PGA Tour Brunch WGC + Corales Champ
@PGATourBrunch Previews Corales-Puntcana & WGC Match Play Tee-Time
Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship
The Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship is the first PGA Tour event to be held in the Dominican Republic and it is now in its fourth year, with Brice Garnett claiming victory in its inaugural year of 2018, Graeme McDowell in 2019 and Hudson Swafford winning in 2020. Prior to 2018, the tournament had a two-year stint on the Korn Ferry Tour schedule where the winners were Dominic Bozzelli and Nate Lashley.
The field playing Thursday through Sunday in the Dominican Republic includes each of the five players who have victories at the Corales Golf Course, including Lashley (2017) and Bozzelli, who won the tournament as a Korn Ferry Tour title in (2016).
This is the first of three tournaments (U.S. Open, Masters) to be contested twice in the 2020-21 PGA Tour season which marks first time an event has been played twice in the same season in the last 70 years.
Brandon Hagy, who made the largest jump in the FedExCup (No. 178 to No. 77; 101 spots) with his runner-up at last week’s Honda Classic, will make his second start in the event (MC/2020).
The field includes some golf luminaries.
World Golf Hall of Fame members: Retief Goosen, Davis Love III
Five major champions: Retief Goosen (2001 & 2004 U.S. Open), Padraig Harrington (2007 & 2008 The Open Championship, 2008 PGA Championship), Davis Love III (1997 PGA Championship), Graeme McDowell (2010 U.S. Open), Charl Schwartzel (2011 Masters Championship), Danny Willett (2016 Masters Tournament).
Grupo Puntacana, which owns and operates Puntacana Resort & Club, serves as the host organization while the Corales Course is the tournament venue.
THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Champ
COURSE: Corales Golf Club, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
ARCHITECT: Tom Fazio
YARDS/PAR: 7,670 yards/Par 72
PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $3,000,000/$540,000
DEFENDING Champion: Hudson Swafford - (Leaderboard link)
PAST RESULTS: (link)
PAST CHAMPIONS of Event: (link)
FEDEx CUP Points Available/Winner Share: 2,989/500
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedEXCup #CoralesChampionship @CoralesChamp
TV COVERAGE: Thursday, March 25 and Friday, March 26: 10:00am to 1:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. Saturday, March 27 10:00am to 5:00pm EDT on Golf Channel. and Sunday, March 28 - 2:30pm to 5:30pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. (WGC on NBC during those times).
STREAMING: PGA Tour Live will stream WGC.
PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Will cover WGC.
TEE TIMES: (link)
WEATHER: A few isolated showers with temperatures 71-84 degrees. Winds E-to-NE at 8-15 mph. Similar forecast for Friday-to-Sunday with winds 11-22 mph. 20% chance of rain.
What They’re Saying About #CoralesChamp
Power Rankings (PGATourCom)
Golf Course Layout (PGATourCom)
Fantasy Golf Rankings for Corales Puntacana Champ (Golf Week/USA Today)
Expert Picks (PGATourCom)
Odds for Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship
Thomas Pieters +1800
Charley Hoffman +1800
Emiliano Grillo +1800
Jhonattan Vegas +2600
Thomas Detry +2600
Brandon Wu +2600
Brandon Hagy +2900
Luke List +3100
Justin Suh +3100
Lee Hodges +3200
Danny Willett +3400
Charles Howell III +4500
Nate Lashley +3400
Patrick Rodgers +3400
Sam Ryder +3400
Brice Garnett +4000
Sepp Straka +4000
Taylor Pendrith +4000
Roger Sloan +4500
Tom Lewis +4500
WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play
Bracketville Hits the PGA Tour:
Print Your Bracket:HERE
NOTE: Tournament Tee Times were ADJUSTED as WGC tournament officials are anticipating weather issues late in day. Tee Times now range from 8:45am to 2:26pm EDT.
The World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, the only official head-to-head match play event on the PGA Tour schedule, returns to the PGA TOUR schedule after being canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19. This week, 64 of the top 69 players in the Official World Golf Ranking as of March 15 are in the field, including every player in the Top 10.
Reigning FedExCup champion and World No. 1 Dustin Johnson is seeking his seventh WGC victory. Johnson’s six WGC titles are second only to Tiger Woods (18). The 2018 WGC semifinalist Justin Thomas is making his first start on Tour since winning THE PLAYERS Championship.
There are five players who qualified but will not compete: Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott, Justin Rose, Tiger Woods, Gary Woodland.
Is Match Play a different game? Maybe so as no player has won the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and gone on to win the FedExCup in the same season (best result: Luke Donald, (No. 3) in 2011.
Back in 2019: WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play champion Kevin Kisner holed a 20-foot birdie putt to close out Matt Kuchar, 3 and 2, to capture his third PGA Tour title and first World Golf Championships victory. In the 2019-20 season, the South Carolina native made 21 starts, qualified for each of the three FedExCup Playoffs events and finished No. 23 in the FedExCup standings.
The Tournament Tee Times were ADJUSTED anticipating weather issues late in day. Tee Times now range from 8:45am to 2:26pm EDT.
Weather: Today’s Opening round weather forecast calls for scattered T-Storms with a 40% overall chance of rain. Temperatures expected to be 69-degrees with winds 8 mph. Thursday weather calls for morning showers with a 60% chance of rain. Temps cooler, 63-degrees and winds 12 mph.
