Rolling a 7

With tournament-record 7 straight birdies at Corales Puntacana Championship, Colorado native Davis Bryant records his best PGA Tour finish (11th)

By Gary Baines 

Fans of golfer Davis Bryant who like following live to see how the Colorado native is faring in tour events are accustomed to tuning in early on Sundays when he’s in contention.

Of course, that’s because the Eaglecrest High School and Colorado State University graduate plays primarily on the DP World Tour, where tournaments are usually held in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. The time difference means that he’s often wrapping up his rounds pretty early, based on Mountain Time.

That was the case when he finished second in the Austrian Alpine Open in May, or was runner-up at the Magical Kenya Open in February, or when he recorded top-10s at tournaments in Germany or Italy last year.

And so it was again on Sunday — though in this case it took place in an opposite-field PGA Tour event. When Bryant was making a tournament-record seven consecutive birdies — and shooting 7-under 29 on the front nine on Sunday at the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic — the streak took place before 7 a.m. (MT).

“I just kind of fell asleep and started hitting good shots and good putts and everything just seemed to go in,” Bryant said. It was “super fun.” (What’s not fun about leading the field in strokes gained putting on Sunday?)

The amazing string of seven straight circles on his card led to Bryant’s career-best showing on the PGA Tour as the 26-year-old finished 11th. Mind you, it’s a pretty small sample size as Bryant has competed in just three PGA Tour events — with two coming this month. He made his first PGA Tour cut last week in placing 55th at the ISCO Championship.

Oddly, after Bryant made his seven consecutive birdies — on holes 2 through 8 at Puntacana Resort and Club — he didn’t add another one on Sunday. He ran off nine straight pars, then closed with his only bogey, shooting a 6-under-par 66.

Bryant not only converted seven straight birdies on Sunday, but combining the end of Saturday’s round with the beginning of Sunday’s, he went 10 under par for 11 holes (No. 16 Saturday through No. 8 Sunday). On the par-4 16th hole on Saturday, he holed out for eagle from 175 yards. “It went in. How about that?” Bryant said as that one was confirmed.

The 2024 Inspirato Colorado Open champion finished at 15 under par for the week (71-68-68-66). That vaulted him up 16 spots on the scoreboard and earned him $89,000.

“It’s always great to finish strong on Sunday, so I’m super pleased with obviously the front nine. I mean, get some momentum, every putt just seemed to go in. The hole starts to look like a basketball hoop really. Yeah, those are fun. I’m super happy.”

During the birdie run, Bryant drained five putts in the 8-foot to 16-foot range. Later in the round, he made four par putts ranging from 10 to 20 feet. He said via text that he can't recall ever making seven birdies in a row before -- even in casual play -- though he isn't certain.

When the former CGA Player of the Year made his seventh consecutive birdie, he was tied for second place and within a stroke of the lead.

Overall on Sunday, “I just wanted to probably shoot 4, 5 under today and finish on a strong note,” he said “I’m excited for three weeks off at home coming up, so I just wanted to leave feeling good really.”

Despite winning the Colorado Open two years ago at his home course — Green Valley Ranch Golf Club — Bryant is not planning to play in that tournament next week. But he’s happy going into the break on a high note.

"I'm very pleased and happy about the week, and to play against some PGA Tour players this week was an awesome experience," Bryant said via text to Colorado Golf Journal. "It definitely gives me some momentum heading to the last stretch of events in Europe, and I hope to get back to the States through the DPWT." The top 10 players on the DP World Tour's final World Tour Race to Dubai Rankings earn PGA Tour cards for the following season.

For all the scores from the Corales Puntacana Championship, CLICK HERE.

Rare Recent Missed Cut for Wyndham Clark Comes at British Open: Denver native and two-time U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, who came into the British Open as one of the hottest golfers in the world — with six straight top-13 finishes — missed the cut by two (shooting 73-70 despite playing his final four holes in 4 under) at Royal Birkdale north of Liverpool in England. Clark, a two-time winner in the last two months, has missed just two cuts since the beginning of April. SCORES

About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com