While the big boys are off living it up at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational this week the lesser lights of the PGA Tour get another chance to shine as they head to Reno for the Barracuda Championship.
In a mission to give the tournament a bit more status and profile the traditional stableford scoring system is used this week. For those not used to that scoring it is done on a points system of two points per birdie, five per eagle and eight for better than an eagle. On the flip side you lose a point for each bogey and three points go for a double bogey.
That sets the tournament up for low scoring and birdies being the idea of the tournament and gives the event an aggressive outlook which should suit a number of players going into it. With opportunities to secure playing rights for next season and spots in the FedEx Cup playoffs running out this is a big week for some particularly as the winner will qualify for next week’s USPGA Championship.
Montrêux Golf and Country Club in Reno, Nevada is the venue for the tournament this week. The course is a par 72 which measures 7,472 yards but with the altitude it doesn’t play as long as it looks on paper. The greens can be hard to find so distance control is a big factor this week but you won’t win if you don’t make birdies and eagles.
With so many of the star names up in Ohio the market is an open one this week. Brendan Steele and the defending champion Geoff Ogilvy lead it at 18/1 ahead of Andres Romero and Will Wilcox who are both 22/1 along with Austin Cook. It is 28/1 bar that quintet so there should be some value around this week.
This isn’t a tournament to go mad on I don’t think. I’m going to play three players who all have good credentials and probably leave it at that as there is no TV coverage of this event and the quirky scoring can make it a bit of a lottery.
The first player I like this week is the recently turned professional Ollie Schniederjans. His professional career might be in its infancy but Schniederjans knows how to score. He shot 26 birdies in the Canadian Open two weeks ago and bettered par on 20 occasions at the Quicken Loans National last week. He’s had some bigger scores on his card too but in weaker company this week that scoring power should serve him well. He gets it out there off the tee which assists his scoring so I fancy him to go well this week.
Another player I like is the two time champion Vaughn Taylor. Admittedly Taylor won this tournament when the usual scoring system was used but he stats highly on the scoring average on the PGA Tour this season and the birdie average so there is no reason why he can’t go well on a golf course he clearly knows his way around. Like Schniederjans he’ll need to keep the scorecard as clean as possible but the form of the season so far indicates he’s going to score this week and should be right in the mix.
My final bet is another guy who is relatively new to the PGA Tour in Patrick Rodgers. Rodgers can be all or nothing but he belts it miles off the tee which should lead to him making a number of birdies which is largely what this tournament is all about. Rodgers already has a second placed finish to his name on Tour this year so when everything clicks we know he can go low and in a field devoid of anyone high up in the rankings this could be a good week for him to take advantage of his length off the tee.
Back O.Schniederjans to win Barracuda Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Coral (1/4 1-5)
Back V.Taylor to win Barracuda Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with Ladbrokes (1/4 1-5)
Back P.Rodgers to win Barracuda Championship (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with Betway (1/4 1-5)
Blog golf YTD: -8.59pts
