Steve Palmer's Corales Puntacana Championship first-round preview and free golf betting tips

When to bet by

11am on Thursday

Best bets

Akshay Bhatia to beat Michael Kim
2pts 20-23 BoyleSports

Chad Ramey first-round leader
1pt each-way 45-1 Hills

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Corales Puntacana Championship first-round preview

Corales Puntacana Championship favourite, Wyndham Clark, is out early for round one (7.45am local time; 11.45am UK and Ireland) and will expect to make plenty of birdies in the relative morning calm.

Round one at the Corales Course is set to see good scoring conditions followed by a breezy afternoon, so Clark can lay the foundation for a strong week. He has not missed a cut since the Shriners Open in the second week of October and finished fifth in last week's Valspar Championship.

Clark at 22-1 is a tempting option for first-round leader, with the likes of Thomas Detry, Ben Martin and Akshay Bhatia out late, but slight preference is for defending champion Chad Ramey.

Turning up at a venue where your name is on the honours board can do wonders for confidence, but Ramey was already walking tall after starring in the Players Championship at Sawgrass earlier this month. He set the early Players pace until coming a cropper at the notorious 17th in round two, going on to finish the tournament in 27th place.

Ramey followed up with 27th place in the Valspar last week and a downgrade to an event he conquered last year should mean a fast start in the Dominican Republic. He has been putting well and can go low early on Thursday.

Bhatia, a winner in The Bahamas last year and runner-up in Puerto Rico this year, relishes a windswept coastal layout and looks a solid match-bet investment against Michael Kim.

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