While most of the world’s best golfers were at Harbour Town Golf Links watching Justin Thomas snap a near three-year drought at the RBC Heritage, the PGA Tour simultaneously held an opposite field event. The Dominican Republic hosted the Corales Puntacana Championship, with plenty of young talent in the field.
One such name is a favorite on the PGA Tour: Joel Dahmen.
Dahmen was on fire for much of the weekend. He set the course record on Thursday with a fiery 10-under 62 just hours after Thomas tied the RBC Heritage course record.
As the drama came to its conclusion Sunday evening, Dahmen held a two-shot lead with three holes to play. However, he bogeyed 16, 17, and 18, losing by a single stroke to Garrick Higgo.
The epic collapse included a missed two-foot par putt on 17.
Winning is hard.
A bogey for Joel Dahmen and he’s now tied for the lead headed to the 72nd hole @CoralesChamp pic.twitter.com/VQI3AjeTAa
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 20, 2025
Many professional golfers may not have spoken to the media after such a disastrous finish. But that is not who Dahmen is. He stepped up and ate his crow.
“I think I’m in a little bit of shock, honestly,” Dahmen said after his round.
“It’s not how you win a golf tournament, I’ll tell you that. I don’t deserve to win it. You know, bogeying the last three is inexcusable. Middle of the fairway with an 8-iron on 16 to hit it where I hit it, you can’t get up and down over there.”
But the worst lapse of concentration and execution came on the 17th green.
“I don’t know what happened on the short one on 17. I mean I’m obviously nervous, but unfortunately I’m prone to that at times. You can call it lapse in concentration. It’s not like a yippee thing, it’s not like one of those things, but bad time to do it.”
It was heartbreaking to watch it play out for the fan favorite.
Joel Dahmen has staked his reputation for being unapologetically himself. He is never one to shy away from the spotlight, good or bad. That was on full display Sunday evening.
Following the performance, Dahmen moved up to 140th in the Official World Golf Rankings. But in order to guarantee his Tour card for future seasons, he has a lot of work to do. A win would have vaulted him further up the standings. Alas, the 37-year-old pro is hurting and won’t soon forget the unfortunate finish.
“This one could take a while to get over. It’s one of those things, you learn more in defeat unfortunately. I don’t know what I’m going to do yet. Like I said, I still think I’m in a little bit of shock.”
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