joel-dahmen-getty-cbs.jpg
Getty Images

Alternate events on the PGA Tour don't have the same prestige as full tour events but for the players participating, the chance to earn 300 FedEx Cup points, 24 Official World Golf Ranking points and a two-year tour exemption still has the potential to be life-changing. So while 64 of the best in the world participate in the WGC Match Play event in Texas, 120 other players will head to the Dominican Republic for the 2022 Corales Puntacana Championship. The tournament begins on Thursday, March 24, at the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club. Veteran Graeme McDowell will be one of the most notable players in the Corales Puntacana Championship 2022 field.

McDowell was the 2010 U.S. Open champion and he won this event in 2019 but is listed as a 45-1 long shot in the 2022 Corales Puntacana Championship odds. Defending champion Joel Dahmen is the 16-1 favorite, while Jhonattan Vegas is listed at 20-1 on this week's PGA Tour odds board. Before locking in your 2022 Corales Puntacana Championship picks, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

SportsLine's proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed in June of 2020. In fact, it's up almost $9,000 on its best bets since that point, nailing tournament after tournament.

At the 2021 Open Championship, McClure's best bets included Collin Morikawa winning outright even though he was listed as a massive 40-1 long shot. In addition, McClure's model was all over Jon Rahm's (10-1) first career major championship victory at the 2021 U.S. Open. Rahm was two strokes off the lead heading into the weekend, but the model still projected him as the winner. 

This same model has also nailed a whopping seven majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns.

Now that the Corales Puntacana Championship 2022 field is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected 2022 Corales Puntacana Championship leaderboard.

The model's top 2022 Corales Puntacana Championship predictions 

One major surprise the model is calling for at the Corales Puntacana Championship 2022: Sahith Theegala, one of the top favorites, stumbles this week and barely cracks the top 10. The 24-year-old was a former standout at Pepperdine and the PGA Tour rookie has had some success this season, with a T-3rd finish at the Waste Management Open and a T-7th last week at the Valspar Championship.

However, those performances were sandwiched around a couple of missed cuts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship. Consistency in general continues to be an issue for Theegala, as he's missed 14 cuts in 39 career starts since turning professional in the summer of 2020. He's currently losing strokes to the field on the putting green, ranking 141st on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: putting (-.125).

Another shocker: Kramer Hickok, a 45-1 long shot, makes a strong run at the title. He's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. After turning pro in 2015, the University of Texas product had to grind it out on the PGA Tour Canada and the Korn Ferry Tour to eventually earn his PGA Tour card. Hickok nearly captured a career-changing win at the 2021 Travelers Championship, losing in a spectacular eight-hole playoff against Harris English.

Hickok also had a fourth-place finish at the Houston Open late last season and has made the cut in his last two starts at the Valspar Championship and The Players Championship. Hickok currently sits 87th in the FedEx Cup standings and 139th in the Official World Golf Ranking, so a strong finish this week at Corales could open a lot of doors for the up-and-comer.

How to make 2022 Corales Puntacana Championship picks

The model is also targeting three other golfers with odds of 40-1 or higher who will make surprising runs. Anyone who backs these long shots could hit it big. You can only see them here.

So who will win the Corales Puntacana Championship 2022? And which long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected 2022 Corales Puntacana Championship leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed seven golf majors and is up almost $9,000 since the restart.

2022 Corales Puntacana Championship odds

Joel Dahmen 16-1
Jhonattan Vegas 20-1
Sahith Theegala 25-1
Nick Taylor 25-1
Alex Smalley 25-1
Mark Hubbard 28-1
Matthias Schwab 30-1
Greyson Sigg 30-1
Nate Lashley 35-1
Emiliano Grillo 35-1
Adam Svensson 35-1
Austin Smotherman 35-1
David Lipsky 40-1
Doc Redman 40-1
Thomas Detry 40-1
Brice Garnett 40-1
Aaron Rai 40-1
Rasmus Hojgaard 45-1
Peter Uihlein 45-1
Patrick Rodgers 45-1
Nicolai Hojgaard 45-1
Kram Hickok 45-1
Graeme McDowell 45-1
Brian Stuard 45-1
Chad Ramey 50-1
Danny Willett 60-1
Wyndham Clark 60-1
Vincent Whaley 60-1
Stephan Jaeger 60-1
Rafa Cabrera Bello 65-1
Nick Hardy 65-1
Martin Kaymer 65-1
Kurt Kitayama 65-1
John Huh 65-1
Hudson Swafford 65-1
Haotong Li 65-1
Dylan Wu 65-1
Sean O'Hair 70-1
Hank Lebioda 75-1
Victor Perez 75-1
Jonathan Byrd 75-1
Hayden Buckley 80-1
Cameron Percy 80-1
Callum Tarren 80-1
Sung Kang 80-1
Chase Seiffert 80-1
Ben Kohles 80-1
Roger Sloan 80-1
Vaughn Taylor 80-1
Tyler Duncan 90-1
Ryan Armour 100-1
Tommy Gainey 100-1
Seth Reeves 100-1
Patrick Flavin 100-1
Kelly Kraft 100-1
Curtis Thompson 100-1
Andrew Novak 100-1
Trey Mullinax 100-1
Brandon Wu 100-1
Scott Brown 100-1
Adam Schenk 100-1