Billy Horschel jumped out to an early, scorching start with four birdies on the first five holes in the final round to quickly take the lead, one he would never relinquish. Horschel then added another four birdies and an eagle to his scorecard to shoot a final-round 63 and win the Corales Puntacana Championship for his eighth PGA Tour title. The 63 also matched a course record at the Corales course at Puntacana Resort in the Dominican Republic.
Horschel, 37, followed 67-69 with 66-63 over the weekend to end at 23-under, two shots ahead of Wesley Bryan, who was looking to go wire-to-wire while playing on a sponsor exemption. It was his best finish on tour since 2017.
This marks the sixth time in the previous seven playings of the event that the winner has been in his 30s. Horschel also earned $US720,000 from the overall $US4 million purse. Bryan earned $436,000.
For Horschel, it was his first victory since the Memorial in 2022, where he topped Aaron Wise by four shots.
“This game of golf’s so fickle, I think you can put a lot into it and get everything you want out of it,” Horschel said. “But I knew in my 14 years, 13 years previously on the PGA Tour that I had the ability, I had the talent, I just needed to continue to work hard and do the right things and continue to believe that good stuff was going to come to the forefront at some point in time.”
Horschel was asked about winning an opposite-field event for the first time in his career. He was not in the signature events as he finished last season ranked 90th in the FedEx Cup standings. He entered this week 83rd in the world ranking, having missed the cut at his last start, the Valero Texas Open two weeks ago.
“The PGA Tour has a lot of tournaments and it’s tough for every tournament to get their due,” he said. “Opposite-field events have been crucial for a lot of players coming up the ranks. Look at Tony Finau, Viktor Hovland winning in Puerto Rico, Matt Wallace won this. So listen, it’s another opportunity to play, it’s another opportunity to become a better player, to get that win on the PGA Tour.”
Also of note, twin brothers Parker and Pierceson Coody both finished inside the top 20. Parker opened with a first-round 66 and ended tied for sixth place at 16-under-par. Pierceson opened with consecutive rounds of 67 and tied for 18th place at 12-under-par, four shots behind his brother. Sydney’s Harrison Endycott was the leading Australian finished in a tie for 33rd at 10-under.
