The First Look: Puerto Rico Open

Plenty of international up-and-comers, PGA TOUR winners – including former world No. 1 Luke Donald – and 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour graduates all head to Puerto Rico for the 14th playing of the Puerto Rico Open.

FIELD NOTES: Recent TOUR winners heading to Puerto Rico include Jim Herman, Tyler Duncan, Sung Kang, Nate Lashley, Richy Werenski and Martin Trainer – who captured the title in Puerto Rico in 2019 … Sponsor exemptions include collegiate standouts like Trevor Werbylo (University of Arizona; made TOUR debut at the 2021 Fortinet Championship), Kevin Yu (Arizona State) and Spencer Ralston (University of Georgia) … Kurt Kitayama, who held the 18-hole lead at The Honda Classic, is heading to Puerto Rico to try and maintain the momentum … Ryan Brehm is making his first TOUR start since last year's Wyndham Championship. He’s competing on a minor medical extension and has played in four Korn Ferry Tour events so far in 2022 – finding the weekend in all four … Austin Connelly is playing on a sponsor exemption after winning the Golf Puerto Rico Island Championship last summer. Perhaps best known for a magical run at the Open Championship in 2017 when he finished T14, he hasn’t teed it up at an event offering Official World Golf Ranking points since 2019 … Former World No. 1 Luke Donald, major winner Jason Dufner, Ryder Cupper Rafa Cabrera Bello and 2011 FedExCup Champion Bill Haas are all in the field.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 300 FedExCup points.

COURSE: Grand Reserve Golf Club (Championship Course), par 72, 7,506 yards. This Tom Kite design a beast, featuring two par-5s measuring longer than 600 yards on the back nine, and players often need to battle blustery conditions.

Lots of excitement to come at this golf course over the next few years. The U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship will be played in April (the first time a USGA championship is being held outside the U.S. mainland), while the 2023 Latin America Amateur Championship will be held at Grand Reserve, Jan. 12-15.

STORYLINES: Local star Rafael Campos is looking to finally take a win in Puerto Rico across the finish line. Campos has been in the mix almost every year in his homeland, and he finished tied for third a year ago after holding the 54-hole lead … With spots open in Puerto Rico for players in the lower tiers of the TOUR’s Priority Ranking, this is a key week to earn valuable FedExCup points … The Puerto Rico Open has never seen a back-to-back winner, and that will continue in 2022, as Branden Grace is teeing it up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational … Eight of the last 13 winners in Puerto Rico have made the tournament their first TOUR victory.

72-HOLE RECORD: 267, Chesson Hadley (2014).

18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Jhonattan Vegas (final round, 2020).

LAST TIME: Branden Grace won for the second time on the PGA TOUR and it came after he lost his father, Peter, in the month prior after he had contracted COVID-19. Grace dunked his second shot from a greenside bunker on the par-4 17th for eagle before adding a birdie on the par-5 closing hole in Puerto Rico to top Jhonattan Vegas by a shot. Grace managed to hold off a hard-charging Vegas, whose Sunday 65 was tied for the low round of the day. The victory was Grace’s first on TOUR since the 2016 RBC Heritage. Grayson Murray and Puerto Rican Rafael Campos finished tied for third, while Brice Garnett and Andrew Putnam rounded out the top five.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Television: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 2:30 p.m.-5 p.m. (Golf Channel). Sunday, 2:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. (Golf Channel).