2019 Corales Puntacana Championship: DraftKings Picks

While most of the attention will be on the WGC Dell Match Play event in Austin, there is an alternate tournament in Punta Cana. Last year was the first time that Corales Puntacana Golf Club hosted a PGA Tour event, and we are back for round two.

Brice Garnett walked away as the first-time champion last season. He won by a comfortable four strokes over the now 58th ranked player in the World in Keith Mitchell. Garnett got off to a hot start carding a 63 in the opening round and was able to merely coast through the weekend. He returns this week in poor form, making the cut in just one of his past seven events on tour.

Expect to see players go very low at Corales Golf Club. Last year, there were 18 players who ended up -10 or better. That being said, I will be targeting birdie-makers. The course also features so easy to hit fairways, so targeting bombers are in play. You can also consider Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. Lastly, recent form comes into play as this is a weaker, secondary field. Some players will separate themselves from the rest.

With the Corales Punta Cana Championship being an alternate event, we are without (roughly) the top-70 golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking. The highest ranked player in the field this week, is rookie Sungjae Im (59). He sprung up 13 spots on the OWGR, but was just a week late in terms of entering the field at the WGC Dell Match Play.

Note: Of the top seven favorites at the Corales Puntacana Championship, none of them finished inside of the top-20. Though it may seem like some golfers in the field are elite, they don’t always come out on top.

If you haven’t heard, Tony Romo is in the field. Yes, as a golfer. We’ll get to that later.

It may be difficult, but try to overlook the fact of how highly priced some of these players are. Being such a weak field that the Corales Puntacana Championship brings, prices are going to seem inflated. Jhonattan Vegas is the highest priced player on DraftKings this week at $11,500.

He is a strong play, but this price is much too steep. The three players priced in the $10k range: Aaron Baddeley ($10,700), Denny McCarthy ($10,400), and Nate Lashley ($10,100) can all be faded. Here are the picks:

Sungjae Im $11,300

The favorite to win the Corales Puntacana Championship is the 20-year-old rookie, Sungjae Im. He won’t be 20 for long, as his 21st birthday is actually this Saturday. Hopefully, he doesn’t celebrate too hard on Saturday and ruin a chance to be a PGA Tour winner on Sunday.

On a serious note, Im is the class of this field. He plays just about every single week and seems to always be up near the top of the leaderboard. Im is coming into this week in great form as well. He has two top-5 finishes in his past three events. Most recently, a T4 this past week at the Valspar Championship.

Sure, $11,300 may be a steep price, but a young player like Im still has a lot to play for. I would bank on a made cut, which is very important here as anything can happen. With the way Im is playing he could very well pull away from the field this weekend enroute to his first career PGA Tour victory

Joaquin Niemann $9,900

Another 20-year-old seeking his first PGA Tour win is Joaquin Niemann. Though he is not in the prime form we saw last year, Niemann’s game is coming back making four straight cuts. This is far and away the weakest field he has played against on tour as he passed on the previous alternate event in Puerto Rico. Priced just under $10,000, Niemann is a nice option on DraftKings.

Alternate Options: Trey Mullinax ($9,500), and Joel Dahmen ($9,100).

Dominic Bozzelli $8,400

Playing on conditional status for the 2019 PGA Tour season, Dominic Bozzelli is going to take every opportunity he has to regain his card. He had a medical extension to begin the season, but now will have a limited number of tournaments he will be able to play. Every tournament has significance.

Bozzelli is currently 17th on tour, and first in this field in terms of Birdie or Better. He had a nice fall finish making his last three cuts in 2018. Bozzelli had a top-5 at the Desert Classic back in January but has only made one cut since (Puerto Rico Open). Priced at $8,400 on DraftKings, Bozzelli is worth a look.

Dylan Frittelli $8,200

A year ago, Dylan Frittelli was getting ready to make his WGC Dell Match Play debut. Now here we are, getting him as the 20th priced player in the field at the Corales Puntacana Championship.

