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Rico Hoey of the Philippines looks on from the 15th green during the second round of the Corales Puntacana Championship 2025 at Puntacana Resort & Club, Corales Golf Course on April 18, 2025 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
Bryan M. Bennett / Getty Images / AFP
MANILA, Philippines — Rico Hoey delivered a second straight 68 to climb 14 spots in the standings in the Corales Puntacana Championship. But despite his steady play, he slipped further behind leader Joel Dahmen, who set a blistering 36-hole record at the Corales course of the Puntacana Resort in the Dominican Republic on Good Friday (Saturday in Manila).
Backed by ICTSI, Hoey bounced back from a pair of late bogeys in his first round that cost him a shot at the top 10. He birdied three par-4s and all but one of the four par-5s to counter two bogeys and finish with a pair of 34s.
His eight-under 136 aggregate lifted him from tied 31st to a share of 17th.
However, he fell two strokes farther behind Dahmen, who followed up his opening 62 with a bogey-free 66.
The American’s 16-under 128 total not only set the tournament’s 36-hole record but also gave him a four-shot cushion over South Africa’s Garrick Higgo and Americans Charley Hoffman and Michael Thorbjornsen, who are tied for second at 132 after rounds of 68, 66, and 63, respectively.
Dahmen, the 2021 champion, remains the only player without a bogey through two rounds, marking a career-best 36-hole score.
Meanwhile, over in California, Bianca Pagdanganan carded a second-round 73 for a 146 total and missed the cut by six strokes in the JM Eagle Championship at El Caballero Country Club.
The power-hitting Filipina, also supported by the world’s major port operator, gunned down two birdies against a bogey on the front nine, but faltered with two bogeys in her final five holes, finishing with a 35-38 split.
As Easter weekend approached, Sweden’s Ingrid Lindblad ignited the leaderboard with a sizzling nine-under 63 to catch South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai (68) at 13-under 131. The pair led by one stroke over Minjee Lee, who surged with a 65 for a 132 aggregate.
Miyu Yamashita, Lauren Coughlin, and Yan Liu are close behind at 133 after rounds of 65, 67, and 70, respectively. Five players, including Sei Young Kim, who fired a 68, sit at 134, setting the stage for a high-stakes moving day on Saturday.
