Celebrities got things started last week with a raucous party-type atmosphere at Edgewood Tahoe, where Tony Romo came out a winner.
Now, golf in the area gets a little more serious as PGA Tour pros arrive in Truckee, California, for the 24th Barracuda Championship.
The four-day event begins Thursday at the Tahoe Mountain Club on the Old Greenwood course.
Six former Barracuda champions are in the opposite-field event: Richy Werenski (2020), Andrew Putnam (2018), Chris Stroud (2017), Greg Chalmers (2016), JJ Henry (2012) and Scott Piercy (2011).
Local standout Ollie Osborne, a Bishop Manogue High School graduate who later played at SMU, is in the field on a sponsor exemption.
David Longmire, who won the 2022 Reno Open, a mini-tour event, in June, also earned a spot in the tournament.
One player who will not be at the Barracuda is defending champion Eric van Rooyen. He earned his first career PGA Tour win at the 2021 Barracuda Championship and that earned him a spot in the British Open this week at St. Andrews.
He became the first player with a winning score of +50 since the Modified Stableford scoring system was introduced in 2012. He is the sixth consecutive first-time winner of the Barracuda Championship but the first since Collin Morikawa in 2019 to win the tournament in his debut.
Van Rooyen’s score of +50 (+7/+17/+10/+16), set a record for the Modified Stableford format event. Geoff Ogilvy finished the 2014 Barracuda at +49.
The Barracuda is the only PGA Tour event that uses that scoring system. It’s also the only Tour stop held opposite a major championship.
The field includes 50 players from the DP World Tour.
Top players to watch
Maverick McNealy, who has top-20 finishes in back-to-back events, and is the 12-1 favorite according to Tipico. McNealy ranks third in eagles, 18th in birdie average and 34th in scoring average this year.
Other top contenders include Alex Noren, Cam Davis, Mark Hubbard and Taylor Pendrith.
Hubbard is coming off his best finish of the season with a third place at the Barbasol Championship. He has made 14 cuts with six top-25 finishes in 18 events.
Noren, who is from Sweden, has 11 wins as a professional, none on the PGA Tour, with most in Europe. He finished ninth in the Barracuda in 2020. He’s coming off a 30th-place finish at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open, which ended a streak of missed cuts in three straight tournaments.
Matthias Schwab could be another top player to watch this week, although he is…
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