Winner's Bag
The clubs Chad Ramey used to win the 2022 Corales Puntacana Championship
Mike Ehrmann
One could wonder why hold an event opposite the WGC-Dell Match Play. It’s for stories such as that of Chad Ramey, a 29-year-old who basically doubled his career earnings on the PGA Tour when he won the Corales Puntacana Championship by one shot over Alex Smalley and Ben Martin.
After a bogey at the second hole at Puntacana Resort in the Dominican Republic on Sunday, Ramey recorded six birdies in a 13-hole stretch—including four in a row from Nos. 13 through 16—to take the lead. Martin missed a six-footer for birdie at the last that would have forced overtime. However, a steely par from Ramey at the last should not be overlooked.
Not the longest of drivers (he ranked 84th for the week in distance), Ramey had to take a conservative line off the tee on the par-4 home hole, leaving a lengthy approach of some 200 yards that he get on the green before producing an impressive two-putt for the win.
In fact, it was Ramey’s putter—a TaylorMade Spider GT Notchback—that served him well all week as he ranked third in putts per green in regulation, averaging 1.583 putts per GIR.
“I’ve been rolling the putter good all day, they just hadn’t been going in,” Ramey told PGATour.com. “I was kind of all around the hole on the front side. I didn’t change a thing. I didn’t do anything different. They just started going in.”
For a career-altering victory.
The clubs Chad Ramey used to win the 2022 Corales Puntacana Championship
Ball: TaylorMade TP5x
Driver: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (Project X HZRDUS TX), 10.5 degrees
3-wood: TaylorMade SIM2, 15 degrees
Hybrid: TaylorMade SIM2 Max, 19 degrees
Irons (3-PW): TaylorMade P7MC
Wedges: TaylorMade MG3 (52, 58 degrees)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider GT Notchback