Joel Dahmen made three bogeys on Saturday at the Corales Puntacana Championship to record a 1-under 71 and reach 17-under. He tied the 54-hole tournament-record 199 to lead by three shots, the largest 54-hole lead in tournament history.

“It was a challenge, for sure,” said Dahmen. “It’s always tough teeing off with a bigger lead. I feel like I hit some good shots early that didn’t end up in a good spot. Then I screwed up all the easy stuff early, so really frustrating. Felt like I could have really put a big gap there. But I rebounded really well after the bogey on 10 and played really good golf coming in. I hit a lot of good shots that, man, we thought were going to get close. And the wind is brutal out there today, it’s all over the place.

“I knew it was going to play a lot tougher. And the front you can get after a little bit and I didn’t do that, so I was a little frustrated. I just didn’t want to make any silly mistakes. Technically I three-putted two, it was from the fringe. Three-putted four and missed a short one on five and hit a couple sloppy wedges on six and eight and all of a sudden all of my chances for the day, like the good chances are gone. So a little frustrated with the start. I was uncomfortable out there for sure, settled in nicely and I think it showed on the back nine.

“I was on, jeez, was it 14 maybe and I’m like, I was tired. So much adrenaline out there going, you never feel that when you’re around the lead and I was thinking, man, we have four and a half more holes left. And I was thinking about the holes we have to play and how difficult those holes are and the shots you have to hit, it just requires so much thinking, you can’t let down on one shot out there. A lot more discussions with your caddie out there. It’s not just point and shoot like it was the first couple days, this is just a full grind, and handled it pretty well.”

199 total matches the American’s best 54-hole score on Tour at the 2019 Truist Championship and 2021 Corales Puntacana Championship.

Dahmen holds the 54-hole lead/co-lead for the third time on Tour following the 2019 Truist Championship where he finished second and the 2021 Corales Puntacana which he won.

He is aiming to join Brice Garnett (2018) as the only wire-to-wire winners of this event. He would become the first wire-to-wire winner on Tour since Lee Hodges at the 2023 3M Open.

Dahmen has had two top-10 finishes in ten starts this season, T9 at the Farmers Insurance Open and T6 at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld.

American Chan Kim fired an eagle at the par-5 4th and bogeyed the 3rd for a 69 and a share of second place at 14-under. His best finish on Tour came in his most recent start (T5/2025 Valero Texas Open). He is an eight-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour and seeks a first PGA Tour victory in his 62nd start.

Michael Thorbjornsen of the USA overcame two double bogeys at the par-4s 5th and 8th to close with a 2-under 70 and take a share of second place. He is playing in his 29th start with a best finish of T2 at the 2024 John Deere Classic, one of four top-10s.

Also tied in second place is South African Garrick Higgo who made a single bogey for his 70.

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