Winning on the PGA Tour took more time, but not much as Bhatia won the 2023 Barracuda Championship, the final opposite-field event of the PGA Tour season, in a playoff Sunday evening in his 36th start. He’s also the second left-handed player to win Sunday, following Brian Harman’s victory at the 2023 Open Championship.
“I was definitely watching the Open Championship,” Bhatia said. “Brian Harman, I know him pretty well.
“It’s kind of cool that two lefties won on the same day. That’s pretty cool to have that happen. I was so excited for him, obviously, and for his whole team.”
The Barracuda tournament is the only one on Tour to use the Modified Stableford scoring system, so the more points the better in this event, and Bhatia had 40 points at the end of regulation, tied with Patrick Rodgers. After one playoff hole, it was over, with the big-hitting left-hander hoisting the trophy at Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood course in Truckee, California.
Bhatia’s 17-point Saturday got him into contention. It tied for the third best scoring day of the week based on the points system.
In addition to the first-place prize of $684,000, Bhatia is fully exempt on the PGA Tour through the 2025 season. He also vaults to No. 90 in the FedEx Cup standings; the top 70 advance to the Playoffs this season.
Bhatia is the 10th first-time winner on Tour this season.
It seemed like Akshay Bhatia was primed to break through on the PGA Tour and Sunday evening, he finally did.
Bhatia claimed the 2023 Barracuda Championship, the final opposite-field event of the PGA Tour season, in a playoff. The tournament is the only one on Tour to use the Modified Stableford scoring system, so the more points the better in this event.
The first-place check at Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood course in Truckee, California, was $684,000.
Take a closer look at the full prize money payouts from the 2023 Barracuda Championship.
The name of the game in a Modified Stableford scoring event is big numbers and Ryan Gerard is putting up a lot of them so far this week.
Through two rounds at Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood in Truckee, California, Gerard has 16 birdies, each worth two points in the unique scoring format. Two late bogeys in Thursday’s first round cost him one point each but through 36 holes, Gerard has 30 points to lead the 2023 Barracuda Championship.
Gerard’s best finish this season is a solo fourth at the Honda Classic in February. He has made nine cuts in 14 events.
Patrick Rodgers made a late move with birdies on three of his last four holes to get to 26 points, good for second.
Vincent Norrman, a first-time Tour winner a week ago at the Barbasol Championship, like the Barracuda an opposite-field event, is playing well again this week. He has 23 points.
S.Y. Noh led after the first round with 23 points thanks to three eagles (each worth five points) to become the fourth player this season to have three eagles in one round. Friday, though, was a disastrous day at Old Greenwood for Noh, as he posted a minus-5 score after two double bogeys, a bogey and just one birdie. His Friday 75 dropped him into a tie for 10th.
The cut came in at 10 points and among those to miss out on a weekend tee time: S.H. Kim, Keith Mitchell, Harry Higgs, Greyson Sigg and Taylor Pendrith.
Coming into the week at Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood course, Beau Hossler sat 73rd in the FedEx Cup standings.
With the new rules, only the top 70 are guaranteed spots in the Playoffs. Counting this week, there’s only three events left for players like Hossler to lock up their spots in the field at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis.
After the first round of the 2023 Barracuda Championship, Hossler is doing his best to make sure he’s well inside the cut line.
Hossler, in a Modified Stableford scoring format, is +17 after the first round in Truckee, California, and sits on top of the leaderboard. The highlight of his day came on the par-3 third, when he recorded an ace for the first time in his Tour career.
“I was kind of in between clubs,” Hossler said. “I think it was like 211, but at altitude it’s playing like 190. I hit 7-iron and it landed in a good spot and it went in. It looked like it was the only hole on Tour this year that had no camera.”
In addition to his ace, Hossler also made eagle on the par-5 sixth. Two holes, +10 (as eagles are worth five points) on the scorecard and a first-round lead.
He shot 7-under 64 in stroke play with four birdies (worth two points each), the two eagles and a lone bogey (golfers lose a point for bogeys). Hossler hasn’t won in his Tour career but does have two runner-up finishes.
