Joel Dahmen creates new course record to take the solo lead at the Corales Puntacana Championship

Joel Dahmen had a stellar first round at the 2025 Corales Puntacana Championship. On Thursday, April 17, he posted a score of 10-under 62, creating a new course record at Corales Golf Course in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

Dahmen started with the back nine and scored five birdies on the 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th, and 18th holes. He followed it with five more birdies first, fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth holes on the front nine. After the first round, he is two shots ahead of the field. Keith Mitchell, Garrick Higgo, and Matt Wallace are tied for second with 8-under.

Dahmen said about his round (via Tee Scripts):

"I felt good. I get good feelings when I come back to this place, good vibes. The wind was probably the least we've played it in a long time and took advantage of it. Just putted really well today. Fairways are generous and I think I hit a bunch of 'em, and obviously got around the hole and made all those."

Joel Dahmen has only one win on the PGA Tour at the 2021 Corales Puntacana Championship. He won by one shot over Sam Ryder and Rafael Campos. He comes to this year after a missed cut at the Valero Texas Open.

"I think just knowing my game's been there. We talked about it a little bit on Tuesday, my game's been pretty good. It's kind of just letting it come to me and showing up on Thursday with the same intensity that I have on the weekend. I think I just did a really good job of that today," he added.

Sixty-seven players scored in the 60s in the 132-man field while 96 players scored under par in the opening round at the Puntacana Resort & Club. The winner of the 2025 Corales Puntacana Championship will take home $720,000 from a prize purse of $4 million.

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A look at Joel Dahmen's performance in 2025

Joel Dahmen has had a mixed 2025 season. He has played in 10 tournaments on the PGA Tour and missed the cut in five of them. He has two top-10 finishes and three top-25 finishes. He is currently positioned 77th in the FedEx Cup standings.

Dahmen's best performance came at the Mexico Open, where he tied for sixth. His other notable performances include a T9 at the Farmers Insurance Open and a T18 at the Texas Children's Houston Open.

Let's take a look at Joel Dahmen's performances in the 2025 season so far:

• Sony Open in Hawaii: Missed Cut (140, E)
• The American Express: Missed Cut (208, -8)
• Farmers Insurance Open: T9 (286, -2)
• WM Phoenix Open: Missed Cut (143, +1)
• Mexico Open at Vidanta: T6 (267, -17)
• Cognizant Classic: T32 (274, -10)
• THE PLAYERS Championship: T54 (291, +3)
• Valspar Championship: Missed Cut (148, +6)
• Texas Children's Houston Open: T18 (270, -10)
• Valero Texas Open: Missed Cut (144, E)