The Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship is a low-key gathering in the Dominican Republic which may be ignored by casual golf fans in the aftermath of the US Open, but for the likes of Henrik Stenson and Branden Grace it is an important tournament.
Stenson and Grace seeking revivals
Stenson, Open champion in 2016, has miserable post-lockdown form figures of MC-35-MC-MC, which is why the Swede has headed to the Corales Course in a bid to find his game. The run of disappointment has included two Majors and a WGC, so Stenson will be hoping that the enormous drop in grade will deliver a more positive result.
Grace, who in 2017 carded the lowest round in Major history in the Open Championship, is also suffering an uncharacteristic struggle. The South African has missed seven of his last eight cuts, including by eight shots in the US Open last week. Stenson can be backed at 25/1 for a morale-boosting Corales triumph, while Grace is available at 40/1.
Will Zalatoris Build on Winged Foot Heroics
Bryson DeChambeau won the US Open in fine style and rightly took most of the plaudits, but a share of sixth place was a fantastic effort from Will Zalatoris, who fully deserves clear favouritism for the Corales shootout.
Zalatoris made a hole-in-one on the first day at Winged Foot, then almost claimed a second ace at the 13th as his ball danced around the cup. The 24-year-old looked entirely comfortable in the elite company all week, jostling on the leaderboard with the likes of Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy, and the Korn Ferry Tour star could build on that success by winning at Corales.
Zalatoris has finished in the top 20 in his last 12 tournaments, churning out greens in regulation for fun, and his self-belief must be sky-high after his latest exploits. He probably needed a day off after the US Open – and he is making his Corales debut – but the favourite comes with no other negatives. The 12/1 about Zalatoris will do for many punters.
Justin Suh Could Make an Overdue Tour Impression
In the summer of 2019 at the Travelers Championship, Matthew Wolff, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland and Justin Suh were paraded in front of the media and billed as the next big things in golf – the newly turned professional having been invited to show off their talent in a PGA Tour event.
Wolff quickly made his breakthrough on the PGA Tour, then Morikawa soon followed, before Hovland won the Puerto Rico Open in February. Suh, though, has not managed to make an impression and needed an invite into the Corales Puntanana Championship.
There is a strong chance Suh makes good use of his invite and shows the PGA Tour what it has been missing. A wrist injury got his pro career off to a bad start, but the powerhouse has got healthy again and is worth considering as a lively 125/1 outsider for Corales glory.
*All odds correct at time of writing