Corales Puntacana 2026 R2 - Clements Takes Lead Into Weekend - Golf Today

The Englishman reached 13-under with a bogey-free 66, setting PGA Tour career bests for his 36-hole score and position.

Simon Bale|July 18, 2026

Categories: DP World Tour, PGA Tour, The Tours

Keywords: Corales Golf Club, Corales Puntacana Championship, DP World Tour, PGA Tour, Todd Clements

Todd Clements will take a two-shot lead into the weekend at the Corales Puntacana Championship after following an opening 65 with a bogey-free 66 on Friday.

The Englishman reached 13-under 131 at Corales Golf Course in the Dominican Republic. Ben James occupies second place alongside Johannes Veerman and Gordon Sargent, all at 11-under.

Clements birdied four of his final six holes, finishing by sinking a 20-foot birdie putt at the par-three ninth. That 131 total is the lowest 36-hole score of his PGA Tour career, bettering the 135 he recorded at the 2025 Barracuda Championship.

Clements Breaks New Ground on Tour

The lead is Clements’ first after 36 holes in six career PGA Tour starts. His previous best halfway position was tied 10th at last year’s Barracuda Championship, where he went on to finish third.

Clements, the 2023 D+D Real Czech Masters champion, is making his Corales Puntacana debut and only his second PGA Tour appearance of the season. He missed the cut at the ISCO Championship last week but has recorded five top-25 finishes on the DP World Tour this year, led by a tie for 11th at the DS Automobiles 83° Open d’Italia.

The 29-year-old had shared the opening-round lead with Ivan Cantero Gutierrez after shooting 65 in wind gusts that reached 22 mph. He followed that with a bogey-free second round to move clear of the field.

Three Players Lead the Chase

Ben James matched Clements’ bogey-free 66, one of 10 players to record the lowest round of the day. Since turning professional, the former University of Virginia player has collected two top-25 finishes in four PGA Tour starts this season, including a tie for 23rd at the US Open.

Veerman produced four consecutive birdies from the fourth through the seventh, his back nine, during a 5-under 67. His best result in 11 PGA Tour starts is a tie for 10th at the 2024 ISCO Championship.

Sargent also shot 67 and remains bogey-free through 36 holes. Only Joe Highsmith has matched that feat. Sargent’s 133 total is his lowest halfway score on Tour, two strokes better than his previous mark at the 2026 Puerto Rico Open.

Del Rey Holds Fifth Place

Alejandro Del Rey is alone in fifth at 10-under after a 68, while Highsmith sits another stroke back. Nineteen-year-old Blades Brown is tied seventh at 8-under following rounds of 67 and 69.

Former champion Joel Dahmen climbed to a tie for 13th with a bogey-free 66. Defending champion Garrick Higgo shot 68 to reach f4-under, leaving him tied 47th as he pursues the tournament’s first repeat title.

The PGA TOUR event is being played on the par-72, 7,670-yard Tom Fazio design. Rikuya Hoshino withdrew during the second round because of a back injury.

Lucas Herbert of Australia tees off on the 16th hole during Day Two of the The 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale

Related: Herbert & Burns climb leaderboard in round two

Matching 62s tie major 18-hole scoring mark.

