As part of the Strategic Alliance with the PGA TOUR, the Barracuda Championship provides another US-based playing opportunity for DP World Tour members. Here are your five things to know.
Unique scoring format on Tour
Just like last week’s Barbasol Championship, the Barracuda Championship is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR. Since 2012, it has used the Modified Stableford scoring format and is the only event on both Tours to do so. Unlike traditional scoring methods, where the aim is to have the lowest score, the objective is to have the highest score, thereby encouraging aggressive play. Those who make a few bogeys but also make a lot of birdies or eagles stand a stronger likelihood of being atop the leaderboard. The points awarded on each hole are dependent on the players’ score to par, with the player able to pick up their ball if they have taken two strokes more than par, without losing any additional points.
Points structure
- Albatross: 8 points
- Eagle: 5 points
- Birdie: 2 points
- Par: 0 points
- Bogey: -1 point
- Double bogey or more: -3 points
How the event unfolds
The leading 45 available DP World Tour members are taking their place in the 156-strong field. Despite not using the strokeplay format, the tournament remains a 72-hole event over four days. In a similar fashion to most week-by-week events, players compete in the same threesomes in each of the first two rounds, with one round starting on the first tee and the other round from the tenth tee across morning and afternoon waves on both days. The cut falls after 36 holes, to the top 65 players and ties, with pairings and tee times for the third and fourth rounds dependent on each player's total points after the second and third rounds, respectively. Players with the lowest total points go first, up until the two players with the highest total points in the final group. The player with the highest total points at the end of the fourth round is the winner. Exemptions will be on offer for the winner, including through to the end of 2025 on the DP World Tour, whether they are a member or not.
Inside the field
Nathan Kimsey arrives in Truckee, California aiming to go one better than his runner-up finish last week in Kentucky. The European Challenge Tour graduate missed out on his maiden DP World Tour and PGA TOUR title, losing out to Swede Vincent Norrman in a play-off. Joining him in the pursuit of stateside success are French trio Adrien Saddier, Alexander Levy and David Ravetto after they all recorded top-ten finishes at Keene Trace.
Among those in the field are 31 players who competed at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open, including DP World Tour-winning pair Sean Crocker and Callum Hill, who both finished in the top 25 last week at the Renaissance Club. Recent Tour winners Dale Whitnell and Simon Forsström have also made the transatlantic journey, while European Ryder Cup vice-captain Edoardo Molinari is another from the DP World Tour contingent. PGA TOUR star Keith Mitchell, winner of the Honda Classic in 2019, is the highest-ranked player in the field, while Justin Suh will look to continue what has been a consistent campaign since topping the Korn Ferry Tour Points List last season. Jimmy Walker and Geoff Ogilvy provide major-winning experience to the field.
Last time around
Chez Reavie won his third PGA TOUR title this time last year, capturing the 2022 Barracuda Championship by one point. The American held off a final-day charge by Ryder Cup star Alex Noren, who made a late decision to travel to California earlier in the week after being first reserve for The 150th Open at St Andrews, by one point at the Tahoe Mountain Club. Reavie is looking to become the first player to successfully defend his title since the tournament started using the Modified Stableford Scoring system in 2012. He has two top-ten finishes this season, highlighted by a tie for fourth at last month’s Travelers Championship. The victory for Reavie ended the event’s run of first-time PGA TOUR winners, who have included Collin Morikawa, Andrew Putnam and Erik Van Rooyen.
The venue
Old Greenwood is one of two 18-hole courses at Tahoe Mountain Club and has staged the Barracuda Championship since 2020, after it moved from Montreux Golf & Country Club in Reno, Nevada. The 7,480-yard par 71 course – set 6,000 feet above sea level 6,000 feet above sea level – has an exciting mix of holes, including the potentially driveable par fours, the 357-yard eighth and 345-yard 11th, and two long par threes in the closing stretch both measuring over 220 yards. The 631-yard par five second is one of several risk-reward holes that is likely to prove key in determining the winner this week.
