Power Rankings: Corales Puntacana Championship

If the alternative for failing to qualify for The Open Championship is a spot in the Corales Puntacana Championship, so be it. A summertime retreat at a resort in a tropical destination not only calms the nerves as it eases the sting, it also presents as the first step to gain entry into the major next year.

The last Additional Event of the season has a new date and a redesigned field construct. For those details, how the Corales Course at Puntacana Resort and Club on the eastern edge of the Dominican Republic sets up, and more, continue your scroll past those projected to contend for the 10th title in tournament history and others to consider.

Others to consider

• Manuel Elvira ... After sitting at No. 7 in the Power Rankings for last week’s ISCO Championship, the Spaniard hit the bull’s-eye with a T8, his third top-20 finish in four starts worldwide. So, it’s time to run it back, albeit at Corales Puntacana, where he’s a debutant, unlike at Hurstbourne Country Club, where he finished third last year. He co-led the field in Kentucky in greens hit and led outright in both proximity to the hole and par-3 scoring.
• Joel Dahmen ... You never need an assist in keeping an eye on this guy, especially at Corales Puntacana, where he’s the all-time earnings leader with a breakthrough victory in 2021 and a T2 in 2025 among four top-15 finishes. He’s also responsible for the course-record 62 in the opening round last year. Indeed, this is his playground. However, after a pair of top 10s in his first four starts this season, it’s been a struggle for the affable 38-year-old, who’s dropped to 121st in the FedExCup, but he’s still an elite ball-striker who ranks second on the PGA TOUR in proximity to the hole.
• Rafael Campos ... This isn’t his native Puerto Rico Open where he’s thrived, but it’s where he splits his time and shared runner-up honors in 2021 and placed T14 in 2024. This isn’t only about feel and familiarity, however. He’s also fresh off a season-best T15 at the ISCO Championship, where he gained more strokes with the putter in measured action anywhere for the first time in almost two years.
• David Skinns ... The 44-year-old PGA TOUR non-winner from England is still plugging away. It proves that the dream, just like the golf ball, doesn’t care about your age. After opening 2026 with two top 20s on the Korn Ferry Tour, including a season-opening T16 in The Bahamas, he’s added a T8 in Puerto Rico and two top 25s on the PGA TOUR in limited action. Also placed T24 here last year despite scoring 1 over after the cut.

The last time that the Corales Puntacana was held, Rory McIlroy had just completed the career Grand Slam and the eventual 2025 PGA TOUR Player of the Year, Scottie Scheffler, still was winless on the season. That was 15 months ago and this tournament was contested concurrently with the RBC Heritage, a Signature Event.

This season, the RBC Heritage stood alone in its slot the week after the Masters and the annual trip to the Dominican Republic was shifted to its current position as the anchor of the Additional Events. As a result, and just like last week’s ISCO Championship, the field of 144 at Corales consists of 50 DP World Tour members who are aiming to pad their points in the Race to Dubai. However, should one win, he will be extended the option of PGA TOUR membership through 2027. (Only PGA TOUR members are eligible for the top-10 exemption into next week’s 3M Open.)

All other customary perks apply to PGA TOUR members at the Corales Puntacana. They include 300 FedExCup points, a two-year membership exemption as a winner and spots in THE PLAYERS Championship and PGA Championship in 2027. Eligibility criteria for The Open next year is to be determined, and while a victory will not be enough on its own, it will go the longest way available in connecting with one of the eventual pathways for entry.

Corales has been the only host course in tournament history, and it’s unchanged since last year. The stock par 72 stretches way out to 7,670 yards, but fairways are among the most generous everyone in the field ever will see and the primary rough is just an inch-and-a-half tall. (Remember, this is a resort course.) Hitting 12 greens in regulation per round on the average-sized targets will be running in place, but when the wind is up on the exposed track, it still will translate into outpacing others relatively.

The prevailing push from the east will be the norm throughout the tournament, and it should present no worse than a manageable moderate breeze. Still, to prepare for the potential, putting surfaces are governed to peak at 10½ feet as measured by the Stimpmeter. Otherwise, essentially identical conditions are expected every day. The air will warm into the upper 80s and passing clouds will not portend rain, although there’s rarely a zero-percent chance of it at this time of year in Punta Cana.

The entire property is covered with Supreme paspalum, “The Devil’s Elbow” included. That’s the menacing but quirky nickname for the final three holes – the par-4 16th, the par-3 17th and the par-4 18th. No. 17 was the hardest hole on the course in each of the last two years and just outside the top-10 hardest par 3s on the PGA TOUR in both seasons. So, striding to the last tee after penciling down a par at the penultimate hole will be job well done.

Defending champion Garrick Higgo scored 1 over on the set across all four rounds a year ago. While he parred Nos. 16 and 18 in every round, he played 17 birdie-bogey-par-bogey en route to a one-stroke victory at 14-under 274. Scoring for the week came to rest at 71.176, but it was influenced by gusty winds in the finale that ballooned the scoring average for the round to 73.129. But again, that was in mid-April. While Billy Horschel's tournament record of 23-under 265 likely isn’t in jeopardy to be replaced this week, the champion should post something between Horschel and Higgo this week.

ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE

PGATOUR.com’s Rob Bolton previews and recaps every tournament. Refer to the timing of his contributions below. He’s also active as @RobBoltonGolf on X, where you can connect with him.

• MONDAY: Power Rankings (The Open Championship)
• TUESDAY: Sleepers (The Open Championship); Power Rankings (Corales Puntacana Championship); Expert Picks
• WEDNESDAY: Fantasy Insider
• SUNDAY: Points and Payouts (The Open Championship); Points and Payouts (Corales Puntacana Championship); Qualifiers

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