This article is part of our FantasyDraft PGA series.
Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Corales Golf Club - Par 72 - 7,668 yards
Field - 132 entrants
Purse - $3.0M
The Preview
Overshadowed by this week's WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship has been promoted from a Web.com Tour stop the past two years to an opposite field event on the PGA Tour this season. With much of the globe's top talent at Austin Country Club, only four of the Official World Golf Ranking's top-100 will make an appearance in the Dominican Republic. Past champions at Corales Golf Club include Nate Lashley and Dominic Bozzelli, as the former also plans to tee it up again this year with a bit more on the line. From a daily fantasy perspective, this event is tough to gauge with so many lesser known players at a foreign venue, but it will be key to target players with power and the ability to make birdies at an aggressive rate as each Lashley and Bozzelli posted at least one round of 65 or better en route to their victories.
FantasyDraft Value Picks - based on $100,000 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Emiliano Grillo - $17,200
Grillo is both the highest-ranked player in the OWGR and betting favorite for the Corales Championship, earning the top price on FantasyDraft as a result. He enters the week coming off finishes of T26-6-T8 in his last three starts worldwide, while the Argentinian also ranks an impressive 10th on Tour in GIR percentage, 14th in proximity and ninth in total driving this season.
Patrick Rodgers - $16,100
Rodgers has now made the cut in five consecutive events, notching a pair of top-10s during this stretch at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He's had issues with accuracy off the tee this season as he ranks just 146th in FIR percentage, but he should have enough room at Corales to let it fly on the lengthy setup. On a more positive note, Rodgers' short game has been great as he sits 12th in SG: Around-the-Green and 24th in SG: Putting.
Rory Sabbatini - $16,000
The 41-year-old vet has already racked up a trio of top-20 finishes throughout the first few months of 2018 to hop back inside the top-200 of the OWGR. He's coming off results of T5-T17 at the Valspar Championship and Honda Classic, while he ranks top-50 on Tour in both proxity and scrambling.
Glue Guys
Trey Mullinax - $15,200
Mullinax put together a solid performance en route to a T8 finish during his last start at the Valspar Championship, where he ranked third among the field in SG: Off-the-Tee and T14 in GIR percentage. A former All-American at the University of Alabama, Mullinax also owns experience at the Corales Golf Club, having finished T11 at the Web.com Tour event held here in 2016.
Derek Fathauer - $14,500
Fathauer has missed just two cuts in seven starts to begin his 2018 campaign, while he also managed to post back-to-back top-16s at the Honda Classic and Genesis Open. The 32-year-old has surprisingly been this solid despite ranking outside of the top-190 on Tour in SG: Off-the-Tee, though he's 40th in SG: Around-the-Green and 18th in par-three scoring.
Abraham Ancer - $14,500
With three top-20 finishes during the 2017-18 season, Ancer has proven his ability to compete against legitimate competition. He also broke 70 in each of his last two rounds during his past start at the Valspar Championship where he placed T16.
Bargain Bin
Sam Ryder - $14,300
Ryder not only finished runner-up at the Web.com's 2016 Corales Championship, but he also placed T12 the following year at the same event. He's one of a select few with a quality track record in Punta Cana, so his experience playing well at this venue should be advantageous. Ryder has also made the cut in five of his past six starts on the PGA Tour.
Rafael Campos - $14,100
Campos could be one of the more popular value picks this week, as the Puerto Rican has finished top-three in two of his past five starts on the Web.com Tour. He also placed T3 at the Web.com's Corales Championship last year in the Dominican, so he'll be familiar with the layout. In 2017, Campos ranked top-30 on the Web.com Tour in both birdie average and driving distance.
Eric Axley - $11,900
Axley's price feels way too low for someone who finished top-10 at the Panama Championship, top-50 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Championship and top-20 at each of the last two Corales Championships. The 43-year-old ranked sixth in putting average and 26th in birdie average on the Web.com Tour last season.
