An evenfully uneventful tournament marks the end of winter

The Corales Puntacana is a second tier tournament of the PGA Tour. It's a new event on the Tour schedule this year and the first one played in the Dominican Republic. The course has been used for Web.com Tour events in the past but it's promotion to major league status is a special occasion for the island nation.

The field isn't anything to write home about. All of the major stars were in Austin, Texas for the WGC Match Play tournament that is a co-sanctioned event for all the major Tours around the world. Essentially, anyone ranked lower than Bill Haas (76 in the world) wasn't invited to Austin and therefore had a chance go to Punta Cana and win a tournament without all the big name competition. That's exactly what Brice Garrett did as he took home his first Tour title.

Talkeetna98 is the favored son on the fantasy side but he didn't enter the week with all the fanfare to match. His winter segment was plodding along, a pair of Top 3s in his pocket, but there was no major destination in site. He decided to take the short flight over to the DR and see if he could close things out on a high note before facing the crowd at Augusta where he is the defending champ. His game was rusty but he was up to the challenge.

He fielded his roster, a tough task when most of the names are barely recognizable for most, and sent his boys into the fray. He slogged it out over the first two rounds and found himself in a position to go for the W entering the weekend. And then as Sunday dawned he was tied for the lead and one player short following the cut. Still, he continued to fight and scored a major advantage with the play of Abraham Ancer. He held strong and increased his lead over the back nine to come in 12 points higher than Halve Ouimet in order to secure his first victory of the season. Congrats Talkeetna98.

Winter Segment

It took some getting used to for several folks but after a few weeks use of the new format things started to find a groove. New strategies had to be employed for some but for the most part the goal is still to pick the best golfers you can every week. As the 12 week segment started to come to a close Halve Ouimet looked like he had things pretty well in hand. But then in week 11 the surging Eat My Grind rose up to take his lead away with one week to go. And the final week at Corales would prove to be an interesting challenge indeed.

Grind led by 53 points entering the week but he was quickly dealt a blow by the cut line as he lost 2 players while Ouimet maintained a full squad. The advantage was shifting to Ouimet and he took the segment lead back after Saturday's round. Sunday's play would be interesting though as Grind was putting on a charge with the likes of Kelly Kraft. But Ouimet was holding strong with the play of Trey Mullinax. After holding the segment lead for most of the winter Ouimet had snatched it back from Grind in the 11th hour and narrowly skated to victory by a mere 4 points. It's his first segment championship in 4 years after winning the inaugural segment back in 2014. Welcome back and congrats to Halve Ouimet.

Segment Notables

After a dismal 2017 Eat My Grind is back. He scored an incredible 3 wins in the 12 week segment along with 6 Top 3s. He's firing on all cylinders and narrowly missed capturing his first segment title. He's primed for the heart of the season now as the Masters is looming on the horizon. Watch out for the grind as his grinding days seem to be behind him.

Gophers is making a case for himself yet again as the savvy vet never seems to be too far out of
contention. He's currently in third place overall but the most surprising part of his performance is that he's done all this without a single Top 3 all winter. His highest finish all segment was 5th place finish in week 2 but somehow he's climbed his way up the ladder and has a strong chance to contend for the Jackson Cup come September.

Kings Deer won himself a tournament this winter and snagged another Top 3 along the way. He's currently in 4th place overall and stacked up 7 Top 10s to get there. He's always been a solid player but hasn't collected the accolades required for a star fantasy player yet. No WGCs, no majors, no FedEx Cup wins and no segment championships. His early success this year could mean that's all about to change.

2 Footer seems to have his head in the right place and is making sound judgments on the fantasy golf course. His 5th place position after the first segment is a little lower than his power ranking would show as he slipped in the standings significantly due to several missed cuts at Corales. He's already got a win under his belt and is determined to outperform his spring segment last year where he had zero Top 3s.

What can be said about That's Wet other than that he's just heating up. Year in and year out his training shows as he comes to the fantasy table hungry every season. He's holding up in 6th place for the moment and has his sights set on higher grounds. His 7 Top 10s, 2 Top 3s and 1 win this segment is enough to make anyone envious. Look for those numbers to grow before the spring segment is too far gone.

Kikakee Tees is entering a segment he traditionally feels very comfortable in so it won't be any surprise to see his current position of 7th get cut in half before long. He's the spring segment defending champ and is very much looking forward to his return to Augusta. His third place finish there last year was a good sign that he's at ease on the hallowed ground and ready to dawn the green jacket. His performance over the next 6 weeks will be a big indicator of whether he will vie for the Jackson Cup or not.

Driving Miss Daisy is looking solid once again after her stellar rookie season last year. She's holding up in 8th place so far and has 7 Top 10s so far, 4 of them coming in her last 4 tournaments. Miss Daisy will be tested in her ability to adapt to a new format and budget her starts properly and only time will tell if she'll be in contention come September with enough starts from the big names.

DaHoffa's past two seasons have been a bit of a roller coaster as he nearly came away with the Jackson Cup in 2016 but then fell off the wagon in 2017 finishing in 18th place. He's regained his form of old and is off to a strong start in 2018. He's racked up 5 Top 10s, 3 Top 3 and 1 win. His two other Top 3s were second place finishes so he very nearly came away with 3 wins in the segment. Look for DaHoffa to keep up the onslaught.

Darth Fader, also known as the Artist, is back in the news again after he wrapped up the winter segment in 10th place. He's historically never done too well in the league, finishing well beyond 15th place each of the past two years. But he always manages to find a win or two on tour each year which has earned him yet another nickname: the Scrounger. His win at the Genesis Open in week 7 is yet another example but this time he's positioned himself to be contender come September.

Look Ahead

Now that spring has sprung it's time for a reset in the segment standings and another race to the top. The Shell Houston Open is at bat with the Masters on deck. BevGin&Tonic is the defending champ this week as the boys head to Texas and it's sure to be a rodeo as the fantasy gamers look to fine tune their game prior to the Masters.

It's anybody's game in the new segment so forgot your winter blues. Don't rest on your laurels because they won't help you either. Set that roster anew and get ready for another 12 weeks where every point counts. Gain ground in the overall season and take home some cash along the way. The spring segment starts now.