Ben Martin hasn’t won a PGA Tour title in nearly eight years. Could the dry spell be nearly over?
Martin shot 2-under 70 at Corales Golf Club in The Dominican Republic and holds a two-stroke lead over rookie Chad Ramey heading into the final round of the Corales Puntacana Championship.
Martin, 34, is playing out of the past champion category these days for his lone victory at the 2014 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. It was good enough to get him in the field at this week’s opposite-field event for those Tour members that didn’t qualify for the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. Ranked 565th in the world, Martin, who made only one start in 2019 with a back injury and has struggled to regain his previous form ever since, carded five birdies and three bogeys during Saturday’s round. He noted it had been a long time since he’d played in the final group and he felt the nerves early.
“I need to look at my Whoop and see what my heart rate was on the first hole, I bet it was up there a little bit, but I think after that I kind of settled in and played nice(ly),” he said. “Felt fine the rest of the round.”
Ben Martin of the United States lines up a putt on the 17th green during the third round of the Corales Puntacana Championship at the Corales Golf Course on March 26, 2022, in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Ramey, 29, has recorded three top-20 finishes in his rookie campaign, including a T-5 at the Puerto Rico Open earlier this month, another opposite-field event. He also got a taste of weekend pressure after opening 63-65 and contending in Las Vegas before a closing 72.
Ramey is well positioned to make a run at being the eighth first-time winner on the PGA Tour this season in just his 16th career Tour start. After three birdies on the front side of his third round, Ramey made three bogeys on the inward nine, including a dropped shot at 18, but continued his domination of the par 5s with a birdie at 12 and an eagle at the par-5 14th, holing his third from 146 yards.
“It was just a perfect wedge,” he said. “Couldn’t have asked for a better shot, landed two short I believe and hopped on in.”
It added up to 3-under 69 and a spot alongside Martin in the final group on Sunday. Asked to describe the game plan for Sunday, Ramey said he wasn’t going to change a thing.
“Obviously I’m doing something right, so I’m just going to stick to my game plan and just see what happens,” he said.
Venezuela’s Jhonnatan Vegas made the biggest move on Moving Day, posting 7-under 65, and improving 19 places. The 37-year-old now sits three strokes back, alone in third place and continued to make hay on the front nine (12-under this week, best of any player in the field). The bogey-free round for Vegas, who last won in 2018, included an eagle at the par-5 seventh.
“I had a really perfect number, just tried to hit a perfect fade into a right-to-left wind and I just cut it absolutely perfect(ly),” Vegas said.
Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela plays his shot from the third tee during the third round of the Corales Puntacana Championship at the Corales Golf Course on March 26, 2022, in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Photo by Marianna Massey/Getty Images)
For Martin, everything this week has felt pretty close to perfect. Playing here for the third time, he brought his wife and two daughters along – neither of whom were born the last time he won – and his mother came down to lend a hand.
“They were supposed to fly home tomorrow, but they already changed their flight to Monday,” said Martin, who opened with a pair of 66s. “After my first round Ann Pearce, my little girl, she ran out on 18. I was like, well, it’s only round one, you’re supposed to do that in the fourth round, but maybe that was some sort of foreshadowing.”
Added Martin: “This is really the reason I think I enjoy playing professional golf, like being around the lead on the weekend with a chance to win, you have a little nerves, but I think that’s why we all like to test ourselves and see where we are, so it will be a fun day tomorrow.”