Joel Dahmen couldn’t believe it as he jumped in the air and was joyous like a young child Sunday when he tapped in a short putt and won the Corales Puntacana Resort Championship.
“I don’t know how I’m here, it’s crazy,” Dahmen said after winning on the PGA Tour for the first time in 111 tournaments. “It’s really hard to win a golf tournament. I mean, I know it was hard,” said Dahmen, who watched fellow competitor Rafael Campos narrowly miss a birdie attempt on the final hole that would have sent the two into a playoff. Instead, Campos’ putt burned the right lip of the hole, setting up the simple par tap-in for Dahmen.
“I was in control, or so I thought,” Dahmen said, recalling his good play on the first nine holes that saw him birdie the first hole then add three more to make the turn with a four-under par 32. Then golf took over and after bogeys at the 11th and 14th, Dahmen found himself locked in a battle with Campos, who was after his first win as well.
Campos and Dahmen were tied at 12-under par heading for the par three 17th. The wind was up all day and the 17th sits right on the water. Campos left his tee shot well right of the green. He hit a very poor pitch, left it shy of the green and wound up with bogey, opening the door for Dahmen. It was so windy that Dahmen took off his floppy sun hat over the last few holes in favor of a cap.
At the final hole, Dahmen’s approach left him 30 feet for birdie and he snuggled it within a foot then stepped back and watched Campos line up his 14-footer for birdie and a tie. Campos hit a great putt but it refused to fall. Dahmen finished with 70 for the win, Campos carded 71 and tied with Sam Ryder for second at 11-under. Ryder finished ahead of the final group and shot the best round among the contenders — a five-under par 67.
Dahmen jumped in the air and began his victory celebration. He hugged his caddie, Geno Bonnalie then Dahmen’s wife, Lona, jumped in and the three of them soaked in the joy. Dahmen is a cancer survivor having fought and beat testicular cancer.
“Yeah, this is just a lot of validation — this is just really special,” Dahmen said, “There’s a whole part of that, you just kind of have to kind of put it all on the line, put yourself out there. And if you’re not good enough, you’re not good enough, but if you put yourself out there, at least you’re going to find out.”
Dahmen has gone back-and-forth between the PGA Tour and the Korn-Ferry Tour but this win earned him a full two-year exemption and a spot in the PGA Championship and the 2022 Players Championship.
“It’s unbelievable. This is awesome,” Dahmen said with a huge smile on his face. “The last seven or eight weeks has been tough.”
Adam Svensson Wins Club Car Championship:
Adam Svensson won for the second time on the Korn-Ferry Tour Sunday in a playoff with Max McGreevy at the Club Car Championship.
Svensson birdied his final two holes in regulation play at The Landings Club to match McGreevy’s birdie-birdie finish as the two tied at 17-under par for regulation play.
Both had a chance to win it on the first playoff hole, Svensson missed from 12-feet for birdie then McGreevy agonized over a missed birdie attempt from just six feet. “I thought he was going to make it,” said Svensson, who closed with a 66.
Svensson and McGreavy both found the fairway bunker off the 18th tee the second time around and were forced to lay up. Svensson hit his 95-yard approach shot to 8 feet and snuck in the birdie putt for the win.
“I would say it’s my biggest tournament win ever,” said Svensson, whose last victory was at the 2018 Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club. “I put so much hard work in in the offseason — hardest I’ve ever worked in my life. I’ve never been that hard of a worker. I made a commitment to myself about five months ago,” Svensson said. “I was tired of playing well, not playing well, lost my card, and it’s because I’m not working hard enough. Now I’m fully committed, and we’ll see where it takes me.
“You grow up and you realize you’ve got to do things correctly. I think the Korn Ferry Tour has done a great job of building me as a player.”
