Top picks for the Corales Puntacana Championship
The Corales Puntacana Championship is the first PGA Tour after the 2025 Masters. Keith Mitchell headlines the odds table at the Corales Puntacana Championship, but rising names like Rico Hoey and Nate Lashley quietly build their cases for a breakthrough week. The stage is set for another alternate-field shakeup.
Mitchell may be the betting favorite at 14/1, but projections suggest caution. The 33-year-old hasn’t cracked a top-10 finish in 2025, with a season-best T12 at the Valero Texas Open. More concerning? He ranks outside the top 90 in putting — a critical metric at a course that emphasizes precision on its paspalum greens. Despite finishing runner-up here in 2018, even the most optimistic projections now have him missing the top three this week.
That sets the tone for what may be one of the more wide-open events on the 2025 PGA calendar. Ben Griffin, currently the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 55 in the OWGR, comes in with similar odds (16-1 to 18-1) and far more consistent form. Griffin hasn’t missed a cut in his last six starts and brings a balanced game fit for Corales Puntacana Championship’s generous fairways and breezy conditions.
Alex Smalley and Harry Hall round out the top-tier picks, both carrying odds between 18/1 and 22/1. Smalley thrives on coastal courses and has fared well here in previous editions, while Hall’s prowess on the greens makes him a sneaky contender if he can capitalize on scoring conditions early.
But it’s the longer shots that have oddsmakers — and data models — doing a double take. Rico Hoey, at 33/1, ranks third on tour in strokes gained off the tee and fourth in greens in regulation. He also owns two top-25 finishes in his last four events, including a T11 in Houston. One predictive model even lists him as more likely to contend than any of the top three favorites.
Meanwhile, Nate Lashley is a name that continues to surface for sharp bettors. Winner of this event in 2017, back when it was part of the Web.com Tour, Lashley has the course familiarity and composure to weather a volatile leaderboard. At around 55/1, he offers strong value for an each-way play, especially considering the projected windy conditions heading into the weekend.
Even Brandt Snedeker, making his Corales debut, brings intrigue as a 125/1 longshot. His T10 at the Puerto Rico Open earlier this season suggests he’s not far off from stringing four good rounds together — especially on resort-style layouts.
Notable players and past winners competing this week at the Corales Puntacana Championship
When it comes to players, the Corales Puntacana Championship doesn’t boast the biggest names in the PGA Tour, but the field is hardly short on intrigue. A handful of past winners return in pursuit of their second title, including Joel Dahmen (2021), Chad Ramey (2022), Brice Garnett (2018), and Nate Lashley, who celebrated a victory here in 2017 when the tournament was a Web. com Tour event.
Another name to watch is Rafael Campos, a two-time top-three finisher at the Corales Puntacana Championship. Veterans such as Brandt Snedeker and Charley Hoffman bring gravitas to the field. Snedeker, a nine-time winner on the PGA Tour, is playing Corales for the first time, and Hoffman is back to a track on which he’s historically fared well.
Here's a list of past champions:
*Note: The event was part of the Web.com Tour in 2016 and 2017.