After a stressful week trying to keep up with DeChambeau's drives, Twofer Tuesday opts for the laidback shores of the Dominican Republic and the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship.
The CPRCC has moved from the Korn Ferry Tour to an alternate field event to (this playing only) a fullblown FedExCup event offering 500 points. Defending champion Graeme McDowell would certainly love to repeat this time! And if he does so, he'll be the first player to successfully defend his title.
Unlike most of the events since the restart, the CPRCC field isn't stacked to the gills with top players. The highest-ranked player in the field is Henrik Stenson (OWGR #43), who is making his debut at this event. That means the event is more wide open for someone to break through for their first win this year or perhaps even the first of their career.
That doesn't mean this is a weak field. A quick look at the field list shows a number of solid players coming off a missed trip to East Lake as well as several players on major medical extensions. Even the sponsor exemptions strike me as reasonable bets to win.
All of which means this is going to be one of the hardest weeks to me to pick so far this season.
- Will Zalatoris is coming off a T6 at Winged Foot, meaning he made it into this event on his own and doesn't need to use the sponsor's invite he originally had. Although he is the #4 pick on pgatour.com's Power Rankings, that's not why I picked him. I figure if you can shoot +5 at Winged Foot in those conditions, Corales Puntacana should be a breeze!
- My other pick is Thomas Detry.The young Belgian hasn't won on the ET yet but he had a runner-up at the Celtic Classic and was only +6 for three rounds at the US Open before shooting 81 in the final round to finish T49. Still, that's a great finish in Wales and a decent showing on the toughest US Open course in the rotation. I think the Dominican Republic will be good for him.
GC's coverage starts Thursday at 3pm ET. Even with a stiff breeze, the Corales Puntacana course should be a good place for players to get their groove back... and great scenery for us fans to watch.
No comments:
Post a Comment