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Pos.	Player	To Par	R1	R2	Total
1	Todd Clements	-13	65	66	131
T2	Johannes Veerman	-11	66	67	133
T2	Ben James	-11	67	66	133
T2	Gordon Sargent	-11	66	67	133
5	Alejandro Del Rey	-10	66	68	134
6	Joe Highsmith	-9	68	67	135
T7	Ivan Cantero Gutierrez	-8	65	71	136
T7	Stefano Mazzoli	-8	67	69	136
T7	Jacob Skov Olesen	-8	67	69	136
T7	Blades Brown	-8	67	69	136
T7	Thomas Rosenmueller	-8	70	66	136
T7	Marcel Schneider	-8	70	66	136
T13	Joel Dahmen	-7	71	66	137
T13	Filippo Celli	-7	67	70	137
T13	Max McGreevy	-7	71	66	137
T13	Patrick Fishburn	-7	67	70	137
T13	Aaron Wise	-7	71	66	137
T13	Marcus Helligkilde	-7	69	68	137
T19	Tom Vaillant	-6	70	68	138
T19	Nick Hardy	-6	71	67	138
T19	Dylan Frittelli	-6	72	66	138
T19	Brandt Snedeker	-6	70	68	138
T19	Mackenzie Hughes	-6	66	72	138
T19	Jonathan Byrd	-6	66	72	138
T19	Romain Langasque	-6	68	70	138
T19	Christiaan Bezuidenhout	-6	69	69	138
T19	Beau Hossler	-6	68	70	138
T19	Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez	-6	68	70	138
T19	Zach Bauchou	-6	71	67	138
T19	A.J. Ewart	-6	69	69	138
T19	Paul Peterson	-6	68	70	138
T32	Nick Dunlap	-5	67	72	139
T32	Rafa Cabrera Bello	-5	69	70	139
T32	Jorge Campillo	-5	70	69	139
T32	Davis Bryant	-5	71	68	139
T32	Jeffrey Kang	-5	70	69	139
T32	Hayden Springer	-5	69	70	139
T32	Trace Crowe	-5	71	68	139
T32	Ugo Coussaud	-5	73	66	139
T32	Kevin Yu	-5	68	71	139
T32	Peter Malnati	-5	69	70	139
T32	Freddy Schott	-5	70	69	139
T32	Will Gordon	-5	69	70	139
T32	Sebastian Soderberg	-5	71	68	139
T32	Kristoffer Ventura	-5	72	67	139
T32	David Skinns	-5	73	66	139
T47	Jens Dantorp	-4	69	71	140
T47	Ben Martin	-4	71	69	140
T47	Camilo Villegas	-4	70	70	140
T47	Chez Reavie	-4	71	69	140
T47	Jeong Weon Ko	-4	70	70	140
T47	Keenan Huskey	-4	73	67	140
T47	Seamus Power	-4	68	72	140
T47	Fabián Gómez	-4	71	69	140
T47	Joel Girrbach	-4	69	71	140
T47	Bill Haas	-4	69	71	140
T47	Chan Kim	-4	67	73	140
T47	Austin Cook	-4	67	73	140
T47	Cameron Champ	-4	69	71	140
T47	Brandon Robinson Thompson	-4	70	70	140
T47	Garrick Higgo	-4	72	68	140
T47	Harry Higgs	-4	72	68	140
T47	Renato Paratore	-4	70	70	140
T47	Niklas Nørgaard	-4	69	71	140
T65	Rico Hoey	-3	70	71	141
T65	Kevin Roy	-3	70	71	141
T65	Davis Riley	-3	72	69	141
T65	Chad Ramey	-3	70	71	141
T65	William McGirt	-3	72	69	141
T65	Nicolai Von Dellingshausen	-3	71	70	141
T65	Luke List	-3	71	70	141
T65	John VanDerLaan	-3	73	68	141
T65	Pontus Nyholm	-3	70	71	141
T65	Justin Lower	-3	69	72	141
T65	Carson Young	-3	71	70	141
T65	Kiradech Aphibarnrat	-3	73	68	141
T65	S.Y. Noh	-3	68	73	141
T65	Robert Streb	-3	70	71	141
T65	Hank Lebioda	-3	73	68	141
T65	Alejandro Tosti	-3	71	70	141
T65	Davis Chatfield	-3	69	72	141
T65	Jeremy Paul	-3	72	69	141
CUT	Adam Hadwin	-2	73	69	142
CUT	Nacho Elvira	-2	71	71	142
CUT	Stephan Jaeger	-2	68	74	142
CUT	Takumi Kanaya	-2	73	69	142
CUT	Dylan Wu	-2	73	69	142
CUT	David Ravetto	-2	67	75	142
CUT	Austin Eckroat	-2	66	76	142
CUT	Rafael Campos	-2	73	69	142
CUT	Manuel Elvira	-2	76	66	142
CUT	Ben Silverman	-2	70	72	142
CUT	Zecheng Dou	-2	71	71	142
CUT	Luke Clanton	-2	73	69	142
CUT	Paul Waring	-2	71	71	142
CUT	Domenico Geminiani	-2	71	71	142
CUT	Thriston Lawrence	-1	69	74	143
CUT	Chandler Blanchet	-1	70	73	143
CUT	Marcelo Rozo	-1	69	74	143
CUT	Jason Dufner	-1	70	73	143
CUT	Marcus Kinhult	-1	69	74	143
CUT	Yuto Katsuragawa	-1	74	69	143
CUT	Willy Pumarol	-1	72	71	143
CUT	Jordan Gumberg	Par	71	73	144
CUT	Scott Jamieson	Par	72	72	144
CUT	Mickey DeMorat	Par	70	74	144
CUT	Ryggs Johnston	Par	71	73	144
CUT	Lanto Griffin	+1	71	74	145
CUT	Vince Whaley	+1	73	72	145
CUT	Taylor Pendrith	+1	73	72	145
CUT	Niklas Lemke	+1	76	69	145
CUT	Julio Santos	+1	72	73	145
CUT	JJ Guerra	+1	69	76	145
CUT	Tony Garcia	+1	73	72	145
CUT	Richie Ramsay	+1	73	72	145
CUT	Brandon Stone	+1	70	75	145
CUT	Sean O'Hair	+1	76	69	145
CUT	Charley Hoffman	+2	73	73	146
CUT	Danny Willett	+2	70	76	146
CUT	Kensei Hirata	+2	72	74	146
CUT	Kyle Stanley	+2	71	75	146
CUT	Brice Garnett	+2	73	73	146
CUT	Ricardo Gouveia	+2	77	69	146
CUT	Maximilian Steinlechner	+2	75	71	146
CUT	Sean Crocker	+3	74	73	147
CUT	David Liu	+3	76	71	147
CUT	Tyler Collet	+3	74	73	147
CUT	Avinash Iyer(a)	+3	77	70	147
CUT	Danny Walker	+4	76	72	148
CUT	Daniel Gavins	+4	72	76	148
CUT	Tyler Duncan	+4	73	75	148
CUT	Jimmy Stanger	+4	73	75	148
CUT	Ryan Brehm	+5	74	75	149
CUT	Jack Senior	+5	69	80	149
CUT	Adam Svensson	+5	75	74	149
CUT	Jeff Overton	+6	79	71	150
CUT	Ryan Palmer	+6	76	74	150
CUT	Adam Long	+7	77	74	151
CUT	Nicholas Thompson	+7	76	75	151
CUT	Hiram Silfa	+8	79	73	152
CUT	Sangmoon Bae	+8	77	75	152
CUT	Christo Lamprecht	+9	72	81	153
CUT	Evan Bowser	+13	79	78	157
W/D	Rikuya Hoshino	-	73	-	73

Simon Bale

Simon Bale is the publisher of Golf Today. A low single-figure handicap golfer, he was previously a major shareholder and course reviewer for Top100GolfCourses.com for over a decade, starting in 2010. Through this role, he developed extensive knowledge of golf course design and architecture while playing more than 300 courses worldwide.