Mass player exodus rocks PGA Tour event during The Open week

Sixteen withdrawals have transformed the Corales Puntacana Championship, creating opportunities for a host of late replacements.

Andy Roberts

16 Jul 2026

The PGA Tour's opposite-field event has been hit by an extraordinary wave of withdrawals, with no fewer than 16 players pulling out before this week's Corales Puntacana Championship gets underway in the Dominican Republic.

With the world's biggest names competing at The Open Championship, the Corales Puntacana Championship traditionally features a smaller field of players looking to secure valuable FedExCup points and a PGA Tour victory. But this year's tournament has been forced into a significant reshuffle after a remarkable number of late withdrawals.

The changes have triggered a domino effect throughout the field, with several alternates receiving unexpected starts just days before the opening round.

Among those to withdraw are Emiliano Grillo, Mark Hubbard, Matti Schmid, Brian Campbell, Erik van Rooyen, Lee Hodges, Patton Kizzire, Taylor Montgomery, Neal Shipley, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Chandler Phillips, Nick Watney and Zac Blair, while both Henrik Norlander and Martin Laird initially gained places in the field before later withdrawing themselves.

The late exits have opened the door for a host of replacements, including Harry Higgs, Cameron Champ, Jason Dufner, William McGirt, Chez Reavie, Jonathan Byrd, Robert Streb, Will Gordon, Austin Cook and Adam Long.

Long's route into the tournament was particularly unusual. He only secured a place after Taylor Montgomery withdrew, but Montgomery had only entered the field after Martin Laird pulled out. Laird, meanwhile, had only gained entry after Lee Hodges withdrew, highlighting the chain reaction created by the flurry of late changes.

Despite the disruption, defending champion Garrick Higgo returns looking to retain the title he won 12 months ago. The South African's most recent PGA Tour appearance ended in disappointment after he missed the cut at the PGA Championship, where he incurred a two-shot penalty for arriving late to his opening-round tee time.

Joel Dahmen also returns to Corales with unfinished business. The American appeared destined to lift the trophy last year before finishing with three consecutive bogeys, allowing Higgo to snatch victory.

Elsewhere in the field are recent ISCO Championship winner Steve Fisk and runner-up Taylor Pendrith, along with Harry Higgs, Beau Hossler, Chan Kim, Austin Eckroat, Aaron Wise, Joe Highsmith, Luke Clanton, Adam Hadwin, Camilo Villegas, Davis Riley, Brandt Snedeker, Blades Brown and sponsor's invite Bill Haas, who is making his first PGA Tour start of the 2026 season.

The winner of the 2026 Corales Puntacana Championship walks away with a first prize of $720,000 from the $4 million purse.

The Corales Puntacana Championship takes place on the Corales Golf Course at Puntacana Resort.