PGATourBrunch will be posted by 10am EDT on Thursday and Friday.
Next Week: Valero Texas Open - April 1-4 at TPC San Antonio
Field Updates:
None
The Field (link)
THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: World Golf Championship
COURSE: Austin Country Club, Austin, Texas
ARCHITECT: Pete Dye
YARDS/PAR: 7,108 yards/Par 71
PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $10,500,000/$1,800,000
DEFENDING Champion (2019) Kevin Kisner - (Leaderboard link)
PAST RESULTS: (link)
PAST CHAMPIONS of Event: (link)
FEDEx CUP Points Available/Winner Share: 2,989/500
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedEXCup @DellMatchPlay
TV COVERAGE: Wednesday, March 24 - Thursday, March 25 and Friday, March 26: 2:00pm to 8:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. Saturday, March 27 and Sunday, March 28 - Early coverage on Golf Channel from 10:00am to 2:00pm and the switch to NBC for 2:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on Saturday and 3:00pm to 7:00pm EDT on Sunday.
STREAMING: PGA Tour Live will offer streaming coverage of Featured Groups on Wednesday-Thursday and Friday from 10:15am to 8:00pm (EDT); Saturday from (8:30am-2:00pm (EDT) only.
PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Wednesday -Thursday - Friday - 2:00pm to 8:00pm (EDT); then Saturday, March 27 from 10:00am to 6:00pm EDT and Sunday, March 28: (11:00am to 7:00pm (EDT)) on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.
Odds & Predictions:
A L👀K at the O👀S and A PREDICTION OR TWO:
WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play - odds (via William Hill)
Bryson DeChambeau 12-1
Justin Thomas 12-1
Dustin Johnson 14-1
Jon Rahm 14-1
Rory McIlroy 20-1
Collin Morikawa 22-1
Sungjae Im 25-1
Jordan Spieth 25-1
Paul Casey 25-1
Patrick Reed 25-1
Viktor Hovland 28-1
Patrick Cantlay 28-1
Tony Finau 28-1
Xander Schauffele 28-1
Webb Simpson 28-1
Daniel Berger 28-1
Tyrrell Hatton 33-1
Jason Day 35-1
Cameron Smith 35-1
Louis Oosthuizen 40-1
Sergio Garcia 40-1
Hideki Matsuyama 40-1
Joaquin Niemann 40-1
Scottie Scheffler 40-1
Will Zalatoris 40-1
Matthew Fitzpatrick 40-1
Christiaan Bezuidenhout 50-1
Jason Kokrak 50-1
Lee Westwood 50-1
Corey Conners 50-1
Kevin Kisner 50-1
Abraham Ancer 50-1
Tommy Fleetwood 50-1
Si-Woo Kim 66-1
Russell Henley 70-1
Max Homa 70-1
Billy Horschel 80-1
Matt Wallace 80-1
Shane Lowry 80-1
Ryan Palmer 80-1
Harris English 80-1
Bubba Watson 80-1
Lanto Griffin 80-1
Brian Harman 80-1
Brendon Todd 100-1
Marc Leishman 100-1
Carlos Ortiz 100-1
Matthew Wolff 100-1
Kevin Na 100-1
Ian Poulter 100-1
Victor Perez 100-1
Talor Gooch 125-1
Matt Kuchar 125-1
Kevin Streelman 150-1
Sebastian Munoz 150-1
Robert MacIntyre 150-1
J.T. Poston 150-1
Antoine Rozner 150-1
Dylan Frittelli 150-1
Erik Van Rooyen 150-1
Bernd Wiesberger 150-1
Mackenzie Hughes 200-1
Andy Sullivan 200-1
Adam Long 250-1
Bracket: HERE
TL’s Wedge for an Edge: Match Play is cause for a “Strategy” decision for the weekly games and One & Done. Do you pick the players you think are best from any bracket or do you stack only one bracket, with better chances of advancing to final round or third place match? My starting foursome at WGC will be: Tyrrell Hatton, Jon Rahm, Shane Lowry and Viktor Hovland. I’m playing for either Lowry or Rahm to come from that tough bracket pod. Back-ups on the bench for WGC are: Xander Schauffele and Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
For PGA Tour WGC One and Done: I’ll be going with Rahm.
At Corales Puntacana, I’m going with: Nate Lashley, Jhonattan Vegas, Tyler McCumber and Chase Seiffert, with Camilo Villegas and Justin Suhon the bench.
One and Done will be Lashley.
March Madness Special Discount:
What They’re Saying:
World Golf Championship Match Play “First Look” (PGATourCom)
How to Watch WGC: (Golf Week/USA Today)
This Week in Golf (Golf Channel)
#SportsBiz, Sporting Gambling News
WGC: Numbers to Know (PGATourCom)
Match Play Madness (Golf Digest)
Bracket Breakdown (PGATourCom)
WGC Expert Picks (PGATourCom)
On This Day in Golf History:
March 24, 2002 - Unheralded New Zealander Craig Perks was the surprise winner at The PLAYERS Championship with an incredible finish of eagle-birdie-par on the difficult finishing holes at TPC Sawgrass. The victory would become his only win on Tour in 202 starts as he retired in 2007. (Courtesy of Randy Walker), Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE
