named Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship.

Well, that’s not to suggest that bomb-and-gouge can’t work here, but with the past two winners of this tournament being Graeme McDowell and Brice Garnett you get the sense that some subtlety won’t go amiss.

One thing you will need is a hot putter, and that will certainly help at a layout where there really is very little danger other than a stiff breeze blowing in off the ocean – the forecast for that is fairly benign this week as it goes.

The fairways are as wide as it gets, there is deep rough but that is way, way offline, the bunkers are shallow and barely any trouble and the slow Paspalum greens are nice and receptive.

So far, so good.

The intrigue comes in the quality of the field, which boasts an array of up-and-coming starlets, grizzled veterans and, with all due respect, a smattering of has-beens. The scene is set for a young stud to open their PGA TOUR account or an established figure reinvigorating their career, but one thing that is for sure is that there is an opportunity here for a nice long odds sleeper winner.

The sportsbook favorites are all talented players but not exactly prolific champions, while the likes of Henrik Stenson are very clearly class acts but not necessarily in the midst of high form.

So, with all that in mind, who has made our shortlist for our Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship sleeper report.

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The U.S. Open Fantasy Sleeper Report

Xinjun Zhang – 50/1 – When he joned the PGA TOUR at the start of the 2019-20 season, there was quite a buzz about Xinjun Zhang.

He’s arguably not quite lived up to the billing, but T14 at the Safeway Open last time out offered a glimpse into the Chinaman’s talents.

There were three top-10s to his maiden campaign, however, and he ranked 24th for Birdie Average, so clearly there is plenty of talent here, and as a noted wind player maybe he will feel right at home on the Dominican Republic this week.

Henrik Norlander – 50/1 – Here’s a player with a fantastic ceiling, and Henrik Norlander’s ability was clear for all to see in his six top-25 finishes last season.

Eye catching for us were the T5 in the RSM Classic and the T9 in the Sony Open, both of which are correlating affairs, but also the T6 at the Memorial Tournament in high quality company – that showed his class.

An excellent ball-striker, Norlander is one strong week with the putter away from ending his PGA TOUR title drought, and in this field surely he stands as good a chance as any.

Patrick Rodgers – 60/1 – It was another solid enough season for Patrick Rodgers in 2019-20, with 20 cuts made from 27 starts and seven top-25 finishes?

But when is he really going to make a substantial breakthrough? This is a guy who ranked 11th for SG: Putting and 38th for Par 5 Birdie or Better Leaders, and so the basic building blocks of his game are in place.

His lack of precision when striking the ball will be less harshly felt at Corales GC, so – at long last – maybe Rodgers is set to finally prosper at a layout that really does suit his game.

Will Gordon – 66/1 – It’s early days for this young gun, but Will Gordon has already shown that he is a phenomenal driver of the golf ball.

That’s only one aspect of the game, of course, but in ranking 4th for GIR and 25th for Birdie Average last season he has also shown that, maybe, he possesses an elite level talent in the making.

Putting remains a mystery, but if he can solve that this week then Gordon will have a huge advantage on this field.

Brice Garnett – 66/1 – A former winner of this event, Brice Garnett thrives in these easy course, low class field tournaments because he is an elite putter with a passable tee-to-green game – that can be enough in this company.

Take a look at some of his best efforts last season – T17 at the RBC Heritage, T20 at the Puerto Rico Open, and it’s no coincidence that steady coastal tracks where the wind blows are Garnett’s specialty.

A player that ranks 27th for Greens in Regulation and 59th for SG: Putting arguably should do better on Tour, but Garnett has shown his qualities in this kind of event before and there’s no reason why he can’t go in again here.

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for Corales Championship here.

Sleeper Report Predictions This Season (2020-2021)

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Cover photo via Instagram