Garnett seeks to be crowned Corales Puntacana Championship champion again

Punta Cana, La Altagracia, D.R. March 24, 2023.- 120 players kicked off the first round of the Corales Puntacana Championship PGA TOUR Event, where Brice Garnett, King of Corales and 2018 tournament champion, is looking to make history by becoming the first to win the sporting encounter for the second time.

In this first round, player Brice Garnett finished in first place managing to shoot an impressive 66 (-6). This is Garnett’s sixth time participating in the tournament. Ben Martin, in turn, finished as co-leader for the second consecutive year, also shooting an impressive 66 (-6).

Garnett and Martin were the only players to finish the first round bogey-free.

Likewise, Matt Wallace concluded his first round with a 67 (-5), while six players closed the first day with 68 (-4). Wallace, who finished in third place, made his debut in this tournament after finishing in 17th place last week at the prestigious Valspar tournament.

Max McGreevy and Dylan Wu are both looking for their first win in a PGA TOUR event. Both are two years into their tour careers and are the only two players to post scores of -4, despite being in their early twenties.

Defending champion Chad Ramey finished 26th, closing with a 71 (-1).

Interestingly, Erik Compton, who has undergone two heart transplants on two occasions, finished the first round with a 71 (-1), making an amazing birdie on the 18th hole, also known as the Devil’s Elbow, perhaps one of the most challenging holes in the entire Caribbean area.

Tomorrow, Friday, March 24, the players will go out again to defend or improve their positions. At the end of the day it will be determined which of the players will make the cut to play in the final phase of the tournament, to be held on Saturday, March 25 and Sunday, March 26.

Dominican Participation

Three Dominicans also participated actively in this first round: Juan José Guerra, closing with a 73 (+1); Radhamés Peña, 76 (+4) and Hirám Silfa, 80 (+8). The three ranked 58th, 93rd and 119th, respectively.

Corales Puntacana Championship PGA TOUR

Held March 20-26 at the Corales golf course, the event has a purse of $3.8 million dollars, the highest in the history of the Dominican sport, and valid for 300 FedExCup points. The winner will win US$684,000.

About the Corales Golf Course

Corales Puntacana Resort & Club, home of the Dominican Republic’s first and only PGA TOUR Event, was designed by world-renowned architect Tom Fazio. Opened in 2010, it is located next to the cliffs, bays, natural ocean inlets, inland lakes and coral quarries of the Caribbean Sea. It has 18 holes, six of them facing the sea and culminates with its last three holes known as the “Devil’s Elbow”, which ranks among the most spectacular and difficult finishing holes in the world.

Sponsors

The sixth edition of the Corales Puntacana Championship is presented under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism (MITUR), Banreservas, Universal, Texaco GB Energy, Brugal, Equifax, Punta Cana International Airport, DOMICEM, Puntacana Resort & Club, Aiport Team Solutions, The Westin Puntacana Resort & Club, Tortuga Bay Puntacana Resort & Club, Martí, Claro, Centro Médico Punta Cana, Autohaus, Club Car, CDN Deportes, Listín Diario, Ritmo Social, Grupo Raya, Grupo Viamar, Cerveza Canita, Caribbean Catering Services (CCS), Coca Cola, Freixenet Cava, Aperol Spritz, Cava Alta, IMCA, AVIS, DP World, Tracks, Duty Free Americas, Café Santo Domingo, Runners Adventures, United Pretoleum, GULF, LLODRA, Baskin Robbins, DBI Industrial, Serviport, Vitalie, Grupo Dupla, Picky Plants, Spectro, Grayline, KG Constructora, Tu Boleta, Altron Trading Co, Codelpa, Emilio’s, Coolekos, INPROTEC, Sky Cana, The Butcher Shop, BlueMall Puntacana, Hartemania, Hartemontajes, Tribe & Folk, Mamitas Tequilla & Soda, Hola Punta Cana by Oscar Cerda and Onsite Caribbean.