BLOG#134 April 24, 2024 RESULTS CORALES PUNTACANA CHAMPIONSHIP

BLOG#134 April 24, 2024 RESULTS CORALES PUNTACANA CHAMPIONSHIP

April 18 to 21, 2024 Par 72 Purse $4M 

Puntacana Resort & Clubs Corales Golf Club Dominican Republic

This tournament is held the same dates as the RBC Heritage.  It is an opportunity for players not eligible for the Heritage to win $ and to play in a few future signature events. 

It is the 7th year for this event won last year by Matt Wallace with Nicolai Hojgaard 2nd.

This is an example of how these opposite-tour tournaments can help golfers.  

Wallace is from England and lives in London.  He attended Jacksonville State University in 2010&11, turned pro in 2012.  He has 4 DP World Tour wins and this is his only PGA win.  

This year he has missed 5 cuts in 10 tournaments.  Best finish #17 at Valspar.

FINAL ROUND

1 Billy Horschel-23 63 course record.  With this opposite-tour win he will gain opportunities for 2023 future PGA events.  His first place winnings were $720,000.  

FEEL GOOD STORY

While professional golf has been tainted for the last 3 years by formation of LIV and its effect both positive and negative.  The positive is that golfers who have chosen LIV over the PGA are much richer.  Also the PGA players have benefited from increased purses. 

However the negative of the infighting between the 2 leagues has created ill will among the players and golf fans.  TV ratings, even for tournaments like the Masters, are down by 20% to 35% or more and interest in Professional golf seems to be on the decline.

However this past weekend can give us some hope that things will eventually settle down and a return to normality will return to this great sport.

The victory of Billy Horschel, 37 years old, in this opposite-field tournament was overshadowed by the performance and accomplishments of both Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda, but his win was one for the good guys.  All three individuals are wonderful and talented human beings.  However while Scheffler and Korda’s careers are skyrocketing, Horschel’s seemed to be down trending.  He missed the cut at the Valero and did not play in the Masters.  His last victory was at the 2022 Memorial when he made a 53 foot putt for an eagle on the 15th hole to seal a victory by 4 shots over Aaron Wise with Patrick Cantlay finishing 3rd.  His winning share was $2.2M.  With this weekends victory he goes to #40 in FedX points and qualifies for the Wells Fargo.  He still needs to increase his OWGR to qualify for the US Open & OPEN.  One of the class acts on the PGA Tour and has worked very hard on his game for this result.  

OTHER INFORMATION

For the next 3 weeks it will be a problem for these 3 tournaments to attract big names. 

Apr 24-28 Zurich Classic of New Orleans.  This is a best ball, alternate shot, team play.  In my opinion OK for Ryder Cup, but the least interesting tournament of the year.  I will only be publishing results on Monday April 29th, as of the 80 teams playing I have interest in only 4.  Also I do not like the format, and the field looks like a Korn Ferry event with few stars. Also, as last year, same dates as LIV’s most successful tournament in Adelaide, Australia.

May 2-5 Byron Nelson I always liked this tournament named after one of the finest golfers ever.  One of my favorite golfers, Jason Day, broke out of a long slump and won last year.  He was picked 4th to win but sadly I did not give him a chance.  (Blog Vol 3 Part 2 Page 7(32).

May 9-12 Wells Fargo,1 week before PGA Championship but as a signature event should have the best field of the 3.