Though he hasn’t cracked the top-25 yet this year, Frittelli hasn’t been playing all that bad. He’s made two of his last three cuts, both being inside the top-40. Frittelli also has a nice SG: Off the Tee game, as he ranks 30th on tour.

Julian Etulain $8,000

The 30-year-old has quietly put together a solid rookie season. Though he has yet to crack the top-20 this year, Etulain has been a cut-making machine. Since the first of the year, he has missed just one cut in eight events.

Etulain is currently riding a streak of three straight made cuts and these are actually his best finishes of the year (none worse than T36). He will need his putter to stay hot, as he currently ranks 16th in SG: Putting.

Alternate Options: Jonathan Byrd ($8,300), and Fabian Gomez ($8,500).

This range features tons of intriguing players that will help fill your roster out. Let’s take a look:

Matt Every $7,800

We find Matt Every priced below $8,000 this week at the Corales Punta Cana Championship. Just a few weeks back in the other alternate event, the Puerto Rico open, everyone was paying $9,000 for him. That was following a top-15 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro AM, but it was just a month ago. Every ranks 35th on tour in Birdie or Better percentage.

Roger Sloan $7,600

The Canadian, Roger Sloan, is another golfer who has put together a nice start to his rookie season. Sloan has made cuts consistently all season and has actually made his past four. This all started back at the Puerto Rico open, where he finished in second place behind Martin Trainer.

He followed that up with back to back top-30’s at the Honda Classic and then the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Sloan is inside the top-10 in this field in terms of Birdie or Better percentage and is a nice value on DraftKings at $7,600.

D.J. Trahan $7,000

For some reason, D.J. Trahan pops up everywhere on the key stats for this week. He played the event a season ago, finishing in a tie for 60. When looking at the key stats, Trahan is inside of the top 35 in Birdie or Better, Driving Distance, and SG: Off the Tee.

He has back-to-back top-20 finishes on the PGA Tour and has only teed up three times. The former PGA Tour winner is very affordable at just $7,000 on DraftKings. He might just find himself in the mix this week at the Corales Puntacana Championship.

Alternate Options: Sam Burns ($7,900), Carlos Ortiz ($7,200), Cameron Davis ($7,100), and Seth Reeves ($7,000).

As we get down into this range, there is a clear drop-off. Don’t get me wrong, I love Tony Romo in the booth for CBS. But I will not be rostering him at $6,000, coming off of a last-place finish in 2018. Even in this field at the Corales Punta Cana Championship. However, it will be fun to watch Romo tee it up this week and I’m sure some psychos will sneak him into a lineup or two.

Make it easy on yourself, and completely fade everyone who is priced $6,500 and below. There are a few rookies who aren’t all that bad: such as Jim Knous ($6,200), Chris Thompson ($6,300), and Wes Roach ($6,400).

But none of them have done much for me this season. Unless you absolutely have to dip down this low, they would be the only three under $6,500 that I would even consider. The upper end of the $6k range does provide some value though:

Hank Lebioda ($6,900)

He may not have much to show for it, but rookie Hank Lebioda has made four of his last five cuts. None of them have been inside of the top-25, but his name has flashed early on leaderboards. Lebioda ranks 47th on tour in SG: Off the Tee and 66th in Driving Distance. He is also a strong ball striker and is consistently hitting greens. Lebioda is one of my favorite overall value plays on the slate. At $6,900, he allows you to pay up for a few higher-end players.

Alex Prugh ($6,800)

My only issue with Alex Prugh is that the form is not there. He actually rates out fairly well as he is inside of the top-50 in both Driving Distance, and SG: Off the Tee. Prugh is a longshot, but can be looked at in GPP’s.

Alternate Options: Brandon Harkins ($6,900), Mackenzie Hughes ($6,900), and Fredrik Jacobson ($6,800).