By: @Ryan_Humphries on Twitter & LineStar Chat

Tournament & Field 🏆

Much of the golf DFS world will place its focus on the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event that tees off on Wednesday morning but, for this week’s newsletter, we’ll keep our sights set on the alternate event which follows the more familiar four-round stroke play format. This means we’re eyeing the Corales Puntacana Championship which will be hosted by the Corales Golf Course down on the island of the Dominican Republic.

Since the majority of golf’s top talent is competing in the WGC-Match Play event, there is not much star power left over for the Corales Championship. Within this 120-player field, only three of the world’s top 100-ranked golfers will be in attendance. There are still some sizable DFS contests posted for this event so it should certainly be worth giving this one a go, especially if you crack down on some research and learn a bit more about these lesser-known golfers. The strength of this field may be just above that of a Korn Ferry Tour event, but the rewards are legitimate. Golfers will be looking to grab a share of the 300 FedEx Cup points available in this event, along with a piece of the $3.8 million purse and, perhaps most importantly, full exemption on the PGA Tour through the 2025 season, which is awarded to the eventual winner. Also note that this event will follow the typical cut rule: the top 65 golfers (including ties) after the first two rounds will move on to play the weekend.

The Course Preview ⛳

Corales Golf Course

Par 72 | 7,670 Yards

Greens: Paspalum

Course Difficulty Last 5 Years: 25th, 14th, 30th, 30th, 26th

Cut Line Last 5 Years: -1, +1, -3, -2, -1

Corales GC is a Par 72 setup that extends nearly 7,700 yards and features four Par 3s and four Par 5s. The extensive course length is a bit deceiving as golf balls will typically fly further in the warm Caribbean climate of the Dominican Republic. The fairways here are wide and situated between light and not overly penalizing rough. There really isn’t any reason *not* to try to “bomb and gouge” this course. Golfers don’t need to be incredibly long off of the tee if they want to succeed, but long and somewhat inaccurate drivers simply aren’t punished as much here as they would be at other more demanding PGA venues. Players will still need to contend with bunkers, palm trees, sand dunes, and several water hazards but those course defenses should not be too problematic in the overall scope of things. The greens at Corales GC feature paspalum grass, which is a very uncommon putting surface among PGA Tour courses. However, golfers have noted that these greens play very soft and can be super receptive, even when they’re being attacked from long approach distances or from shots coming out of the rough. The greens should be set up to run fairly slow once again this year (about 10-11 on the stimpmeter).

Overall, this should not be an overly difficult course to navigate, especially if the winds cooperate. Higher wind speeds can easily be accredited as the primary course defense at Corales GC so if they’re not too problematic, the course is quite “gettable” otherwise. Without ShotLink data or extensive course history, the DFS approach will be fairly straightforward this week. The main priority will be to look for quality ball strikers who are in good form and make plenty of birdies, particularly on Par 5s, as well as guys who possess reliable putters, as this tournament could easily turn into a birdie-fest on the greens. Adding slight favoritism to some of the longer hitters makes sense as well but if a shorter hitter excels in other areas, they should certainly remain within DFS consideration. This tournament has been on the schedule for five years now. The winning score landed at 17-under or below in four iterations and, in windier conditions in 2021, Joel Dahmen won with a score of 12-under. Scoring will certainly take a hit if the winds kick up once again but more on that in the weather section below. Whether you’re building lineups for the match play event, the Corales, or both, best of luck this week!

Weather & Tee Times ⛅

(Click the image above to view the most up-to-date forecast)

⚖️Weather Verdict: All four days of this tournament will feature some very similar weather conditions. Golfers will see plenty of sunshine with temps in the upper-70s/low-80s and, most importantly, winds will be blowing at around 15 mph sustained with slightly stronger gusts. Those aren’t necessarily the easiest conditions to play in but the fact that those wind speeds will stay consistent throughout the tournament should help golfers make steady adjustments. Pending any major changes to the current forecast, there will not be any weather advantage for either wave.

Corales Puntacana Championship Tee Times

Key Stats to Consider 📊

1. Strokes Gained: Ball Striking (SG: App + SG: OTT) | 30%

2. Birdie or Better Percentage | 25%

3. Par 5 Average | 15%

4. Strokes Gained: Putting | 15%

5. Driving Distance | 10%

6. Par 4 Average | 5%

PGA Tour Stats Page

Corales Championship Model Standouts 🏅

Below are the top 20 ranked golfers in both my overall model and my key stats model. Below that are the top 20 leaders in average fantasy points over the last five and last ten starts. The players ranked on these lists do not necessarily mean they are the top golfers I’m targeting for this week's event, but many of these guys should no doubt be favorable DFS options.

Overall Model Rank: A golfer’s ranking (within the current field) in my personal DFS model, which weighs all of the key stats listed above in this newsletter, as well as things like course history, recent form, recent average fantasy scoring results, and odds to win.

Key Stat Rank: Provides a golfer’s overall rank (in relation to the field) in my "key stats only" model, which considers only the key stats listed above in this newsletter with the specified percentage weights allocated towards each statistic.

Corales Championship DFS Cheat Sheet 📑

Click the Cheat Sheet above for the direct image link

Alternative Cheat Sheet Direct Image Link

Cheat Sheet QR Code:

That will do it for our PGA preview! Best of luck this week and, once again, feel free to hit me up in the LineStar chat or on Twitter @Ryan_Humphries with any questions.