Brice Garnett recalls 'great memories' in return to Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship

PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – An airport arrival for a PGA TOUR player is, for the most part, a mundane experience. It’s something they’ve done countless times around the world, and an uneventful zip through security, customs, and baggage claim is usually the best thing that could happen to guys who spend a good chunk of their lives on the road.

Brice Garnett had a totally different kind of arrival experience this week in Punta Cana, but he was OK with that.

A lasting image from the 2018 Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship was Garnett – who captured the event by four shots – tapping the hat of a young fan Sunday, who had been following him for most of the week.

It was a small gesture that went a long way. Alejandro, a young boy (and a golfer), was there to great Garnett at the airport when he arrived this week, holding a homemade sign.

On a white 22-inch by 28-inch Bristol board he wrote in block letters – Hi Brice.Welcome Back. I’m Alejandro (but how could Garnett forget?) alongside some hand-drawn photos.

“He actually added Suzanne, my girlfriend, on Instagram, so I get to keep up with his videos and his swings and him playing his tournaments,” said Garnett of his young fan.

Garnett’s girlfriend arrived Saturday night last year, and without a bag. She had nothing to change into for the final round – which was wet and windy – so Garnett went to the local mall to try to find her something to wear. Alejandro and his friends were there and he took a photo with them at the mall.

“It was such a good feeling to see him there at the airport,” said Garnett.

A lot has changed for Garnett since his maiden TOUR victory here a year ago, but the impact of his first triumph on the PGA TOUR really hit home upon his return to the Dominican Republic.

Garnett was no stranger to a professional golf winner’s circle, having won twice the year prior on the Web.com Tour and topping the Regular Season money list, securing a return to the PGA TOUR after playing 2014-16. But he said when he arrived last year he was just happy to come to a place as beautiful as the Corales Resort & Club, and get away from the usual grind of playing, practicing, and travelling.

“I just wanted to enjoy my week and ended up playing some great golf as a product of that,” he said. “This year I'm just super excited.”

Although Garnett admitted he hasn’t played well of late – he finished fifth at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in the fall but he’s missed six of his last seven cuts – he said his game is trending in the right direction.

“I have a lot of great memories and great feelings – as most players do when they return as the defending champion. I'm just excited to see the tournament grow and just to be here to support the event is just a great feeling,” he said.

“It's just fun to stay involved and to watch the golf in the Dominican grow.”

Garnett, as past champion, waxed poetic about Punta Cana and the golf course itself – the ‘Devil’s Elbow,’ holes 16-18 on the Tom Fazio-designed layout, will be a highlighted stretch this week – but he also knows what it’s like to be from somewhere small and have a big impact on the world’s stage.

Garnett is from Gallatin, Missouri, a small farming town of less than 2,000 people where he learned to play golf on a nine-hole layout. He almost didn’t pursue professional golf until his father encouraged him to keep going with it when school finished – despite graduating with a degree in business finance.

“Very close,” he said when asked how near he was to pursuing business full-time and not golf. “(Golf) was always a pipe dream. I wasn’t every really thinking about it.”

But one solid finish led to another – on the mini-tour level, mostly, before his 2013 Web.com Tour season saw him finish in The 25 for the first time – which led to the victories on the Web.com Tour and finally, a PGA TOUR trophy.

It’s been a long road from small-town Missouri to a five-star resort in the Dominican Republic, but Garnett would have had it any other way.

Especially now that his photo is plastered all over the golf course, and the airport, the decision he made all those years ago paid off.

“It’s really crazy how many people send me messages that have come here on vacation,” he said with a smile, “and see my face.”

And if he could inspire another Alejandro this week, he said he’d be even happier for it.

“For them to come out and be able to experience it and watch the best in the world, hopefully it encourages them,” he said. “There was a huge turnout for this event last year and we saw a lot of kids ... It’s just kind of cool to see how much it’s impacted golf here in the Dominican, and how many are getting involved in the game globally, which is what the PGA TOUR is trying to do.”