“My game feels probably the best it’s felt in years right now, which is good,” Hossler said. “Maybe the results haven’t quite been there the last few weeks, but I feel like I’m working on some good stuff with my golf swing. Starting to see some a lot better iron play the last probably two weeks. So, hopefully, I can keep doing that and get the putter hot.”
Alexander Levy sits second after the morning wave at +16. Carson Young and Patrick Rodgers are at +15. The Barracuda is the lone event on the Tour schedule to use the Modified Stableford scoring system.
He was one of the first players on the course and Chez Reavie did not waste time.
TRUCKEE, Calif. – He was one of the first players on the course and Chez Reavie did not waste time.
Reavie scored 19 points in Friday’s second round and surged into the lead at the PGA Tour’s Barracuda Championship at the Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood golf course.
Reavie, 40, from Wichita, Kansas, who played his college golf at Arizona State, has plus-28 points after two rounds. Mark Hubbard and Henrik Norlander are tied for second with plus-25 points.
Reavie had seven birdies and an eagle on No. 6, and no bogeys on Friday.
The eagle, his second of the week, came after he chipped in from just off the green.
He said it was a little colder out, starting so early. Reavie teed off at 7:18 a.m. local time Friday, and his shots were not flying quite as far as they did Thursday when he started later in the day.
“Fortunately we kind of noticed that on the range and adjusted for it, and I was lucky enough to just trust the numbers, the clubs that we picked, and then as it warmed up, it kind of gradually kind of started getting closer to what it was yesterday afternoon,” Reavie said.
He said staying in the fairways and out of the rough is key to doing well at Old Greenwood because the greens are so firm.
Hubbard, 33, had seven birdies and two bogeys on Friday, en route to scoring 12 points.
He played basketball at San Jose State and had a few friends from there up at Old Greenwood to watch him play golf this week.
Hubbard is winless on the PGA Tour. He was third last week in Kentucky in the Barbasol Championship.
Hubbard agreed with Reavie that the early start Friday morning took some adjusting.
“It was tough early, man, with the cold and the elevation. It’s hard to know how far the ball is going, and it seemed like every pin on our front nine, the back nine, was front with water short, so you couldn’t really play with it,” he said. “So it was just tough to get the ball close early. Once it heated up and started going another 10 percent I started making some birdies.”
Martin Laird putts on the 18th green during the second round of the 2022 Barracuda Championship at Old Greenwood in Truckee, California. (Photo: Jason Bean/Reno Gazette Journal)
Norlander, who has been working with a sports psychologist, is in his best position after 36 holes this season.
“First of all, I’m pretty excited to not make travel plans on Friday afternoon. That’s been sort of what I’ve been doing every Friday the last few weeks,” Norlander said. “But yeah, it’s a lot of pressure. I’m going to be nervous, but I believe I’m ready for it. … That’s why I practice, and I’m ready for the challenge.”
Under the Modified Stableford scoring system, players receive eight points for albatross, five for eagle and two for birdie. A point is deducted for bogey and three taken away for double bogey or worse.
Kevin Tway is in fourth with plus-21 points, followed by Nino Bertasio, Maverick McNealy and Martin Trainer, each on the leaderboard with plus-19 points.
The cut was at plus-7 points with 70 players making it to keep playing on the weekend.
Noren was been the first alternate for the British Open this week, but decided to fly to California instead to play in the Barracuda.
When Justin Rose withdrew from the British Open, the final major of the year, that opened a spot that would have gone to Noren. Instead that spot went to Rikuya Hoshino.
Noren played nine holes of a practice round at St. Andrews, before flying to California.
“I didn’t think anybody would withdraw. They actually did, and sad for them, but also I wanted to play this,” Noren said. “I wanted to get some more points. I’ve got three weeks of training after this before the playoffs, and I wanted to play this week, and maybe that mindset made me have a little less patience that I needed this time. Golf is a long career, and I’ve played a lot of British Opens, and I’ll get to play it again.”
Erik van Rooyen, who won the Barracuda Championship last year, also withdrew from the British Open.
